The genesis for this essay began when I heard from another appraiser that a VA report reviewer rejected the comparables “DOC Number” on the Verification Source(s) line. The reviewer said the “DOC Number” was not acceptable as a Verification Source. In fact, VA has said in a newsletter to appraisers that “… Assessor’s File Number may never be used as a Verification Source.” I disagree with that position, and this essay explains why. It also explains what appraisers should do to provide credible Data and Verification Source(s) in reports. Caveat: I don’t do VA assignments. I decided that a deeper dive...
The safety and soundness of the housing market is the back bone of local economies, the national economy and yes, the international economy. We have barely recovered from the major financial crash of 2007/2008. Let’s not do it again! Last week we shared with you Maxine Waters and Sherrod Brown’s inquiry to the Appraisal Subcommittee inquiring on the parameters used to determine the North Dakota Appraiser Waiver approval. We encouraged each of you to take advantage of the attention on our profession and contact your representatives. VaCAP has sent letters to both the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial...
Got a low credit score and can’t get a loan? Don’t fret over it, just subscribe to a magazine. Sounds absurd doesn’t it? According to an article on MSN, banks are using other means to determine your credit worthiness. We all understand alternative credit, such as phone and power bills, but companies are now considering consumer data such as magazine subscriptions, the stores your shop at, what you purchase, what restaurants you eat at and how much you spend at them. Based on your consumer data a risk score on your ability to repay a loan is determined. For decades,...
We raised a fuss when it first came out, but we became complacent and accepted what was being dictated to us. Appraisers are supposed to be messengers of the market, right? If that statement is accurate, the question everyone needs to be asking is why appraisers are not allowed to do their jobs? Without getting into a lot a finger pointing and blame, I am just going to come right out and say it. Appraisers are to blame. Not because appraisers wanted to influence the market, but we allowed others to take control and we sat by and did nothing....
I would like to give a background as to what prompted this article. A few years back, word on the street was that the Collateral Underwriter was going to be using big data collected directly from our reports from the inception of UAD to aid in determining what should be “reasonable adjustments”. In order to be preemptive, I consulted an acquaintance of mine who just so happened to have a PhD in Statistics from Princeton. We worked through a number of real case scenario data sets to try and figure out if there was a way I could use regression...
If the DOJ investigation proves fruitful, it is possible appraisal data could be investigated as well… The Department of Justice has sent a Civil Information Demand (CID) notice to CoreLogic. The CID requires CoreLogic turn over documents and answer questions. The article by Rob Hahn explains that the case revolves around not only the search features of the MLS systems, but the contracts and agreements on the use of MLS data by CoreLogic. If this investigation proves fruitful, it is possible appraisal data could be investigated as well. If this is the case, it will be a fast rolling snowball...
Lenders Allies, LLC, an appraisal management company, has agreed to a consent order with the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board (TALCB). On May 1, 2019 Lenders Allies agreed to a final order neither admitting guilt or denying guilt of violations of Texas law. The case revolved around the investigation of a complaint against an appraiser, which then lead them to Lenders Allies. The appraiser completed 59 appraisals for Lenders Allies over a period of two years as an employee and at no time was the appraiser on Lenders Allies appraiser panel maintained by the TALCB. Was this an administrative oversight...
…criminal investigation into price-fixing… The State of Pennsylvania has filed a class action law suit against some of the biggest banks and financial institutions in the country. The claim is these companies conspired to fix the prices on almost $500 billion in bonds issued by Fannie and Freddie over a mere 5 year period from 2009-2014. The named defendants are: Bank of America – Barclays Capital – BNP Paribas – Citigroup – Credit Suisse – Deutsche Bank & Deutsche Bank Securities – First Tennessee Bank & FTN Financial Securities – Goldman Sachs – JP Morgan Chase – Merrill Lynch –...
An appraiser shared the following with us. Vintage Mortgage Firm is offering faster cheaper appraisals. New Faster Cheaper Appraisals! Three points: One: We run automated approvals with both DU (Fannie) and LP (Freddie) with the click of one button. This gives us the best chance for appraisal waivers. Have you done a purchase transaction recently with NO appraisal needed? We do them all the time. Two: As of Feb 1st, we will have access to a completely different kind of appraisal if one is needed. First step is a much cheaper $145.00 abbreviated appraisal. This information is put into our...
Many of you are aware that the GSE’s are in the process of evaluating the entire appraisal process, including the existing ‘forms.’ This initiative was announced in 2nd Qtr 2018, and reps from both FNMA and FrMac made presentations at various appraiser conferences and other places through the year to gather info and suggestions from all appraisal forms users. This new initiative was never intended to be an immediate make-over; instead, the GSE’s said it was to be an approximate 3 year process. In December 2018, the GSE’s released their Executive Summary (see PDF below) describing what’s been accomplished so...
