Category: Appraisal Organizations

Drive By Upgrade 0

Drive By Upgrade

How many times have you received a drive-by assignment only to come across a view from your car like the image below? This was my view back in the summer of 2004. I notified my client that they needed to upgrade to a full interior/exterior inspection appraisal. The loan officer had a fit. “The house is over 4,000 square feet. They just put $100,000 into a new addition and installed a massive new deck!” barked the loan officer. “Then I definitely need to get inside,” I said. She cancelled the order. When they took back the house in 2008, none of...

Appraisal Complaint Hotline to Open This Year 2

Appraisal Complaint Hotline to Open This Year

Appraisal Complaint Hotline The Appraisal Subcommittee, a federal monitor of state bodies responsible for governing valuations, will open an appraisal complaint hotline by the end of the year, HousingWire reported July 2. The appraisal complaint hotline, required by the Dodd-Frank Act, will allow homebuyers, real estate agents, lenders and others in the industry to file complaints about appraisers and appraisal management companies. “ASC member agencies are currently working to finalize the details for how they will handle the referral of a complaint from the hotline,” ASC Executive Director James Park noted in House testimony, HousingWire reported. Park reported that a...

Lenders May Still Profit Most from Appraisal Fees 3

Revealing AMC Fees Optional Under Proposed Disclosure Forms

On July 9, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its proposed rule for mortgage disclosure forms designed to help consumers shopping for a home loan. The CFPB also showed the latest versions of its loan estimate form and its closing form. Part of the CFPB’s “Know Before You Owe” mortgage project, the proposed rule includes two forms that borrowers will receive after applying for a mortgage but before closing on their homes. The Appraisal Institute previously had expressed its support for the new forms, but asked that the CFPB separate the appraisal fee from the appraisal management company fee to...

1

Differences Between Neighborhood and Market Areas & Analysis

Neighborhood is broad and general in nature… When examining appraisal reports, it is commonly noted that the Neighborhood section of the 1004 appraisal report contains data for sales of properties that are comparable and competing to the subject, rather than for sales of all homes of the same category (i.e., single family detached). Professional appraisal reference works, such as Appraising Residential Properties, 4th Edition (published by Appraisal Institute) address the differences between a “neighborhood” and a “market area.” Further, various Fannie Mae selling guides and announcements, and the HUD 4150.2 handbook contain guidance for appraisers regarding the analysis of neighborhood...

0

Regulators Should Take Actions to Strengthen Appraisal Oversight

Fed Report Scrutinizes Appraisal Processes The Government Accountability Office released a report June 28 that scrutinized real estate valuations in the wake of the recent mortgage crisis. The report, Residential Appraisals — Regulators Should Take Actions to Strengthen Appraisal Oversight, was produced using data from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and five of the biggest mortgage lenders. The report revealed that valuations received through broker price opinions and automated valuation models take less time and are less costly than traditional appraisal reports, but traditional appraisal reports are still mandated for almost all first-lien residential loan originations due to their greater reliability....

10

Virginia Enacts New AMC Law

Gov. Bob McDonnell signed legislation (H.B. 408) April 11 that made Virginia the 10th state to enact new regulations regarding the operation of appraisal management companies. The new law will become effective July 1. Under the law, AMCs operating in Virginia will be prohibited from influencing or attempting to influence the development, reporting, result or review of a real estate appraisal through coercion, extortion or collusion by withholding or threatening to withhold timely payment or future business from an appraiser. AMCs also will be prohibited from: removing an appraiser from an AMC’s panel without first giving written notice to the...

2

Home Appraisers Complain that New Regulations Hurt the Housing Market

On June 28, 2012 appraisers, appraisal organizations, and others testified before the US House of Representatives, Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity, on proposals to improve oversight, regulation, and enforcement of the housing appraisal process. Among the topics addressed were the implementation of new financial service regulations under the Dodd-Frank law, appraisal fraud, the role of state regulators, and oversight of the appraisal process at the local level. The topic of the hearing was Appraisal Oversight: The Regulatory Impact on Consumers and Businesses. You will can read the testimony by clicking on the following link.

AGA Statement to House Financial Services Committee Hearing 3

AGA Statement to House Financial Services Committee Hearing

The American Guild of Appraisers Statement to House Financial Services Committee Hearing Madam Chairman and Members of the Committee, on behalf of the American Guild of Appraisers/OPEIU Guild 44 (AGA) thank you for the opportunity to submit this statement in connection with today’s hearing on the real estate appraisal profession and the regulation of appraisers and appraisal practice. The AGA is a membership organization that seeks to represent the interests of appraisers related to federal and state regulation of appraisal practice and to industry practices that impact on appraisers and appraisals. In addition, working closely with other like-minded organizations including...

Appraisal Institute Continues to Support Separation of Fees 1

AI Continues to Support Separation of Fees

The Appraisal Institute and the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers reiterated their support of separating appraisal and appraisal management company fees on mortgage disclosure forms June 20 in Congressional testimony. The organizations originally voiced support when drafts of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed Consumer Disclosure Form were released in February. AI and ASFMRA again expressed their support in written testimony on “Mortgage Disclosures: How Do We Cut Red Tape for Consumers and Small Businesses” before the House Committee on Financial Services’ Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity. The organizations expressed support of clear disclosure of...

Statement of Frank Gregoire (NAR) Before Appraisal Oversight Hearing 3

Statement of Frank Gregoire (NAR) Before Appraisal Oversight Hearing

NAR believes that lenders should be prohibited from retaining the services of an AMC where the lender maintains any level of ownership. Frank Gregoire‘s written testimony to the United States House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity before the Appraisal Oversight Hearing … APPRAISAL ISSUES AND CHALLENGES There are a myriad of circumstances and issues working to hinder the recovery of the nation’s housing market. Among them, and often overlooked, are those related to the credible valuation of real property. A credible valuation provided by a licensed or certified professional 1) ensures the...

xml sitemap
blank