Category: Customary & Reasonable Fees

Support your fellow appraisers in Georgia 30

Is Georgia Going Rogue?

VaCAP has learned the Georgia Real Estate Appraisal Board is considering rescinding rule 539-1-.23. This rule is the customary and reasonable fee requirement to appraisers from appraisal management companies. The matter will be decided at a 9:30 AM Sunday July 17, 2022 meeting. From the Georgia Real Estate Commission and Appraisal Board: RULE 539-1-.23 Appraisal Management Companies Purpose: In light of the recent decision and order In the Matter of Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board Before the Federal Trade Commission of the United States and to avoid even the appearance of anticompetitive conduct or the unreasonable restraint of price competition...

Dear ASC: Details... Why They Matter. 14

Dear ASC: Details… Why They Matter

DETAILS… NO MATTER HOW SMALL OR BIG NEED TO BE PRESENTED. If not, you failed. ASC, today you failed us all. Over the past several days, the Real Estate Appraisal Industry has been the subject of scrutiny with the release of the PAVE Report that the Interagency Task Force developed on Property Appraisal And Valuation Equity set forth by the Biden Administration. On March 23, 2022, there was a public meeting to unveil the Pave Task Force report on Racial Bias in the Real Estate Appraisal Profession. You can watch the press conference below as well as read the entire...

Waiting for the Platform to Fall... They Hired the Fastest Cheapest Guy 35

Waiting for the Platform to Fall…

…waiting for the platform to fall… because you know they hired the fastest and cheapest guy to build it! When Dodd Frank was implemented lenders started using appraisal management companies, eliminating appraisers relationships basically overnight. Appraisers embraced the change reluctantly and started accepting assignments from appraisal management companies. Over the years appraisal management companies showed their true colors and lowered fees, required appraisers to pay upload fees and forced many appraisers to pay for unnecessary back ground checks. Some have hired staff appraisers, completely disregarding the intent of Dodd Frank in an attempt to lower operating costs. Today, most AMC’s...

FTC's pursuit of the State of Louisiana cost the Appraisal Profession dearly 12

FTC Has Cost the Appraisal Profession Dearly

The FTC has cost the appraisal profession dearly in their pursuit of the State of Louisiana. This entire episode has been entirely misguided… The FTC’s time SHOULD have been spent investigating the AMC trade group known as REVAA to find TRULY non-competitive practices… The FTC is asking for public comments on the consent decree by the Louisiana Real Estate Appraisal Board. The time line to comment is short and ends on July 22, 2021. VaCAP asks each of you to take a few minutes and read the consent decree as well as the analysis provided by the FTC before commenting....

Appraisal Issues: Waivers, Racism, Fees & Trainees 18

Let’s Talk Waivers, Racism, Fees & Trainees

Frank Garay with National Real Estate Post interviewed Mark Skapinetz on Monday May 17, 2021. They discussed racism, entry into the appraisal field, appraisal fees and appraisal waivers. Frank intends on having Mark back to discuss other issues at hand within the appraisal industry. Kudos to NREP for using their platform to allow boots on the ground appraisers explain the current state of affairs with regards to the appraisal profession. On racism and racial bias allegations, Mark explains What we don’t know is the other side of it. We don’t know the appraiser side of it. We haven’t seen any...

Appraisal Fees Back in the Spot Light 5

Appraisal Fees Back in the Spot Light

FTC vs LREAB Update The Supreme Court has denied the Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board’s petition to intervene in the administrative case for price fixing by the FTC. The FTC trial is scheduled to proceed on April 20, 2021. VaCAP is closely following this case and will update you as it proceeds. To view all the activity for this case, go to the FTC’s webpage here. Working RE Appraisal Survey Let your voice be heard on what is customary and reasonable fees for your services. Working RE is conducting the annual fee survey. We have been asked to help distribute...

Incenter Appraisal Management to Pay Appraisers Within One day 59

IAM AMC 24-Hour Fast Pay for Appraisers

Last week we received an email from an AMC PR company. The email stated that Incenter Appraisal Management (IAM) has implemented a new 24-hour fast pay model and is paying their appraisers within one day of completing the appraisal report. Has anyone heard of or done business with Incenter Appraisal Management? Do they pay C&R fees or do they blast orders to find fast and cheap appraisers? Do they have a scoring system, tech upload fees, background check fees, etc.? The email stated they do not bid or charge tech fees. Back in November, VaCAP published their email solicitation where...

Appraisal Fee Price Fixing Claim Case to Reach the US Supreme Court 6

Price-Fixing Case May Reach Supreme Court

The first case about real estate appraisers to reach the U.S. Supreme Court in almost 60 years may concern the Federal Trade Commission’s price-fixing claims against the Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board. Would that be a good thing for appraisers? Well, maybe it’s not the best timing. Filed in 2017, the FTC’s administrative complaint asserts that the Louisiana appraiser board, “a state agency controlled by licensed real estate appraisers, has unreasonably restrained price competition for real estate appraisal services.” The FTC contends that the board carried out this price-fixing through its regulation of fees paid to appraisers by appraisal management...

Classless Class Valuation AMC Lives Up to Its Nickname Again! 22

Classless Class Valuation

Class Valuation has done some pretty horrific things in the past, but this one has earned them the true title of Classless… It finally happened… I was sent an email from Class Valuation. The subject line “New Benefits from Class Valuation – Just in time for Thanksgiving!” Well fellow appraisers, I can honestly state with 100% certainty, Class Valuation has lived up to its nick name given to them by so many… Classless! Class Valuation has done some pretty horrific things in the past, but this one has earned them the true title of Classless. You see, the benefits Class...

Update on FTC’s Price-Fixing Enforcement Action Against LREAB 6

New Appellate Decision – LREAB v FTC

FTC’s price-fixing enforcement action against LREAB… A federal appellate court – the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit – has issued a decision in the long-standing fight between the Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board (LREAB) and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission about “customary and reasonable” appraisal fees. I’m venturing here to provide a short, understandable, unbiased summary of the litigation and what this latest court decision means. What did the Court of Appeals decide? Here’s the very short summary: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is pursuing an administrative complaint it filed in 2017 against LREAB, contending that LREAB’s “customary and reasonable”...

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