Category: The Appraisal Foundation

September 17, 2018

The Missing Standard

What can we do to establish a national measurement standard for appraisers? Every week I talk to appraisers in different parts of the country and the conversations are almost always the same. Square footage errors are a problem everywhere, some places worse than others. Every appraiser seems to understand the problem and many of them complain about the real estate agents, home-owners, and even underwriters who challenge them about their square footage totals. They rely on the “Official Record” they believe is listed by the local tax department. Who teaches them this stuff? How is it possible the general public...

American Measurement Standard / American National Standards Institute / AMS / ANSI / Appraisal / Appraisal News

August 30, 2018

Road to Perdition

It looks like USPAP and IVS are finally going to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. Didn’t Coca Cola already do that? It’s been awhile since I’ve harped about the International Valuation Standards (IVS) and the International Valuation Standards Council, or their inappropriate influence on USPAP. Perdition Road paving compliments of The Appraisal Foundation under sub contract to MISMO. Unnecessary Bridging from USPAP to IVS provided by TAF. For those unfamiliar with what (IVS) or who (IVSC) they are, the following link may help. Scroll down to the corporate sponsors section. THIS is who the ‘international sponsors’ are....

AGA / American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers / Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

Nationwide Appraiser Count - The Number Game - Appraisers Blogs

August 28, 2018

Nationwide Appraiser Count vs. Fake News

12 Year Trend: Active Appraiser Credentials… We often hear about the ‘shortage’ of appraisers in the US. This is fake news promulgated by a number of AMC’s who cannot find enough appraisers to do their assignments – largely because the AMC won’t pay the appraiser an appropriate fee for service, or other issues. John Brenan, Director of Appraisal Issues for The Appraisal Foundation, gave a presentation at the Washington State association of appraisers conference on Aug. 16. He showed this slide during his presentation: Note that these are CREDENTIALS… the licenses granted by the individual states, which are then reported to...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisal Subcommittee

August 27, 2018

Criminal Charges

Criminal Charges Brought Against AMC Owner VaCAP has been informed that AMC owner Brian Coester, of Coester Valuation Management Services (VMS), has new criminal charges filed against him. We have confirmed these charges through the court system public access system: Maryland Judiciary Case Search Criteria Below is a list of 19 court cases found under the name Brian Coester: Is Another Financial Scare on the Horizon? George Will, Washington Post Writers Group, has an interesting column in entitled “America is overdue for another Lehman-Like Episode”. In this article he stated that the stock market has enjoyed its longest-ever bull run. The...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisal Subcommittee

No Numerical Shortage of Appraisers in North Dakota - AppraisersBlogs

August 21, 2018

Nonexistent Shortage of Appraisers

…there is a shortage of appraisers willing to work for sub-par fees and unrealistic turn around times… The American Guild of Appraisers has already heard from many of our North Dakota and nearby states members on the above request. The most recurrent complaint is that there is no numerical shortage of appraisers in North Dakota (approximately 300+-) as well as adjacent states appraisers that regularly cross over to serve client needs there (another 30 to 40+-). What I am told is that there is a shortage of appraisers willing to work for sub-par fees and unrealistic turn around times! There...

AGA / AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations

August 13, 2018

IRS & USPAP

Treasury Department & IRS BOTH officially adopted USPAP back in 2009… except when they don’t want to follow it… The Appraisal Foundation is once again misinterpreting the very regulations they purport to be reporting and telling consumers to be sure to follow. As a matter of fact by substituting their own verbiage for what Treasury Regulations and IRS (Final Rule) policies actually say, they could be causing extreme harm to untold numbers taxpayers. The following article includes a link that MUST be read to understand all the nuances, and which should be used as the final determinant of what is...

AGA / AI / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations

AMROCK Valuations New Service Seems to Seek Circumvention of USPAP!

August 2, 2018

Can you say ‘L-A-W-S-U-I-T’ boys and girls?

Fellow appraisers I strongly discourage anyone from accepting AMROCK Valuations work generally due to their poor track record in dealing with appraisers across the country; and their apparent habit of making up their own appraisal rules as they go along without regard to C&R fees; Dodd Frank and most other common sense sound appraisal practices up to and including USPAP. Y’all remember USPAP don’t you? A series of uniform rules we’d all follow to promote, preserve and protect the American real estate appraisal profession and the American Public. That is until it became an inconvenient impediment to MISMO; FNMA and...

AGA / AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations

July 23, 2018

At or During?

“At the time of assignment” refers to the time period commencing… Last month, the Appraisal Standards Board (ASB) provided the ‘first draft’ of the proposed changes to the 2020-21 USPAP, which I circulated. One of the points they mentioned is a goal to make USPAP easier to read and more understandable. OK, commendable. Then on June 27, 2018, the Appraisal Foundation and the ASB released the latest USPAP Q&A “suggestions.” (The USPAP Q&A’s, AO’s, and FAQ’s are not directives, or even a ‘legal’ part of USPAP. Instead, they offer independent commentary on how a particular issue could be handled or solved, but may...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / ASB / The Appraisal Foundation

July 9, 2018

Are Bifurcated Appraisals Legal in Your State?

Lately there has been a push for bifurcated (hybrid) appraisal products. Those promoting these questionable products claim it will reduce the amount of time to obtain an appraisal. Most appraisers are screaming foul play, and for good reason. It is because of bad players doing questionable things that licensing became mandatory in Virginia. Mandatory. Licensing of appraisers protects the public trust. We all know splitting the process will not save time, but rather create delays. The only reason for this questionable product is the profit of the amc, nothing more. And then there is the quality of the information being...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

June 26, 2018

Ain’t No Way to Run a Railroad

Appraisers get frustrated with the constant changes and revisions every two years… Folks, attached is the 1st Exposure Draft of changes to the NEXT “bible” of our industry. Read this over and then send in your comments per the instructions. With this draft, the ASB is desiring to simplify much of the document to make it easier to read and understand. There are numerous proposed edits you’ll see when you read it. They explain their rationale for the changes. This is appreciated. I’m also glad to see they have added to the Definitions the words “State” and “Summarize” which have...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / ASB / The Appraisal Foundation