Regulations state that appraisal adjustments cannot be based upon an appraiser’s opinion. According to federal and state law, adjustments must be based on support and evidence- proof if you will, and an appraiser’s opinion is not considered to be “support.” Many appraisers have failed to support their adjustments and as a result have had their licenses revoked, penalties assessed and lawsuits lost, all because the they failed to understand a single but important requirement. Think about your appraisals. Are the adjustments based on your opinion or do you have proof of the adjustment in your workfile? Then one day I...
Real Estate Appraisers of America: Declare appraiser independence by prohibiting lenders from having any ownership or stake in the real estate appraisal process. This declaration of the real estate appraisal workers of the United States of America and those who stand together with the appraisal industry is made subject to the understanding that commercial and financial events guide growth and development of society, and that financial products and services are integral to the necessary and successful health of our citizens. It is further understood and recognized that the fair and independent valuation of underlying assets backing financial products are critical...
Utah Study on Customary & Reasonable Fees for Residential Appraisals An online survey of both Utah mortgage lenders and Utah licensed and certified residential real estate appraisers was conducted to discover customary and reasonable fees for residential appraisals throughout Utah for 2013. Federal regulation pertaining to customary and reasonable fee studies specifically “excludes compensation paid to fee appraisers for appraisals ordered by appraisal management companies.” Therefore, this study does not include appraisal fees paid by appraisal management companies to Utah appraisers. Two surveys, one for lenders and one for appraisers, were prepared to capture the unique demographic and background information...
The CFPB has ordered Amerisave and Novo to pay $14.8 million… The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced Aug. 12 that it fined mortgage lender Amerisave Mortgage Corp., its affiliate, Novo Appraisal Management Company, and the organizations’ collective owner, Patrick Markert, $19.3 million for allegedly luring prospective borrowers with misleading interest rates and trapping them with inflated appraisal fees. The CFPB claimed that the lender and its affiliated AMC violated the Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act by enticing tens of thousands of borrowers with deceptive advertising and then illegally overcharging them for third-party services. The...
Some appraisers are now being targeted in lawsuits by an entity named “Mutual First, LLC.” It has filed at least 35 lawsuits since May. Mutual First is not a bank, credit union or any kind of regular financial institution. It’s an entity aiming to make money for investors by suing appraisers. Based in Texas, it acquires foreclosed loans for small fractions of the original principal amounts. It then files lawsuits against the appraisers who performed appraisals years ago for the original lenders who made the loans. In its lawsuits, Mutual First claims that the appraisers are liable to Mutual First...
HVCC… the shady truth We all got gut punched by Andrew Cuomo’s HVCC, the most of which were the appraisers. Well now the shady truth about it’s conception is here. HVCC. We all remember it. Basically is was a total drag. Unless you owned a huge AMC that is. Which by the way virtually all the banks did. It was totally counter productive to the industry and real nuclear bomb to our collective equity as a nation. Well as it turns out, one of Cuomo’s buddies actually got the ball rolling on it as long as he and his company got total immunity. Which...
Fannie Mae’s Murphy stated that over the past year, the GSE had been focusing on “quality” and “condition” ratings of comps used in multiple appraisals by the same appraiser and found many cases where the appraiser has changed the quality and/or condition ratings on the same comparable from appraisal to appraisal. Now, based on the examination of the Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) data, Fannie Mae’s focus for the next 12 months will be on adjustments. The data indicates that many appraisers are not using…
Some stats on Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs) Most AMCs are small companies. 86% have annual gross revenue less than $10 million. Conversely, 13% have annual gross revenues of over $50 million. AMCs are more frequently adopting a “cost plus” pricing model for their services. This means they charge a separate fee for their service and are transparent about their fees paid to an appraiser. (Note: Arizona Appraisal Statute requires appraisers to disclose the fees they have been paid by an AMC in the Scope of Work section of the appraisal). 35% of the AMCs surveyed are headquartered in the western...
Did Citigroup Get Off Easy With $7 Billion Penalty? Citigroup will pay $7 billion to resolve claims it misled investors who purchased shoddy mortgage-backed securities that helped lead to the financial crisis six years ago, Reuters reported July 14. The deal includes the largest civil fraud penalty ever levied by the U.S. Department of Justice. The multi-billion-dollar settlement is more than twice what many analysts expected but less than the $12 billion the government sought in negotiations with Citigroup. All those who argue about the causes of the real estate crisis cannot discount yet another billion dollar settlement. Over and...
AMC Staff: “HELLO! Bill. Could I please speak to Villiam?” At least one appraisal management company (AMC) put a new accent on appraising by having the point of contact be in another country—specifically, a call-center in India. According appraiser Bill Streep, this is how the conversation went: Bill Streep: “Hi, this is Bill.” AMC Staff: “HELLO! Bill. Could I please speak to Villiam?” Bill Streep: “This is Bill.” AMC Staff: “Yes, Bill. I need to speak to Villiam.” Bill Streep: “My name is Bill, it’s short for William.” AMC Staff: “Yes… (insert long pause) Could I please speak to Villiam?”...
