Tagged: R&C Fees

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Appraisal Management Companies Create More Problems Than They Solve

When the final chapter on this housing crisis is written, I hope that I am still around to see those who were responsible for its cause and the feeble attempts to fix it held responsible. One of the worst fixes is the Home Valuation Code of Conduct. Enacted in 2009, HVCC was spearheaded by then New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. His objective was to rein in appraisal abuses by the lenders sending loans to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. A noble goal, but by the time this so-called fix went into action many of the worst offenders were either...

MBREA Meeting with Congressman Frank RE Customary & Reasonable Fees 1

MBREA Meeting with Congressman Frank RE C&R Fees

Update on MBREA Meeting with Congressman Frank Regarding Customary & Reasonable Fees One of our readers forwarded MBREA’s email following up on the meeting with Congressman Barney Frank about Customary & Reasonable Fees. “We recently reported about a meeting MBREA had with Congressman Barney Frank. Congressman Frank is aware of the appraisal professions concerns about customary and reasonable fees and has been working with the Federal Reserve on its interpretation of the statute. Congressman Frank wrote in a followup letter to MBREA Government Affairs Committee Chair, Allan Cohen, “…I am especially sensitive to any misinterpretation of legislation we enacted because...

An Appraiser's Response to LandSafe Appraisal Services Agreement 9

Appraiser’s Response to LandSafe Appraisal

Appraiser’s Response to LandSafe Appraisal Services Agreement In April of 2011, LandSafe Appraisal Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America, released its “Appraisal Services Agreement” which included, among others, indemnifications of LandSafe Appraisal Services against any liability, and loss of intellectual rights. Many appraisers stood firm and refused to sign the agreement. Heather Fox, a Certified Residential Appraiser in Virginia, CEO of Cross Country Appraisal Inc. and President Elect of VaCAP, responded to LandSafe Appraisal Services with this letter: To: Landsafe Vendor Panel Management Team I will not be signing the appraiser agreement. I have known I would...

Negative Repercussions of HVCC & Dodd-Frank Act - VaCAP 3

Negative Repercussions of HVCC & Dodd Frank Act – VaCAP

Virginia Coalition of Appraiser Professionals (VaCAP) Letter to Senator Warner Addressing the Negative Repercussions of HVCC and Dodd Frank Act Dear Senator Warner: In response to the devastating effects of the legislative changes that have crippled the appraisal profession and undermined the quality of appraisals, appraisers throughout Virginia have joined together to educate the public, raise consumer awareness, protect appraiser independence, and work toward effective legislation that will benefit us all. We have now formed the Virginia Coalition of Appraiser Professionals (VaCAP). VaCAP appreciates this opportunity to present to you the position of appraisers across the state regarding federal legislation as it...

Congress help regulators 1

Help Regulators Take Proper Aim

Help Regulators Take Proper Aim, Appraisal Institute Tells Congress CHICAGO (July 14, 2011) Testifying before a Congressional subcommittee, the Appraisal Institute’s president-elect on Wednesday told lawmakers their intent was “right on target” and asked them to “guide the regulators’ aim” in implementing consumer-friendly real estate appraisal guidelines. Sara W. Stephens, MAI, told members of the House Financial Services’ Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity that the Dodd-Frank Act passed by Congress last year is not being properly implemented by federal regulators. Among other highlights, the Act calls on appraisal management companies (AMCs) to pay “customary and reasonable” fees to residential...

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Residential Appraisals: Opportunities to Enhance Oversight of an Evolving Industry – GAO

Yesterday, the GAO released its analysis of the Real Estate Appraisal Profession and its regulatory framework titled Residential Appraisals: Opportunities to Enhance Oversight of an Evolving Industry. Full report can be reviewed or downloaded below. Summary of analysis: Real estate valuations, which encompass appraisals and other estimation methods, have come under increased scrutiny in the wake of the recent mortgage crisis. The Dodd- Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Act) mandated that GAO study the various valuation methods and the options available for selecting appraisers, as well as the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC), which established appraiser...

NAR Releases Statement on Appraiser Independence 3

NAR Statement on Appraiser Independence

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a statement supporting the independence of appraisers and the appraisal process on their website while expressing their concerns about interference in the appraisal process. The NAR Appraisal Committee will meet this Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at 8:00 A.M at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, 2660 Woodley Road, NW, Washington, DC. One item sure to be a topic of discussion is the recently released Statement on Appraiser Independence. NAR Statement on Appraiser Independence “The role of the appraiser is to provide an independent and impartial analysis of real property. This analysis is a critical component of...

TAVMA Letter RE C&R Fee Stipulation & Appraisers Online Petition 1

TAVMA Letter RE C&R Fee Stipulation & Appraisers Online Petition

TAVMA strongly disputes the substance of the on-line petition Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Re: Interim Final Rule – Customary and Reasonable Fee Stipulation Dear Ms. Johnson: The Title Appraisal Vendor Management Association (“TAVMA”) wishes to express its views about the misinformation being disseminated by appraisal organizations and publications about the Federal Reserve’s Interim Final Rule and Appraisal Management Companies (“AMC’s”). TAVMA is a national trade association of real estate settlement services providers including many leading appraisal management companies. Some appraisers continue to attack AMC’s by asserting that the DOD Frank Act, TILA...

Landsafe appraisal service agreement - appraisers are gatekeepers 4

Aren’t Appraisers the Gatekeepers of our Collective National Equity?

LandSafe Appraisal Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America, recently released its latest “Appraisal Services Agreement” to its panel appraisers. The agreement includes, among others, indemnifications of LandSafe against any liability, and loss of intellectual rights. If this goes through and appraisers agree to sign this new agreement, other AMCs will follow LandSafe’s lead and produce their own version of Appraisal Services Agreements. LIA Insurance has reviewed the new LandSafe Appraisal Services Agreement. The review is available to LIA’s insured appraisers and READI members but others can also view it by registering with code 201700. The whole idea of appraisers as...

Lenders May Still Profit Most from Appraisal Fees 3

Lenders May Still Profit Most from Appraisal Fees

Lenders May Still Profit Most from Appraisal Fees, writes Kenneth Harney WASHINGTON — When you pay $450 to $550 at settlement for an appraisal on a  home purchase or refinancing, do you assume that all or most of the money is  going to the appraiser who comes to the house and performs  the valuation? That’s logical, but probably not correct. Despite new Federal Reserve  regulations that took effect April 1 requiring lenders to pay appraisers fair  fees, growing numbers of them say they are still being offered $200 to $250 —  even as low as $134 —  for work that...

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