Category: AMC

PS - Never Quit! - Appraisers Are Fighting Back all Over the County! 4

PS – Never Quit!

Here we are over 3 and a half years after the article titled “I Do Not Quit, Not Ever!“. No one has quit yet. AGA™ is now a tax-exempt 501(c)(6). We have successfully renegotiated our affiliation agreement with OPEIU and AFL-CIO. The articles of incorporation revised our previous articles of association. In the past two years Jan Bellas and the National Appraiser Peer Review Committee have helped in excess of 185 appraisers get off blacklists; be reinstated with lenders and assisted those wrongfully accused in defending themselves before state regulatory agencies. Anyone that’s dealt with Jan Bellas KNOWS she doesn’t...

USDA Appraisers Alarmed by Verdi Consulting & Clarocity's Engagement 17

Appraisers Alarmed by USDA’s Poor Decision

Verdi Consulting has no business being involved with appraisals… they have fraud examiners that should have done some due diligence on Clarocity… Nope, not going to happen… I received an email from what appeared to be from USDA. As a long time USDA appraiser, I opened the email: Verdi Consulting, Inc. has been engaged by the United States Department of Agriculture, Rural Development Office as one of two vendors under a Blanket Purchase Agreement (“BPA”) for Nationwide Single-Family Housing Origination Appraisals. The USDA has provided your information as a preferred incumbent Vendor Appraiser. We would like to invite you to...

Appraisal Fee Transparency Falls Short - Appraisal Complexity Ignored 9

Appraisal Fee Transparency Bill Falls Short

No system that continues to allow (or limit) defining appraisal complexity to the lender or AMC will ever achieve reasonable, or fair compensation for the appraiser…. We need to do much better than “half a loaf” in our appraisal legislative efforts. Especially when that half loaf does no more than enshrine continued price-fixing by lenders; with the support & blessing of REVAA… WorkingRE published news of recent House of Representatives action. The Bill addresses consumer disclosure of AMC fees among other issues. While the American Guild of Appraisers applauds the efforts of those that worked in good faith on this,...

Appraisal Fee Transparency Act of 2019: Pivotal Point for Appraisers 21

Fee Transparency, Pivotal Point for Appraisers

…appraisers may finally have a chance at making the goal of fee transparency a reality… Keep your eyes open, events are happening fast. Ever since the passage of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) in 2010 and the monumental rise of Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs), one of the main issues appraisers have pressed for is transparency for consumers in terms of the fee split between appraisers and AMCs. Specifically, how much of the actual “Appraisal Fee” being paid by the consumer goes to the licensed real estate professional and how much is withheld by the AMC “manager.” Now, over...

Game Over ServiceLink - AMCs Appraisal Schedule Fees Made Public! 61

Game Over ServiceLink

Now that ServiceLink fee schedule, indicating fees paid to appraisers and fees charged to the lenders, has been released to the public, there is absolutely no reason for in camera review… We are sure you have heard the old saying what goes around comes around, right. Well, here we are again; The FTC vs Louisiana Real Estate Appraisal Board case has been brought back into the spot-light. As you may recall, the LREAB filed a civil case against the FTC in attempt to stop the case against them. That case was denied due to lack of jurisdiction. Then the LREAB...

Appraisal Waivers and Hybrid Appraisals False Narrative - Quality Matters 23

Appraisal Waivers and Hybrid Appraisals

The fallacy of those who endorse Hybrid appraisals is their assumption that the appraiser’s field work is less valuable, less important, than their analytical work behind a computer. They feel the task of inspecting the property and driving comps is best farmed out to someone else with less training. The real truth is that the field work is critical! There is no way an appraiser can credibly analyze a property through the eyes of another… The Need for Speed: In a previous post entitled The Need for Speed, I explained that lenders and Appraisal Management Companies are on a mission to shorten the...

Appraisal Waiver Questioned by Legislators- Asking ASC for Justification 8

Appraisal Waiver Questioned by Legislators

Late Friday afternoon, VaCAP learned the Financial Services Committee Chairwomen. Maxine Waters and Senator Sherrod Brown, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking Housing and Urban Affairs, sent a letter to the Appraisal Subcommittee Chairman Arthur Lindo inquiring around the circumstances of the North Dakota Appraisal Waiver that was granted a few months back. The exact verbiage used in the letter to describe the waiver was “unprecedented with minimal justification.” This speaks volumes as to their concern. Congress has repeatedly recognized the essential role that appraisals play in both safety and soundness and consumer protection. That is why it is...

War on the Appraisal Industry. Another Great Real Estate Depression 11

The Collective Rot

Over 11,000 appraisers signed that petition… The US Congress completely ignored it and, as a result, The Great Real Estate Depression followed. Déjà vu: Or is it Déjà Poo (I’ve heard this crap before)? The Collective Rot Growing Within the Shadows of the Great Real Estate Depression We are just 11 years past the beginning of the Great Recession. Some estimate the US suffered a $14 trillion loss in wealth. Others estimated the loss as high as $21 trillion. This event is more commonly referred to as The Great Real Estate Depression by those of us who are or were in the real estate industry...

Crowdsourcing Appraiser Data - Hyper-Local Database - Appraisers Blogs 32

Crowdsourcing Appraiser Data

Just imagine the possibilities of having a hyper-local database… If you are not in the business of data you will be out of business. I’m not sure if I heard this somewhere or not, but this mantra has been in my head for a while now. Being in the data business is essential for every business today. We see it across all industries where the companies that embrace data are still in business, and the companies that didn’t make that pivot are out. In our profession we saw Fannie Mae get into the big data business with the creation of...

USRES AMC incompetence 20

AMC Incompetence in Appraisal Management

I’m told USRES routinely sends orders to out of state appraisers for orders in areas they don’t work in. Is this indicative of the Home Point Financial “We care” motto? ATTN: Executive Leadership Gentlemen, see attached copy of an Alabama appraisal order placed by your AMC, USRES. Among our many other efforts on behalf of appraisers and promoting appraisal quality, we periodically communicate directly with lenders that use AMCs. We do this to make sure they are aware of any substandard practices or services that may be offered in their name. This particular issue is not an isolated instance. Though...

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