Appraisal news for real estate appraisers and real estate professionals regarding CoreLogic® Valuation Services, a residential property information, analytics and services provider. News relating to Appraisal Management Companies and how they affect the Appraisal Industry.
I heard from a number of appraisers about their adverse situations involving CoStar… It was announced on Feb. 4, 2021 that CoreLogic will be sold, with the transfer happening in the April-June 2021 time frame. See Inman news service article, “CoreLogic Acquired By Stone Point Capital, Insight Partners For $6B – Inman”. From the article: The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, subject to shareholder approval. See another news source here. CoreLogic currently owns several companies with ties to appraising: A la mode – appraisal report software Columbia Institute – appraiser education service provider Matrix...
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...
US House Financial Services Committee Hearing on Appraisals – The subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance is holding a hearing entitled “What’s Your Home Worth? A Review of the Appraisal Industry” on June 20, 2019 at 2:00 PM. The hearing is open to the public and can be lived streamed. To find out more about this hearing, go to the US House Financial Services Committee website. Contact the Representatives on this subcommittee. Make sure consumer protection is at the forefront at this hearing and not the profits of the GSE’s. Are the representatives aware the GSE’s are sending unlicensed,...
Hybrid hucksters always argue “Why can’t trained professionals like brokers or insurance inspectors” perform the appraiser’s field inspection. The answer is because ‘trained professionals’ like those noted don’t work for $25 an inspection; are unwilling to give up their day jobs for a chance at a single $25 inspection one or two days a week, AND if they are truly trained professionals, to begin with, they are unwilling to work for part-time income of $0 to $25 a day in vain hope of having a periodic 8 or 16 inspection day (assumes all 16 are side by side since there’d...
Recent Cyber Attacks on CoreLogic and a Large Appraisal Firm Expose a Real Business Risk to Valuation Firms and Companies. As two recent attacks show, cyber crimes pose a real risk – legally and economically – to appraisal firms, management companies and other businesses involved in property analytics. If an operation like CoreLogic can be victimized by criminal hackers seeking property information, as it was in an attack earlier this month, any valuation firm or property analytics company is at risk. And, more seriously, the losses suffered by an appraisal firm in the separate cyber attack discussed below demonstrate how...
I saw a posting by another appraiser on a Facebook page on February 5, 2019 that MCS Valuations, based in Lewisville, TX, is closing shop. They are an AMC, and provide BPO’s and other real estate related services. The appraiser posted a letter from the company. They will not be placing any more appraisal assignments, but are asking appraisers to finish any assigned reports already in the pipeline. What’s really striking about this closure is that in 2014, MCS Valuations bought ‘components’ of CoreLogic’s associated entities that CoreLogic no longer wanted in their business! February 5, 2019 This communication is to inform...
…complete elimination of appraisal as part of their fully automated loan processing objectives… Our work as appraisers & appraisal issue advocates is certainly cut out for us all in 2019. I think appraisal unity is going to be needed if we are all to take on the adverse issues affecting us. That includes AI. They still have a large number of honest, & competent members. I think the rest of us will have to let AI take care of AI issues. I’m not averse to butting heads with them on specific issues when necessary but alienating them rather than seeking...
Appraiser Overtime Lawsuits Continue to Hit Banks and AMCs – and Now Commercial Appraisers Against a National Commercial Appraisal Firm In May, I wrote a short piece (posted here) about the legal threat posed to AMCs, appraisal firms and other employers of appraisers in relation to classification of appraisers as exempt from overtime. I included a warning that the threat was spreading to commercial firms. It’s time for an update. In August, another bank – U.S. Bank – was sued for unpaid overtime by a potential class of appraisers. Also named as a defendant to the class action is U.S....
…specific prohibited direction to appraisers involved in federally regulated transactions… Improper direction to appraisers as a new special lender condition Honorable Ladies and Gentlemen: The following article appeared in a recent online post at https://appraisersblogs.com/appraisers-asked-2-overlook-weed-cultivation (also copied to this letter following our inquiry). We consider the original author to be a credible source. Due to the serious implications of any appraisal management service giving such specific prohibited direction to appraisers involved in federally regulated transactions we believe it to be our duty to bring this to your collective attention. We respectfully request that each Federal Regulatory Agency review this issue...
…Battles over alleged misappropriation of trade secrets relating to residential valuation technology and services… AMCs and Lenders Fighting Over Next Generation Valuation Products and Technology The residential valuation business for mortgage lenders has been taking big steps lately toward wide scale replacement of the historical Uniform Residential Appraisal Report (URAR or 1004) form used in mortgage lending. As this movement happens, some would-be providers of replacement valuation products (such as “hybrid” appraisals) and automated valuation models (AVMs) are fighting over technology turf and trade secrets. There are currently three big legal battles over alleged misappropriation of trade secrets relating to...
