Category: FHFA

Protecting Appraisers Against Frivolous & Retaliatory 3rd Party Lawsuits 6

Frivolous & Retaliatory 3rd Party Lawsuits

Appraisers are routinely coerced & intimidated by third parties to violate their independence and integrity… Honorable Committee Members: We are writing to add our voice to that of the Massachusetts Board of Real Estate Appraisers (MBREA is a State Coalition of professional real estate appraisers) in support of each of the above bills. The American Guild of Appraisers is a Guild within the Office Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) of the AFL-CIO, representing the appraisal and real estate related financial consumer / taxpayer interests of over twelve and a half million AFL-CIO Family Union & Guild Members; their families, retirees...

Another Huckster Enters the Appraisal Arena 20

Another Huckster Enters the Appraisal Arena

Yet another third party huckster has entered into the real estate appraiser and appraisal arena. It’s that time again! Yet another third party huckster has entered into the real estate appraiser and appraisal arena. Apparently motivated by pure altruism. We identified a need in the marketplace to address a common problem that lenders are regularly challenged with in providing accurate appraisal quotes and then ensuring pricing on the Loan Estimate is consistent and compliant,” stated Vladimir Bien-Aime, president and CEO at Global DMS. (I LOVE this guy, he writes like me!) Global DMS Launches SnapVal to Provide Instant, Accurate, Guaranteed...

AGA Objects De Minimis Increase Proposal - It is Time to Call out the Liars 40

AGA Objects De Minimis Increase Proposal

We object to the proposal to increase the de minimis threshold at which no appraisal is required… Sirs: The American Guild of Appraisers (AGA), of the Office Professional Employees International Union (#44 OPEIU) of the AFL-CIO represents the members and extended family and retirees, taxpayer and consumer real estate appraisal interests of nearly Twelve and a half million citizens and voters. We object to the proposal to increase the de minimis threshold at which no appraisal is required from $250,000 to $400,000. Respectfully, if anything is done with it at all, lowering it to a range not to exceed $100,000...

Open Letter to Taxpayers... Afterall, Taxpayers Aren’t Stupid 32

Open Letter to Taxpayers

An Open Letter to Taxpayers Dear Ms; Mrs. & Mr. Taxpayer: In a recent article published by Housing Wire; authored by Ben Lane (November 20, 2018) it was reported that our federal “regulators” are at it again. “At what?” One might ask. Facilitation of increased LOAN FRAUD & consumer deception with Taxpayers yet again left holding the bag. Click here for the article Back in 1994 (actually it started in 1989-91 when FIRREA was being drafted) the Fed agreed that the loan threshold for banks when an appraisal of real estate would not be required was $250,000. That was roughly...

AMC Financial Trouble, The AMC Model Does Not Work 6

AMCs Financial Trouble

The AMC model does not work & these companies are in serious financial trouble… Stand Your Ground: A few weeks ago VaCAP reminded everyone to pay attention to the financial and economic side of your business. The article was titled “Stand Your Ground”. Since that time, we have learned of the following: A VaCAP member shared a retro desktop appraisal request in a rural area. The AMC was paying $75. An appraiser posted on AppraisersBlogs’ repost of our article about being owed thousands of dollars by the same company. See the comment here. Also take a look at the stock...

Secret Revealed: UAD & Appraisal Forms Redesign Coming NOT Soon 20

Secret Revealed… Coming NOT Soon

New initiative will focus on modernization of the current UAD dataset and residential appraisal forms… What I originally described as a ‘rumor’ several months ago has finally been fully exposed. FNMA and FrMAC are in the process of examining the current GSE appraisal forms, which encompass UAD and the MC Form, to ‘finally’ get the appraisal forms & functions into the 21st Century! But it won’t happen for at least 3 years (2021)… by then many current appraisers will be enjoying bon-bons and brewskies while on the golf course, or be on their long-planned world cruise, after chucking their clipboard...

FHFA Working Paper Credibility Questioned by AGA 10

Working Paper Credibility Questioned

NO REAL ESTATE APPRAISER IN THE COUNTRY IS ALLOWED TO MISS THE MARK BY 7.8% WITHOUT RISKING LOSS OF LICENSE! The Working Paper demonstrates more than anything else, that given an 8-hour work day the computer will take 6 full working days (1.2 working weeks) to arrive at a result that is at best 7.8% error prone. Office of the Director, Honorable Melvin Watt Federal Housing Finance Agency… Dear Sir(s) The American Guild of Appraisers is a Guild within the more than 12 1/2 million members, retirees and family members of our parent union OPEIU, AFL/CIO. In addition to representing...

TriStar Bank Nuclear Option DENIED! FTC vs LREAB in Circuit Court 16

Nuclear Option DENIED!

VaCAP has just been informed the TriStar Bank Waiver Request has been DENIED by the ASC. Representatives from VaCap attended the TriStar bank appraisal waiver hearing at the Federal Reserve building in DC this morning. Also present were John Russell with the ASA-NAIFA, Leo Regensburg with the AGA, Bill Garber with the AI, Mark Shiffman with REVAA, appraisers and other stake holders. The board members consisted of Robert Witt with the FHFA, Veronica Spicer representing the CFPB, Richard Taft representing the OCC, and ASC board members. The meeting got off to a late start because the Tri-Star representatives were held...

REVVA Reacts to FHFA Study RE AMCs' Appraisal Quality 8

REVAA Reacts to FHFA Study

…the methodology, measures of quality, errors & the insertion of staff opinion seems to indicate bias…. REVAA responds to the FHFA study indicating AMCs bring little value. Mark Schiffman, Executive Director of REVAA, stated to Jacob Gafney, Editor of HousingWire, via email: “We are disappointed that AMCs and lenders were not consulted at the outset of this research so that we could have help ensure sound methodology. We are also disappointed not to have had the chance to discuss this research with the FHFA before it was distributed publicly. This is not a final report of any kind from the FHFA,...

Are Appraisal Management Companies Value-Adding? 29

Are AMCs Value-Adding?

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has released a working paper “Are Appraisal Management Companies Value-Adding? – Stylized Facts from AMC and Non-AMC Appraisals” We have not had a chance to review the report in great detail, however, a quick glance has some very interesting analysis. This is a must read for every appraiser! See the “Are AMCs Value-Adding?” paper here or below. Excerpt: Are Appraisal Management Companies Value-Adding? – Stylized Facts from AMC and Non-AMC Appraisals In this paper, we study whether there are any systematic quality differences between appraisals associated and unassociated with appraisal management companies (AMCs). We find...

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