Category: USPAP

Claims, Complaints and E&O Insurance - Imagecredit Flickr - SEO 1

Claims, Complaints and E&O Insurance

E&O vs. General Liability First some background. Errors & Omissions (E&O) is malpractice insurance for mistakes in your report- say you measure square footage incorrectly. General Liability (GL) covers property damage and bodily injury while you’re at the premises and more. Examples of GL claims are, if during a walkthrough you knock over and break a vase (property damage), or back over and injure a homeowner as you exit the driveway (bodily injury). Business Owners Packages (BOPs) typically go beyond the job site, providing coverage for losses to your own business, such as a trip and fall at your office,...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O / Errors & Omissions / Indemnification Clauses

Don't Fence Me In - Physical Inspection 3

Don’t Fence Me In

We truly live in an incredible world. The age of information and technology has given us more freedom than at any other time in the history of mankind. Just in the last few years, the mobile office has become a reality in such a way that it would be nearly impossible for our clients to know much about our physical office at all. Since most of us have little to no walk-in traffic, running an appraisal office from a spare bedroom at home or even from the lanai of your Belizean condo is not out of the realm of possibility....

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice

A Contrary Response to The Future of Valuation - Imagecredit Flickr - Simon Cunningham 6

A Contrary Response to The Future of Valuation

Recently an article appeared in WorkingRE about the Future of Valuation. The author is the President of a large and highly respected Appraiser  Peer and Educational Organization.  My own contrary response was either too lengthy, or deemed too critical of a big advertiser for publication in WorkingRE. I thank the hosts of this blog for granting the space. My concern with the author’s views starts with the description of our Real Estate Appraisal profession as ‘valuation.’ The concern is more than mere quibbling over semantics. Valuation is the phrase preferred by the Business Valuation community. They have long been dominated...

AI / AMC / American Society of Appraisers / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal Management Companies

Free Enterprise an Appraisal Myth 40

Free Enterprise an Appraisal Myth?

Is THAT free enterprise? I’m surprised anyone in the business today sees any minimum pricing proposal as being anti-free enterprise. Contrary to popular belief we have not had free enterprise in the GSE appraisal process since HVCC first reared its ugly head. AMCs ‘telling’ us to pick a number from $250 to $350, or that ‘THEY pay’ $325 per 1004 is NOT free enterprise. I’m an old timer (1986) that was brought up on what used to be AIREA (now the AI) & SREA (now gone) positions that free enterprise and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act prohibited us from ‘even discussing’...

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

Ganter Brothers versus Appraisers 5

Ganter Brothers Versus Appraisers

It’s been a few months since we issued our last update on our friends (and yours) the Ganter brothers (Chris and Ben). The Ganters have suffered what for most people would be a series of embarrassing setbacks in their blatant attempts to use the legal system to pressure appraisers and/or their E&O carriers into paying off what we view as frivolous claims to save the cost of litigating the underlying dispute. For those of you who are reading this for the first time, we have issued two other alerts about this in the past 18 months. Links to the earlier...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O / Errors & Omissions / Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice

An Open Letter to the Valuation Profession from the Appraisal Foundation regarding the rift with the Appraisal Institute 2

An Open Letter to the Valuation Profession

An Open Letter to the Valuation Profession from the Appraisal Foundation regarding the rift with the Appraisal Institute Value. Appraisers grapple with this concept daily as they analyze data and information to arrive at an opinion that is credible. Some information found is valid, some is tainted, and appraisers work diligently to separate the good from the bad to arrive at their conclusions – opinions that can withstand future tests. Likewise, The Appraisal Foundation (TAF; the Foundation) remains constantly attuned to what is going on in the valuation realm, conscientiously analyzing information and working to uphold the appraisal profession so its actions...

AARO / AI / American Society of Appraisers / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal News

Another Win for Appraisers - California 6

Another Win for Appraisers – California

Cooperation between appraisers and multiple appraiser organizations wins the day in California! When is the last time you heard of a State bill that was already passed by both State Houses (Assembly & Senate) in any state, being quashed short of a Governor’s veto? Especially a “consent calendar” item that legislators automatically vote to approve for each other as a legislative courtesy. In less than two months? Let me share a quote from Rey Cano’s regular appraiser newsletter (www.Malibuappraisal.com). Rey, along with George St Johns, was an original co-founder of the California Coalition of Appraisal Professionals (CaCAP), where with full...

AGA / AI / American Society of Appraisers / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal News

Skewed Customary Fee Perceptions - Imagecredit Flickr - Quinn Dowbroski 14

Skewed “Customary” Fee Perceptions

I no longer care about “customary”. “Customary” in Dodd-Frank’s customary and reasonable is a negatively biased fee before state studies begin! We all know that the “C” part of C & R is supposed to represent the normal fee charged by most appraisers for similar work and conditions. Some AMC appraisers even know the “R” part is supposed to be an amount that is reasonable based upon ALL factors necessary for completion of the assignment in a USPAP compliant and professional manner. Unfortunately HVCC and the AMC havoc it wreaked has existed far too long for there to be a...

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

The Realities of Regression - Imagecredit Flickr - Walfer X 6

The Realities of Regression

The use of Fannie Mae’s Collateral Underwriter (CU) tool by lenders has created some “hot topics” for appraisers. Durbin is encouraged by the use of CU and thinks it will be a good thing for the appraisal profession. One of these topics is the discussion around how to clearly show the methodology the appraiser used to arrive at the adjustment values. In this presentation Durbin proposes the use of “Regression Analysis” (RA) as a solution to this problem.
Durbin lamented there is a perception that appraisers make subjective, anecdotal, arbitrary, and unscientific adjustments. Now that CU will be looking at adjustments…

AI / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisal Software

AMC's “My Way or the Highway” Attitude 47

AMC’s “My Way or the Highway” Attitude

Apparent appraiser abuse by AMC’s… As Chairman of the American Guild of Appraisers (AGA) National Appraiser Peer Review Committee, I have had the opportunity to see and hear directly about many cases involving alleged, as well as apparent appraiser abuse by AMC’s. These cases ranged geographically from California, Arizona, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana, New Jersey, Virginia, New York, Maryland, and District of Columbia. As a QC consultant to a smaller appraiser owned AMC, I have also seen low fee spreadsheets from a variety of lenders that had 90% listed at the SAME APPRAISER fees: $495.00 (which INCLUDED the AMC...

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

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