Category: Appraisers News

Third Party Services Prohibited - Prohibition is Back! 24

Prohibition is Back!

AMC strictly prohibits the use of third party services. A recent review of an engagement letter from a large national appraisal management company revealed something pretty peculiar… “An appraiser is prohibited from using any third party services.“ Wait, What? No third party services? I am no attorney, and certainly do not know all the aspects of law, but it seems that the definition of third party services is pretty self-explanatory. To be sure I am not mistaken; I researched the definition of third party. FreeDictionary.com: “A person who is not a party to a contract or a transaction, but has...

Who doesn't like a good BRAWL 4

Who doesn’t like a good BRAWL?

So who doesn’t like a good BRAWL? Brokers Rallying Against Whole-Tail Lenders (BRAWL) is a network of independent mortgage brokers who have joined together against unethical practices by wholesale lenders. The group has created the term “Whole-tail”, a combination of wholesale and retail for those lenders who close both wholesale and retail mortgages. The group claims that some bad wholesale lenders are using the brokers to obtain client information to solicit clients directly through the lenders own retail divisions and affiliates. “Mortgage brokers are beyond tired of various wholesale lenders acting like they’re on our team, when they’re actually just...

Flag Flying for Veterans at This Nation's Heart... - AppraisersBlogs 3

Honoring Veterans

Whether or not there’s a flag flying at your place of rest, there’s a flag flying for you at this nation’s heart. Folks, I received the message below from an appraiser who lives near this cemetery in north-central WA State. It’s worthy of your read, and to remember the sacrifice veterans have made in service to our country. I’d like to add that the “Key Club” is a youth organization sponsored by Kiwanis International, with local Kiwanis clubs around the US being mentors to the high school age members who belong to Key Club. I was a Kiwanis member for 27 years,...

Do Third Party Inspectors Violate USPAP 6

Do Third-Party Inspectors Violate USPAP

It was recently brought to my attention, by a reputable appraiser I might add, that the use of third-party inspectors may be a violation of USPAP. Or more specifically, that an appraiser relying on a third-party inspector for information (without knowing their name), may be a violation of USPAP. For example, there are several (and growing) companies who are providing clients with what are being postulated as “hybrid appraisals” or “hybrid reports.” The definition, as far as I can discern, is that a third-party inspector ‘inspects’ the property (usually an exterior from the street – which is why there are...

State Organizations Changing the Landscape, Appraisal House Is in Order 19

Who’s for Dinner?

State Organizations & Appraisers Helping Appraisers You may have heard the expression “if you do not have a seat at the table, you are on the menu.” VaCAP can honestly state, appraisers are not on the menu. Over the past several weeks, members of the Network (NSAO), which has now grown to 28 state organizations, have been recapping the events that transpired at the meetings in Washington D.C. last month. These meetings consisted of the FHFA meeting, the NSAO meeting, the ASC meeting, and the AARO conference. Most state organizations participated and many individual appraisers attended. The support for the appraisal...

Subject Inspection for Hybrid Appraisals & USPAP Compliance 62

USPAP Compliance & Hybrid Appraisals

WHO does the SUBJECT INSPECTION? Appraisers, Some appraisers have questioned the name ‘Hybrid Appraisal’ because the requesting client WON’T USE THAT NAME for the product. When they call or email you, they’ll say something like “We have a really fast appraisal for you to do that you can do on your desktop without leaving your office.”, or “Can you do an exterior appraisal for us?” or they might identify it by the ‘name’ that client uses for the product. The FIRST question you need to ask is simple: WHO does the SUBJECT INSPECTION? If they say ‘someone else does that’…...

Hacked! Are We to Rely on FNMA to Keep Our Private Tax Info Protected? 12

Is Your Private Tax Info Protected?

Even the Pentagon gets hacked! Do Consumers really KNOW how their loan application data is being handled? Having worked for IRS, I know it is against the law for any government employee to divulge specific (identifiable) taxpayer information without exceptional effort to get advance approval. There is no legal way for that personally identifiable taxpayer information to get into the public domain without the taxpayers specific written permission for it. Even inside IRS, we were required to protect the identification of the taxpayer in any case related situational discussions where we sought each others advice. We could talk about the...

Tax Reform & Appraisers Responsibility to Verify Data - AppraisersBlogs 12

It’s All About the Details…

The National Association of Realtors is encouraging all members and citizens to contact their representatives concerning tax reform. Congress is considering many tax reforms including the elimination of the mortgage interest deduction. See their website for further details on how the middle class can be impacted. Excerpt from NAR Tax Reform Call for Action: I urge you to oppose any tax reform plan that would weaken the tax incentives for owning a home, such as the mortgage interest deduction. Additionally, please do not let a tax reform plan increase taxes on middle-class homeowners through the elimination of the state and...

Reliable Is the Ugly Lie of Hybrid Appraisals Scope of Work 11

Lies, Damn Lies and More Lies

These so-called accurate and ‘reliable’ data sources are factually wrong… I was reading the Scope of Work contained in a sample Hybrid Appraisal, one of now dozens being promoted by multiple AMC’s, lenders, software developers, etc., which seem to be sweeping the secondary lending arena these days. It says… Identified and verified subject characteristics from a reliable data source such as MLS, County/City records, GIS, and online data sources. – Researched comparable sales and listings from reliable data source such as MLS, County/City records, etc.” “Reliable” is the ugly lie and supposed truth promoted by very naive or unaware people...

Markets & Big Data Fool Proved Forecasting 10

I Got It Wrong…

“…after forty years of studying markets, I got it wrong…” As time goes on, the one thing that appears to be both a societal and financial markets constant, is our inability to learn from our past mistakes. Late, a couple of nights ago (10/23/17), while channel surfing, I happened on an economics program intended to explain the financial crisis of 2008. My apologies for referring to a programming without its name or network. Instead, I had to consider the person who was the primary focal point of the program: Hyman Minsky (see link to The Economist here). Before reading the...

xml sitemap
blank