Category: Appraisers News

AMCs vs Public Interest - VaCAP Advocacy 29

AMC vs Public Interest – VaCAP Advocacy

Since the beginning, Federal Regulation of the industry was initiated to “protect the public. “ FIRREA, USPAP, HVCC, Dodd Frank and state licensing of appraisers and appraisal management companies were initiated with consumer protection as the goal. Customary and reasonable fees, mandated by Dodd Frank, are also to protect the consumer. The Virginia Coalition of Appraiser Professionals supports customary and reasonable fees and believes in order to determine a customary and reasonable fee all things associated must be considered and incorporated into the determination. The below practices by AMC’s are not in the interest of protecting public trust and go...

Appraiser Expert Witness Issue 2

Appraiser Expert Witness Issue

Discovery of Draft Expert Witness Reports (Draft Appraisals) in State Court – a Chart Appraiser Michael Brunson, SRA, MNAA, and I recently wrote an article for the Appraisal Institute‘s 4th Quarter 2015 edition of Valuation entitled “Getting Ready for Expert Witness Work: 10 Practice Pointers.” One of the pointers is that while the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Rule 26) now generally protect a retained expert witness’s draft reports (e.g., draft appraisals) from discovery by the opposing party, appraisers need to understand that if a litigation is pending in state court and thus subject to the state’s rules of civil...

Tax Appeal Work 9

Tax Appeal Work & Appraisers

Taxing the System – Tax Appeal The Department receives a number of appraisal complaints related to property tax assessment appeals each and every year. While most originate with assessors and boards of review, some come from appellants themselves. The most frequent complaint involves alleged undervaluation and advocacy on the part of the appraiser. The local assessor or board of review will allege that the appraiser deliberately omitted more relevant sales by “cherry-picking” distressed sales or choosing sales from inferior locations. Appraisers are not hired guns by counsel. Advocacy is a career-killer. Unlicensed practice is the next most frequent complaint. There...

Second appraisal controversy - argument 11

Second Appraisal Controversy

On reading a recent post about agents telling their clients to just order a second appraisal when the values came in ‘low’, I’m reminded of an old saying that both my parents used to frequently address toward me, “People who live in glass houses, shouldn’t be throwing stones.” I had no idea what they were talking about since when growing up I’m CERTAIN that ALL of my criticisms were well founded and deserved by those they were directed to. Teachers, government officials, world politicians, teachers, general authority figures, friends, enemies, and did I mention teachers? Basically most of the entire...

Animosity Between Appraisers and AMCs 9

Animosity Between Appraisers and AMCs

AMCs control the money. We hear a lot about animosity between appraisers and AMCs and this doesn’t make for a good working relationship. Business relationships work best when it is in the best interest of both parties to be on a level playing field. Keep in mind that the AMC does nothing for the appraiser. They may provide a service for the Lender. Since this is a service that the lender has contracted with the AMC to provide, then the Lender should pay the AMC a fee based on the value of the service that lender receives (the appraiser is...

Appraiser Engaged in Mortgage Fraud Remains Licensed with California BREA 15

Appraiser Engaged in Mortgage Fraud Remains Licensed with BREA

…BREA thinks it is acceptable to let an appraiser who engaged in mortgage fraud remain licensed… The Inmates Must Be In Charge of This Asylum The California Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers is sadly yet another example of a state agency that does not really understand what the taxpayers expect of it. The taxpayers probably assume the agency in charge of licensing appraisers in California would certainly not renew the license of an appraiser who not only is indicted in a multiparty, multi-million dollar mortgage fraud case, but actually pled guilty to at least one count of the crime. Unfortunately,...

Value too Low? Order Multiple Appraisals! 8

Value too Low? Order Multiple Appraisals!

Appraised value is not as high as the agreed (contract) price get multiple appraisals Folks, An article titled 4 Ways to Deal If Your Appraisal Comes in Low with incorrect info has been making the rounds. This is the second time I’ve seen it in different publications. In it, Diane Saatchi, a senior broker with Saunders & Associates in Bridgehampton, NY, is quoted: “Order a second appraisal Most often, if the appraised value is not as high as the agreed (contract) price, the seller’s agent will ask to see the comps and get a second or third appraisal,” Saatchi says....

Raising Appraisal Threshold Levels 9

Raising Appraisal Threshold Levels

Adjusting appraisal threshold levels On December 2, 2015, Dave Towne called attention to an article on a potential increase in appraisal threshold levels, which appeared in the ABA Banking Journal. Excerpt: The banking agencies are revisiting the dollar thresholds for their appraisal requirements, FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg said in Arlington, Va., today at the final outreach meeting for the decennial Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act review. “Based largely on comments we have received during these outreach sessions, we have formed an define working group to review the appropriateness of dollar thresholds for transactions requiring appraisals and other requirements...

Appraisers and Their Lack of Fees - Appraisal Cost 12

Appraisers and Their Lack of Fees

I feel it’s only prudent to put my ten cents, or more, in on the subject of actual cost, versus paid fees for appraisals After an overwhelming outpouring of response from appraisers all over the country, I am compelled to write a follow up article to “Appraisals and The Real Cost of Doing Business.” I must stress that my original intent was to highlight the ever increasing cost in all aspects of our industry, passed on to our clients, due for the most part to increased compliance requirements, additional staffing required to monitor said compliance, Dodd Frank rules, HVCC, TRID...

CONSUMER involvement with refi property value estimate ~copyright AppraisersBlogs.com 8

Consumer Involvement with Property Value

“Help” the consumer determine a value Appraisers, There is a little known provision in the new TRID mortgage loan application process that may become a future issue for appraisers, especially when the loan is for a Refinance. This is what the Loan Estimate, provided by the lender, requires the CONSUMER to do: You (the lender) must provide a Loan Estimate to the consumer, either by delivering by hand or placing in the mail, no later than three business days of the receipt of an application. An application is considered received when the consumer provides the following information: Consumer’s name, Consumer’s...

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