Is the property inspection by an unlicensed person considered assistance? We came across an article written by fellow appraiser, George Dell. Some of you may have heard of him, read his blog, or taken one of his classes. This article “What is a Hybrid?” hits home to many of us and thought it was worthy of sharing. Those promoting hybrid appraisals have been claiming USPAP compliance. Well anyone who has ever taken a USPAP class knows no form or product is USPAP compliant. The appraiser’s actions are what make a report USPAP compliant. In George’s article he points out the discrepancies...
Registration Act, reinserts the definition of “appraisal firm”… Bifurcated (Hybrid) Appraisals Take Another Hit Last week VaCAP shared some information questioning the legality of these products in Virginia. This week Phil Crawford, Voice of Appraisal, talks about the ethical side of them and how appraisers completing these could be on the receiving end of legal actions. Listen to show E206 at Voice of Appraisal NAR Appraiser Liability Webinar On July 17, 2018, the National Association of Realtors along with Peter Christensen from LIA, presented a Webinar on liability issues for appraisers. A strong concern about the certifications exists that open up liability...
Contract Date / Acceptance Date Study expanded. VaCAP did a sample study this past winter to determine the number of days from contact ratification to appraiser acceptance from both amcs and lenders. The results were a 9 day difference with amc’s taking 18 days and lenders only 9 days to assign the appraisal. We have just asked our sister coalitions to complete this survey as well. for a larger data pool and are asking every appraiser to once again participate to help our industry. This information will be used to counter the narrative the appraisal is taking too long. Below...
Lately there has been a push for bifurcated (hybrid) appraisal products. Those promoting these questionable products claim it will reduce the amount of time to obtain an appraisal. Most appraisers are screaming foul play, and for good reason. It is because of bad players doing questionable things that licensing became mandatory in Virginia. Mandatory. Licensing of appraisers protects the public trust. We all know splitting the process will not save time, but rather create delays. The only reason for this questionable product is the profit of the amc, nothing more. And then there is the quality of the information being...
A Rebuttal to Real Estate Agent Slamming the Appraisal Industry… Forbes recently published an opinion article that attacked the appraisal industry and placed all the blame on appraisers for real estate transactions falling through due to a “low” opinion of value. The article was written by a real estate agent out of Arizona. While he raises some good points, he is conflating a lot of issues together. 1) He does point out that there are bad appraisals. We all know that. There are bad appraisers just like there are bad agents who have clients list a property far above any...
Appraisers, it’s not paranoia when ‘the bastards’ really are out to get you (end us as a profession). …Find each octopus and how they relate to our jobs. Look at MISMO Directors list… An Open Letter to Appraisers: Residential & Commercial This started as a response to a blog post by a respected appraiser concerning the influence of AMCs. During drafting it was clear that trying to explain AMCs was only part of the bigger struggles we face today. Picture a violent “all in” three-way gang fight among Octopi. Say a dozen on each side. That’s 36 Octopi x 8 tentacles...
…we continue to ask for very quick turn times to outperform the competition… Appraisers, I received a message today from an appraiser who provided the email from an AMC (below). I have redacted the lender’s name (primarily to avoid getting my skin scorched), but it’s a big one in the US that you see in TV commercials, on radio, in print, and social media outlets. The email demonstrates the prevailing and long-running attitude among just about everyone connected to mortgage lending, whether they be AMC’s or direct placement lenders. It originates at the very top of these organizations. It’s a very...
As many of you know Fannie Mae (along with Freddie Mac) has launched an initiative which they label “modernizing appraisals”. This initiative consists of two distinct facets: 1) “modernizing”, or redesigning the forms which are utilized and 2) “modernizing” the processes involved in producing a valuation including the inspection process, data collection, etc., up to the delivery of the completed report. In the pursuit of this goal Fannie Mae has pledged to leverage stakeholder input, and of course appraiser input is both valuable and critical in this regard. In gathering stakeholder input Fannie Mae reached out to VaCAP, and invited...
…courts have ruled if the information is included in the report and relied upon, the appraiser is responsible for the information… Last week representatives from VaCAP attended The Appraisal Foundation Advisory Committee (TAFAC) and Industry Advisory Council (IAC) joint meeting. We promised a recap of the events, however, both The Appraisal Foundation and Jonathan Miller have already released a summary and did an outstanding job. To read about the event, simply follow this link. The one thing every appraiser needs to understand about the new hybrid product is their liability; specifically the appraisers has 100% liability for the report and the information...
Appraiser Disciplinary Complaints: Who is Filing Them? What for? We were doing some research for a project and came up with some basic data that appraisers may find interesting about disciplinary complaints to state appraiser licensing agencies. Who files the complaints? What’s the basis? Well, here’s some data from claims reported to LIA Administrators & Insurance Services in the last three years: Source of disciplinary complaints reported by LIA insured appraisers, April 2015 to April 2018: 61% Borrower or purchaser 16% Seller 8% AMC 6% Lender 5% Miscellaneous (litigation party, estate beneficiary, other appraiser,...
