Monthly Archive: April 2020

Banks Show Little Appetite for Suicide 18

Banks Show Little Appetite for Suicide

More than a decade ago when the housing/credit bubble burst the focus on exiting the financial crisis was to bail out the banking industry. They were essentially insolvent and by not forcing them to “mark to market” their asset values to their new lows which would force them to declare insolvency, they survived. Banks had become reckless and in the eyes of the government and needed to be bailed out or the global economy would collapse and caveman days would return. My friend and zen-goddess of the housing data vertical Ivy Zelman of Zelman & Associates paraphrased a quote by...

The Appraisal Community, an Asset During These Challenging Times 20

Appraisers Continue to Be an Asset

The appraisal community has come together… stand strong, be resilient and continue to be an asset to your clients during these challenging times… The appraisal profession came about because of the Great Depression and our relevance is still strong today. Exceptional circumstances such as the current pandemic create a need for temporary allowances for information gathering for the valuation of collateral. The appraisal community has come together to insure our clients’ needs are met. Be it extra precautions with masks and gloves or owner assisted property inspection software. Appraisers have once again adapted to market conditions in order to provide...

Potential Tsunami of Mortgage Fraud - Deferring Appraisals for 120 Days 11

Potential Tsunami of Mortgage Fraud

Here is my take on the new ruling since I just happen to be an appraiser with 34 years of experience: Lenders have seen their mortgage volume drop because of liquidity issues (namely job loss and uncertainty about future income). Lenders are also reluctant to issue low rate loans in this situation given concerns about liquidity and lack of processing capacity, so mortgage rates are not falling in aggregate. In essence, they are slightly higher than a month ago. There is also the likelihood of declining property values going forward, so an 80% LTV could be a 100% LTV tomorrow....

Ocwen Financial Is in Trouble. Appraisers Need to Protect their Businesses 13

Ocwen Financial Is in Trouble

VaCAP concerned about Ocwen financial deteriorating condition… We have all been there; you are busy and you lose track of your accounts receivables. Suddenly, you have 45, 60 and 90 day past due invoices. VaCAP wants to remind you to pay attention not only to your receivables, but industry news to make informed decisions going forward. Two days ago HousingWire reported Ocwen Financial is in trouble with the New York Stock Exchange. According to the article, Ocwen stock has been trading below $1.00 for more than 30 days in violation of the NYSE rules. Ocwen runs afoul of NYSE after stock stays below...

Are Technology Companies Selling Modern Version of a Pet Rock? 8

Technology Companies Selling You a Pet Rock

Are technology companies simply selling a modern day version of a Pet Rock? Technology companies flaunting their real estate valuation products show us lots of pretty color charts and graphs and sell us on their products. But what would happen if someone were to ask a simple question of these technology companies… How did you determine that value? Just imagine for a moment you are testifying in court and counsel asks you how you determined your opinion of value. The appraiser could answer that question without hesitation. Simply, you know what you did. Even follow up questions could be answered...

COVID-19 Issues Addressed & Interior Inspections Liabilities 29

COVID-19 & Interior Inspections Liabilities

Pay attention to Phil Crawford’s comments on interior inspections and the liability that goes with them… Fannie and Freddie have come out with updated guidelines for appraisals. There is much confusion on what is and what is not required. The below matrix simplified what is allowed by Fannie Mae. Additional questions and answers can be found on Lender Letter LL-2020-04. The unknown to the appraiser is the ownership of the loan. Appraisers must rely on the lender or amc for that determination. VaCAP wants to remind each and every one of you that regardless of what an amc or lender...

Veros Suspect Forecast Displays their Lack of Understanding of the Crisis 16

Veros AMC Suspect Forecast

As real estate appraisers, we are the best source of market insights to the consumer because we aren’t paid on commission. One of the things that appraisers should not do, is pretend to know what will happen in the aftermath of the Coronavirus. No one knows at this point because the Coronavirus itself hasn’t reached its Apex so there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Sure we can speculate about the future, but there are no specific numbers to back that up. That’s why a recently shared report by the AMC known as Veros is so irresponsible....

The Greatest Recession - The Hesitance to Accept Modified Appraisals 18

The Greatest Recession

The Greatest Recession is now spreading across the US. The investor’s hesitance to accept modified appraisals without interior inspections will prevent the real estate market from leading this country out of “The Greatest Recession” now spreading across the US… Appraisers provide an essential financial service according to the verbiage I’ve read from The Department of Homeland Security and various sources. We are exempt from “stay at home” orders. The State of Colorado has defined appraisal services and appraisers as providing an essential financial and professional service. Colorado says that appraisers are exempt from stay at home orders. An abundance of...

COVID-19 Legal & Risk Issues for Appraisers - Appraisers Blogs 5

COVID-19 Legal & Risk Issues for Appraisers

Free video webinar: “Legal and Risk Issues 2.0 for Real Estate Appraisers Stemming from the COVID-19 Crisis.” Scheduled for April 10, 2020 at 9:30 a.m. Pacific. For those who cannot watch live, a video recording and the presentation materials will be made available here shortly after the webinar. In this second Valuation Legal webinar for appraisers relating to COVID-19, I will be joined by attorney Claudia Gaglione of Gaglione, Dolan & Kaplan LLP. She is the national claims counsel for the appraiser professional liability insurance program managed by LIA Administrators & Insurance Services. We have worked together on appraiser liability...

Desktop Appraisal Not the Same as Hybrids - Suggestion for Doing Them 7

Desktop Appraisal Not the Same as Hybrids

A modified desktop appraisal is NOT anything like hybrid/bifurcated reports promoted by some AMCs and lenders… Appraisers, I have a correspondence relationship with an appraiser within one of the ‘agencies’ who this past week issued new guidance for “modified” reports, including desktops. I’m not allowed to say who, or which agency, but I have actually met the person at a conference, and the individual has been in this industry about 99 years, give or take a few – no…lots! The person provided this suggestion for those of you who are beginning to do the new desktop appraisal, regardless of which...

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