Category: Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice

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Can You Use a Sale That Closes the Day After Your Inspection Date?

So, here’s the situation; you are appraising a unique property in a limited area with few sales. You inspect the subject on Wednesday and finally get to the write up on Friday morning. As you are searching the neighborhood for sales, you notice a fairly comparable home that sold on the same street. It happens to be the very best comparable you have. The problem? It sold on Thursday…the day after the inspection date. Bummer! But, can you still use it? In order to answer this intriguing question, let’s step back for just a minute and look at the bigger picture....

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Appraiser and Client Trust Factor

We are professionals and should be treated with the same respect and trust that other professionals are afforded. Relationships are important. The bonds we form with a spouse, children, friends, or business associates can be powerful and a strength. When trust is broken, however, deep challenges emerge.  Divorce, separation, or permanent dissolution can be the end result when someone’s integrity is on the line. The trust factor between an appraiser and the client is essential if professionalism and continued business is to be amicable. Last month, I wrote an article about taking drive-by and comp pictures. The comment boards lit up. Most appraisers agreed...

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Adjustments – Your Opinion Doesn’t Count

Regulations state that appraisal adjustments cannot be based upon an appraiser’s opinion. According to federal and state law, adjustments must be based on support and evidence- proof if you will, and an appraiser’s opinion is not considered to be “support.” Many appraisers have failed to support their adjustments and as a result have had their licenses revoked, penalties assessed and lawsuits lost, all because the they failed to understand a single but important requirement. Think about your appraisals. Are the adjustments based on your opinion or do you have proof of the adjustment in your workfile? Then one day I...

HUD blacklisting - guilty until proven innocent 2

HUD Blacklisting: Guilty Until Proven Innocent

HUD has been quietly blacklisting appraisers for years without due process Being on HUD’s FHA Appraiser Panel and performing FHA appraisals is an essential source of work for many appraisers. However, according to a recent legal brief filed by the National Association of Appraisers (NAA), HUD has been quietly blacklisting appraisers for years without due process. At the center of the case against HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) is Ken Taggart, an appraiser in Penn., who was removed from HUD’s roster in January 2010. Taggart says that his mortgage servicer, GMAC Mortgage, LLC, mistakenly forclosed on his...

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Proposed 2016-17 USPAP Changes

Comments Requested for Additional Proposed Changes to USPAP 2016-17 USPA The Appraisal Foundation’s Appraisal Standards Board has issued a third exposure draft of proposed changes to its 2016-17 edition of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, and is seeking feedback on the proposed changes by Oct. 10. Among the proposed changes is an adjustment to the definition of report, which currently is defined as “any communication, written or oral, of an appraisal or appraisal review that is transmitted to the client upon completion of an assignment.” The proposed definition would read “Any communication, transmitted to the client or to...

Fannie Mae re-evaluate appraisers adjustments 1

Fannie Re-Evaluating Your Adjustments & VA Hiring Appraisers

Fannie Mae’s Murphy stated that over the past year, the GSE had been focusing on “quality” and “condition” ratings of comps used in multiple appraisals by the same appraiser and found many cases where the appraiser has changed the quality and/or condition ratings on the same comparable from appraisal to appraisal. Now, based on the examination of the Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) data, Fannie Mae’s focus for the next 12 months will be on adjustments. The data indicates that many appraisers are not using…

Why Most Purchase Appraisals SHOULD come in Just Above the Purchase Price 3

Why Most Purchase Appraisals SHOULD come in Just Above the Purchase Price

“…You come in just above the purchase price…” How many times have you had this comment from someone who knows relatively little about the appraisal process, “I am not so sure about you appraisers. Seems like every time there is a purchase transaction needing an appraisal, you come in just above the purchase price. If the house is selling for $200,000, you come in at $202,000. If it is selling for $450,000, you come in at $460,000. Seems a little rigged to me.” Ever had a client get really upset when you asked to see the purchase contract before you...

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Commonly Encountered USPAP Violations

USPAP Violations… This is a list of USPAP violations most commonly encountered by the Texas Appraiser Licensing & Certification Board’s staff appraiser-investigators when investigating complaints filed with the Board. This list of violations is given for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or instructions on how to properly comply with USPAP or properly complete an appraisal assignment. Most Commonly Encountered USPAP Violations: Sales Comparison Selection of Comparable Properties. Failing to select and/or support the selection of comparable sales using recognized methods and techniques. Examples include: Leaving the subject’s neighborhood when sales data is readily available in the immediate neighborhood; Searching by...

AMC Staff - Overseas AMC Staff - Outsourcing 3

Overseas AMC Staff: Could I Speak to “Villiam?”

AMC Staff: “HELLO! Bill. Could I please speak to Villiam?” At least one appraisal management company (AMC) put a new accent on appraising by having the point of contact be in another country—specifically, a call-center in India. According appraiser Bill Streep, this is how the conversation went: Bill Streep: “Hi, this is Bill.” AMC Staff: “HELLO! Bill. Could I please speak to Villiam?” Bill Streep: “This is Bill.” AMC Staff: “Yes, Bill. I need to speak to Villiam.” Bill Streep: “My name is Bill, it’s short for William.” AMC Staff: “Yes… (insert long pause) Could I please speak to Villiam?”...

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Appraisal Fee vs. the Cost of Gas

Let’s compare the average appraisal fee to the cost of gas during the last 20 years. One of the requirements of your job as an appraiser is getting to the property to appraise it. Unless you are appraising a property within a few blocks of your own house or office, chances are that you will be driving there. Today, the costs of driving — higher gas prices, higher insurance premiums and higher maintenance costs — have gone through the roof. This got me thinking: the cost of almost everything that we, as appraisers, need to do to successfully perform our...

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