Tagged: LSI

AMC Liability for Deficient Appraisals - Can They Be Sued for Negligence? 14

AMC Liability for Deficient Appraisals

…may AMCs be liable for the deficient work of contractor appraisers? Can AMCs be sued for negligence? Can they be sued by borrowers?.. It’s now been a decade since the market relevance of appraisal management companies surged in connection with the procuring of appraisals for residential lending. Since then, interesting recurring legal issues have arisen relating to AMCs’ potential liability for the work of contractor appraisers: when and how may AMCs be liable for the deficient work of contractor appraisers? Can AMCs be sued for negligence? Can they be sued by borrowers? Here’s an overview of the answers to these...

MISMO Blueprint... The Evil Octopus - AppraisersBlogs 4

The Evil Octopus

Appraisers, it’s not paranoia when ‘the bastards’ really are out to get you (end us as a profession). …Find each octopus and how they relate to our jobs. Look at MISMO Directors list… An Open Letter to Appraisers: Residential & Commercial This started as a response to a blog post by a respected appraiser concerning the influence of AMCs. During drafting it was clear that trying to explain AMCs was only part of the bigger struggles we face today. Picture a violent “all in” three-way gang fight among Octopi. Say a dozen on each side. That’s 36 Octopi x 8 tentacles...

Unintended Use & Misleading Appraisal Reports 13

Unintended Use & Misleading Appraisal Reports

Unintended and Potentially Misleading At what point do we ALL say enough? When they insist on unlocked PDF, XML or ENV formats that facilitate recipients in removing portions of appraisal reports they don’t like? Too late. When they blacklist appraisers for refusing to make post effective date contract analysis changes? When they set the fees we charge? When they change the scope of work after assignments are completed? When they LIE to borrowers about how much the ‘appraisal fee’ is? Now we have several that think THEY own MY professional work product? Like HELL they do! Any, repeat, ANY appraiser...

Computer Generated Value vs Human Brain 1

Computer Generated Value vs Human Brain

Around 1992, representatives of LSI (long before they became completely useless as an AMC) visited us in California to discuss some way to involve automation (as in AVMs) to eliminate appraisals. When I pointed out that they had JUST THANKED me for saving them from a quarter of a million dollars over valuation as a result of pressure from one of their very influential customers, and that the very same issue had arisen from that customers misapplication of data AND their potential misinterpretation of that data, they understood the connection. A KNOWLEDGEABLE human appraiser was required to resolve the difference....

LSI Fees - Absolutely Criminal! 15

LSI Fees – Absolutely Criminal!

We used to do a lot of work for LSI back when they paid semi decent fees that were only about 10% below the competitive norm back around 1992. I think the norm was around $300 and they were paying $275+/-. In late 1992+/- they cut back to $235. We lost a few people but most stayed. Bear in mind the appraisers were being paid on a fee split. I think they got 50% of the firms fee. I was on salary for QC review and teaching work plus a split fee for field reviews. Back then it was much simpler to...

Another Overtime Class Action Filed Against an AMC - Imagecredit Flickr - moppet65535 1

Another Overtime Class Action Filed Against an AMC

A lawsuit filed last week by a former staff appraiser against LandSafe Appraisal Services, Inc. exemplifies the overtime liability risk faced by many appraisal firms and appraisal management companies. In February, I wrote that overtime lawsuits by appraisers present a genuine liability risk to appraisal firms and AMCs.  In that article, I explained some of the special issues relating to whether appraisers properly can be treated as “exempt” employees for purposes of overtime compensation.  The real-world risk to an appraisal firm or AMC is that a staff appraiser will file a legal action alleging that he or she worked more...

REVAA FAIR appraisal fees 18

REVAA and FAIR Approach for Appraisal Fees

REVAA and FAIR Call for Market-Driven Approach for Appraisal Fees Washington, DC (PRWEB) July 14, 2011, Donald Kelly, executive director, Real Estate Valuation Advocacy Association (REVAA), appeared today before the House Financial Services Committee, Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing, and Community Opportunity to testify on behalf of REVAA and the Coalition to Facilitate Appraisal Integrity Reform (FAIR) on Mortgage Origination: The Impact of Recent Changes on Homeowners and Businesses. The testimony comes just prior to the Federal Reserve Board transitioning its rulemaking authority to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Members of REVAA and FAIR advocate that the Federal Reserve Board,...

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Mysterious “Notice of Claim”

This post is for appraisers who have received a document entitled “Notice of Claim — Appraiser” relating to lawsuits filed by the FDIC (see example below). We have received multiple reports from appraisers and defense counsel about the mysterious “Notice of Claim.” The notices are so far nearly identical and state that the FDIC has filed a lawsuit for damages against one of two AMCS (either CoreLogic-eAppraiseIT or LSI Appraisal) based on one or more of the recipient appraiser’s appraisals and that the appraiser may be the subject of claims for negligence by one of those AMCs or by another...

FDIC case money 1

FDIC Settles Claims Against WaMu

The FDIC Settles Claims Against WaMu’s Top Officers. What’s the FDIC’s Case Against LSI Appraisal Worth? In March of this year, the FDIC sued Washington Mutual’s former CEO Kerry Killinger, its former chief operating officer Stephen Rotella and its former head of residential lending David Schneider for $900 million in alleged damages resulting from their “gross negligence” in running WaMu’s residential lending business. The FDIC claimed that their negligence caused what it is the biggest bank failure in U.S. history. It also alleged that two of them unlawfully transferred assets to their wives to protect the assets from potential collection efforts. Despite those...

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