Most independent appraisers are paid ‘by the job’ and are issued 1099’s for the payments made. Appraisers who are ‘staff appraisers’ for specific clients are considered EMPLOYEES, and are issued a W-2 for income paid to them. Independent appraisers should not create an EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP until and unless that is specifically what is desired… I’ve been having a respectful discussion with a California appraiser, who believes (as do others) that just because a particular client requests a certain kind of appraisal report be completed using an online web based report form, then that action constitutes establishing an EMPLOYEE relationship with that...
The most beneficial part of participating in live CE classes is what you learn from other professional appraisers attending… The Best Decision You Will Make in 2020! What was the one thing your parents answered your “Why” questions with that made you angry every time? You have probably said it to your own kids as well. “Because I said so” would get you every time. You knew you were never going to win that argument, whatever it was about. VaCAP is not going to tell you “Because I Said So”. But we are going to explain to you why you...
2019 is winding down with just one more day remaining. As we reflect on the past, the changes we have seen and the growth we have endured, our hearts are warmed with the accomplishments we have obtained. Appraisers are no longer sitting back and letting others dictate our future. Have we won every battle, no; but our voices are being heard and our regulators are taking notice. Legislators, consumer groups and even Realtors are speaking up in favor of the licensed professional appraiser. This begs the question, are appraisers really professional? According to Webster’s Third International Dictionary a profession is...
USPAP does not define the term arm’s-length transaction. Fannie Mae also lacks such a definition. Yet, both of them call for the appraiser to use only arm’s-length transactions as comparable sales… How often do we appraisers get into the mode where we think we know it all? Occasionally, do we need to step back and look at the way we do things, just to make sure we are not missing something? Is what we know to be true and correct really true and correct? I raise this issue relative to the concept of what an arm’s-length transaction is. Are we...
AMCs are legally required to do appraisal report reviews… Appraisers, an appraiser shared AMC appraisal report review documents with me, which the appraiser was given. I have not seen these before. See the PDF embedded below for an example. Per state laws in the various states, AMCs are legally required to do appraisal report reviews per provisions of their state AMC license on up to 5% of the reports they process. AMCs must keep the results of those appraisal report reviews on file for a specified time period, and of course, send the review document to the client lender pertaining to the...
So, do you think it’s ok to do bifurcated hybrids? On January 31, 2018, what appeared to be egregiously deficient Clear Capital “Clear Value” bifurcated hybrids were exposed in AppraisersBlogs. See What IS a “ClearVal Appraisal”? The properties were in Georgia. The appraisals were performed on a desktop basis by an appraiser in Indiana. Total fee was $250. Out of that $250, AMC Fee was $225, and the Indiana desktop appraiser was paid $25.00. Keep that fee in mind as you read through the attachments. Two complaints were filed by AGA™. One with the State of Indiana, and one with...
Only the lender’s Underwriter should be able to request changes to the report and the lender should be the one that pays the appraiser… An appraiser associate was having a discussion with one of the head review appraisers at HUD and the reviewer noticed that the Plat Map in the report did not correspond with the site size reported in the URAR form 1004. The appraiser stated that the public record and the Plat map did not agree with each other and that he chose the figure shown in public records. The reviewer questioned why he would choose the public...
See the announcement by the Veterans Administration basically telling lenders and appraisal management companies we are going to protect our Veterans with sound appraisal practice. …the person providing property information to the appraiser must have entered into an agreement with the appraiser to do so. …the person who provides to the VA fee panel appraiser information must sign the appraisal report in the “Appraiser” section of the left side of the appraisal report. Assisted Appraisal Processing Program (AAPP) This section authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Secretary to issue guidance explaining the conditions under which VA permits VA fee...
By no means are we promoting bifurcated appraisal products… “Credible valuations of real property are critical to the health of the overall real estate industry; therefore the practice of bifurcated/hybrid appraisals must be regulated” There has been lots of talk over the past few weeks about bifurcated appraisal products. First came the announcement form Working RE Magazine they were conducting a survey on bifurcated appraisal products. VaCAP recommends every appraiser complete the survey if you have not done so already. Next came rumors that Mark Calabria, Director of FHFA stopped all pilot programs which included bifurcated appraisals and appraisal waivers. Working RE Magazine published an...
Recently one of my Mastermind students asked about Intellectual Property. He told me that he’d had an associate leave his firm to go solo. Later, he was reading one of his former-associate’s reports and found the now-independent associate’s reports looked a lot like his in format, and even language. My student asked me if this was wrong. Well, I’m not a lawyer, but there are some sound issues to consider here. If you write something, if you are its author, it is your intellectual property. You can either trademark it (like a logo), or copyright it (like a novel). We...
