Author: Guest Author

Assigning Blame 0

Assigning Blame

Even though the redirection of blame is an ancient approach to avoid taking responsibility for ones one actions, this seemingly innocuous tactic has become the leading downfall to the financial industry today. Consider, the consequences of shifting blame: The actual party who has made poor lending decisions escapes taking responsibility, and often times will even get promoted. Thus the initial behavior does not change. Since the poor decision has not been corrected, the pattern will continue. Redirecting the blame combined with the continuation of the faulty decisions expands the direction of investigation, because now a larger pool of appraisers appear...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Political Action

American Guild of Appraisers Member John Dingeman Reinstated from Chase "Black List" 2

John Dingeman Reinstated from Chase “Black List”

American Guild of Appraisers Member John Dingeman Reinstated from Chase “Black List” NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — After a fight that lasted more than fifteen months, involving Chase Manhattan Bank, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), American Guild of Appraisers (AGA) member John Dingeman was vindicated when Chase agreed to reinstate him to be eligible for appraisal assignments.  AGA is an affiliate of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), AFL-CIO. Dingeman was placed on Chase’s “Black List” in May 2012 after he refused to release information...

AGA / Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / CFPB

2014-15 USPAP Modifications 0

2014-15 USPAP Modifications Released

2014-15 modifications to USPAP become effective 1/1/2014 In preparation of the new 2014-15 modifications to USPAP effective January 1, ASA’s Ethic’s Committee has prepared a brief summary outlining the modifications. The Appraisal Standards Board (ASB) 2014-15 modifications to USPAP become effective January 1, 2014. These modifications include: Revisions to the DEFINITIONS of “Assignment Results” and “Scope of Work” — Based on comments received, there was a need to clarify the definition of ‘Assignment Results.’ In an appraisal assignment, assignment results currently include more than just the appraiser’s opinion of value, as the appraiser is responsible not only for the opinion...

American Society of Appraisers / Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / ASA

Simplicity is Genius 1

Simplicity is Genius

As the title states, simplicity is genius. Every once in a while I read reports where the appraiser wishes to blazon their diction; demonstrating their professional expertise and industry knowledge to such a degree that absolutely no one can understand their findings or opinions of value. Also what he said was “Simplicity is Genius”.It is at those times that I remember a very simple, humble man who taught me to appraise and to live and enjoy my life. He would say to me, ”Never look too sharp, or speak too wise.” Also what he said was “Simplicity is Genius”. In...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

Why are Appraisers Furious at Fraud by their Peers while Corporate Lawyers are Complacent? 1

Appraisers Furious at Fraud by their Peers

Why are Appraisers Furious at Fraud by their Peers while Corporate Lawyers are Complacent? I have done a series of articles about the efforts of honest appraisers (which began in 2000) and loan brokers to alert the lenders, the markets, and the government to the twin fraud epidemics (appraisals and “liar’s” loans) committed by lenders’ controlling officers that drove the financial crisis. Honest appraisers could have profited greatly by becoming dishonest appraisers who would be given the lucrative assignments by fraudulent lenders’ controlling officers and their agents. Instead, honest appraisers suffered serious losses of income because they refused to succumb to...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

1

Appraisal Guidelines

In the August edition of the AppraisalPort Newsletter, I reported on some of the general information covered at the National AI Connect Conference in Indianapolis, July 23-25, 2013. This was a great conference, covering a wide range of topics. This month, I want to pass on some information covered in one of the breakout sessions for residential appraisers. The session was titled, “Residential Chief Policy Roundtable” and included presentations from Fannie Mae’s Robert Murphy, the Appraisal Institute’s Bill Garber, HUD’s Ada Bohorfoush, and the VA’s Gerald Kifer. At Fannie Mae, Murphy handles many of the issues regarding appraisers and the...

AI / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

Review Appraisers Need to be the Voice of Reason 9

Will the Madness Ever Stop???

Review Appraisers Need to be the Voice of Reason Having spent the day commiserating with my fellow appraisers, I have to admit the policies and procedures of most reviewers, underwriters and lenders have finally crossed the line from insane to inexplicable. It was bad enough, 23 years ago when an appraiser was asked to document two independent sources of data or to provide interior photographs to show each room. Then not to long ago some appraisal management companies started to believe that when FHA asked for two photos to show an oblique view, they actually meant the appraiser had to...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Federal Housing Administration

Appraisers Feeling the Heat as Housing Market Warms Up 1

Appraisers Feeling the Heat as Housing Market Warms Up

Appraisers will always be key players in the real estate housing market’s blame game no matter what the market is doing. Appraisals were difficult to do after the housing market collapse of 2007 because of the lack of recently sold comparables that they had available to determine the property’s true value. Now that the Orlando real estate housing market is hot again, appraisers say that it doesn’t make their job of valuating a property an easier. Many Orlando realtors complain that appraisals often complicate real estate deals by either forcing the sellers to lower their price or by making buyers...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

Extinction of the Appraisal Industry - Image courtesy of Nujalee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net 23

The Imminent Extinction of the Appraisal Industry?

Late yesterday afternoon a bill was introduced in the House of Representatives that would alter the mortgage process and ultimately the way millions of Americans receive a mortgage. HR 1108 would eliminate the need for an appraiser to appraise a home prior to the funds being disbursed to the

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisal Technology

Real Estate Appraisers Warned us About the Crisis but We didn't Listen 2

Appraisers Warned Us but We Didn’t Listen

Federal actors could have responded to the appraisers’ warning and prevented the crisis On July 9, 2013 I participated in a radio interview with a lobbyist for the 100 largest financial firms. The San Francisco radio program host asked me what question I would ask the lobbyist and I said that any discussion should begin with allowing him to state his view of what caused the crisis. In the course of his explanation, he bemoaned the fact that there was no warning about the crisis. I found this ironic because I had just published that morning an article about how the...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / FDIC / Petition