Tagged: C&R Fees

Appraisal news for real estate appraisers and real estate professionals regarding Customary and Reasonable appraisal fees. News relating to the Appraisal Industry.

AMCs Billing Scheme, Hidden Profits & Deceptive Practices 72

AMCs Billing Scheme, Hidden Profits & Deceptive Practices

Appraisers who do not agree to their hidden billing methods are excluded from the majority of the GSE lending marketplace for appraisal orders.  Appraisal Management Companies (AMC’s) do not pass on cost savings for reduced appraisal services to consumers. Instead, they keep the savings for themselves without disclosing the amount to the consumer or the appraiser. What should have been cost savings for the consumer are pocketed by the AMC in secret. This is considered a junk fee or unearned fee billing scheme under current law. Appraisers who participate in this system are in violation of The Management Rule of...

It’s a Great Time to Leave the Appraisal Profession 138

Leaving the Appraisal Profession

It’s a Great Time to Leave the Appraisal Profession. I can hear the chorus of my fellow appraisers rising up in disagreement with me. I envision many of them screaming, “But I love being an appraiser”! Yeah, I hear you. I loved being an appraiser too. Let’s not consider what we were but what they want us to become. First, ask yourself if you are still making a livable wage. I’m not and instead of blaming myself, I started running the numbers. In, my high value market, 18% of the solds were cash sales. No appraisal required on those! Values...

Appraisal Management Companies Take a Sizable Cut of the Appraisal Fee 97

AMCs Take a Sizable Cut of the Appraisal Fee

It still proves my point: Appraisal Management Companies take a sizable Cut of the appraisal fee… It was March 28th, 2018 that I wrote my very first blog post entitled “What’s not in your wallet?” where I went into great detail about how Appraisal Management Companies or AMCs get paid and how the consumer is not aware of the fact that the AMC is taking much of the fee while finding the cheapest and fastest appraiser. In that blog post, I gave many examples of the abuse appraisers and consumers are absorbing by these Appraisal Management Companies. How one borrower...

What Is My Incentive to Take on Trainees? 22

What Is My Incentive?

Why would I bother taking on the added risk of an inconvenient process? Where is my incentive again? As an appraiser, I have to ask (seriously) why should I care if the profession has a shortage of skilled appraisers? Logic dictates that If there is a shortage, then I will remain busy. Even if waivers (another ruse to eliminate appraisal work) increase, I’ll be busier with fewer appraisers. Especially with so many of them “trained” under PAVE or PAREA programs. If there is an adequate supply of appraisers, then users of appraisals will continue to seek cheaper alternatives from them...

Georgia State Appraisal Board Tables Proposed Rule to Eliminate C&R fee 8

Proposed Rule to Eliminate C&R Fee Tabled

Yesterday morning, I attended the Georgia state appraisal board hearing on the proposed rule to eliminate the C&R fee law they have in place. You know, the one that is similar to the one in Dodd-Frank. The Georgia appraisal board apparently is being investigated by the FTC for their law. They thought that the FTC vs the Louisiana case was a ruling in favor of the FTC when in fact it was not, and wanted to avoid any sort of notion that they were price fixing or of anti trust. The board received letters from appraisers and others in the...

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...

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 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...

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...

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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