Tagged: fees

The Lack of Transparency in Appraiser Compensation 12

The Lack of Transparency in Appraiser Compensation

The current system of bundling appraiser compensation with third-party fees can lead to confusion and frustration for both appraisers and consumers.  In their letter to the ASC, NAR highlighted the importance of appropriate compensation for appraisers. They stated that fair and reasonable compensation is critical to attracting and retaining high-quality appraisers, as well as allowing them to invest in their skills and education. However, the current system lacks transparency when it comes to reporting appraiser compensation. The issue lies in the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures (TRID) form, which requires an aggregate appraisal fee to be reported. This means that the fee...

Another bad word to avoid 54

Another ‘Bad’ Word to Avoid!

To lighten the load somewhat from discussions about current highly restrictive language use in appraisal reports that tends to circumvent actual reality and truth – which can positively or adversely impact property market value, replaced with only generic, non-offensive words, I present this cartoon. It’s another word to avoid using: Obfuscation of real and accurate market data using correct written descriptions, replaced with wokeism to foster an unworkable ideological agenda, is one reason why skilled appraisers are shifting their work to non-mortgage lending clients who actually want to understand the true reality of regional and neighborhood areas, and how market...

AMC Engagement Letter: Do Not Include Your Invoice 16

AMC Engagement Letter: Appraisers Do Not Include Your Invoice

File the complaint against the AMC yourself OR Forward the engagement letter to VaCAP to file on your behalf.  At the recent Virginia Appraisal Board Meeting on Wednesday June 28th, a discussion occurred about Appraisal Management Companies prohibiting appraisers from including their invoices with the appraisal report. The overall consensus of the Board Members was this practice could be a violation of Virginia Appraisal Management Company Statute § 54.1-2022 B. “B. The appraisal management company shall not prohibit an appraiser from disclosing in the appraisal report the actual fees charged by an appraiser for appraisal services, and shall otherwise comply...

Your Trade Has Been Under Assault for Years 5

Your Trade Has Been Under Assault for Years!

Your trade has been under assault for years. The de minimus rule was the first I sensed of the end of your trade. I am going off of vague memory but I think it was 1997, and at the time, the near majority of my town was below the $250,000 threshold, as were 90% of the towns adjacent. I remember an old horse telling me the handwriting was on the wall for him and his kind. As I reflect on it there have been repeated efforts to pare down the costs of borrowing by trimming fees for title and other...

FastApp AMC Alleged Violations of Appraiser Independence Requirements 52

Fastapp AMC Alleged Violations of AIR

The following court documents in the case Naftali Horowitz v. [xxx], Fastapp AMC founder v. Fastapp AMC president, confirm what appraisers have been saying all along, that if you want high-volume AMC work, you have to lower your fees to 1980’s level, have 24 hour turn times, and, above all, be a number hitter. Horowitz, Fastapp founder, filed a lawsuit in New York court on January 31, 2022 against defendant to, among other things, remove the defendant as an officer and director of the Company because, when he brought her on as shareholder in 2020, he claimed that she made...

Average AMC Appraisal Fee 2021 vs 2022 134

Average AMC Appraisal Fee to the Appraiser

Average AMC appraisal fee to the appraiser: AMCs are taking far more of the borrower-paid fee this year than they did last year.  Appraisers, I recently sent out a message asking appraisers to send me three data points comparing borrower-paid appraisal cost, and average AMC paid assignment fees in October, November 2021 and the same months in 2022 – for SFR assignments. My intent was to provide actual useful AMC-paid fee data compared to what the borrower pays for ‘the appraisal’, without revealing specific fees in any particular location. Replies to that message were much less than I expected, and only...

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...

Appraisers Can Do These Property Data Reports for Appraisal Waivers 32

Property Data Reports for Appraisal Waivers

These Property Data Reports have a higher level or different reporting requirements than ordinary traditional appraisals. Appraisers, on Tuesday 5/24/22, an AMC sent a message to their appraiser panel appraisers asking them if they’d like to ‘help their lender clients’ by doing Property Data Reports (PDR). Let’s decipher what this is all about. Freddie Mac has decided, that as of Sunday, July 17, 2022, they must have a PDR (Property Data Report) completed “by someone” in order for the loan applicant to qualify for an appraisal waiver in conjunction with a mortgage loan. In other words, actual qualified eyeballs must...

How to Destroy the Appraisal Profession: Government 101 45

How to Destroy the Appraisal Profession

Anytime the government gets involved in an issue, it tends to have more adverse effects than positive ones. It makes things worse when they only have their plan in mind and NOT the FACTS from the people they are about to hurt. This is especially true in the Real Estate Appraisal profession and the newly introduced H.R. Bill entitled: Fair Appraisal and Inequity Reform Act of 2022. It’s essential to bring some information that not one person in the government or the people they are getting information from is talking about. First let’s step into my time machine and go...

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