Category: Appraisal Management Companies

Banks, Servicers and Lenders Should Be Barred from Having Ownership Interest in an AMC 1

Banks, Servicers and Lenders Should Be Barred from Having Ownership Interest in an AMC

Ownership Interest in an AMC At the NAR midyear Legislative Meeting in DC, the question of the appraisal epidemic and the problems associated with AMCs and HVCC were discussed. David Stevens, the current President of the Mortgage Bankers Association and the immediate past commissioner of FHA, brought up the appraisers’ geographical incompetence, a violation of the Standard. The question is, ask Frank Garay & Brian Stevens, hosts of the TBWS Daily Show, why is he bringing this up now, when he is the President of MBA and cannot do anything about it. And why didn’t he voice his concerns while...

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Appraisal Institute Warns Appraisers About Liabilities When Working with Some AMCs

CHICAGO (May 12, 2011) – The Appraisal Institute today cautioned real estate appraisers about signing agreements imposed by some appraisal management companies that seek to hold residential appraisers responsible for AMCs’ actions. Its president warned that consumers could be the ultimate losers. “Appraisers should be very careful about signing any agreement, especially one that makes them responsible for another party’s actions,” said Appraisal Institute President Joseph C. Magdziarz, MAI, SRA. “While there are some fine AMCs doing business today, many AMCs shift liability onto appraisers. For many professional appraisers, it’s simply not worth the risk.” Magdziarz, as president of the...

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FDIC Files Appraisal Complaint Against LPS and CoreLogic

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has filed a complaint against Lender Processing Services and CoreLogic related to appraisals performed for Washington Mutual, HousingWire reported May 11. The FDIC is seeking to recover roughly $283 million in losses allegedly tied to appraisals that an LPS subsidiary and a CoreLogic affiliate conducted for WaMu. The FDIC took WaMu into receivership in 2008 and facilitated its sale to JPMorgan Chase. WaMu had a total of $307 billion in assets at the time. HousingWire reported that regulatory filings by the two companies indicate that the FDIC alleged LPS Appraisal LLC and CoreLogic Valuation Services,...

NAR Releases Statement on Appraiser Independence 3

NAR Statement on Appraiser Independence

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a statement supporting the independence of appraisers and the appraisal process on their website while expressing their concerns about interference in the appraisal process. The NAR Appraisal Committee will meet this Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at 8:00 A.M at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, 2660 Woodley Road, NW, Washington, DC. One item sure to be a topic of discussion is the recently released Statement on Appraiser Independence. NAR Statement on Appraiser Independence “The role of the appraiser is to provide an independent and impartial analysis of real property. This analysis is a critical component of...

TAVMA Letter RE C&R Fee Stipulation & Appraisers Online Petition 1

TAVMA Letter RE C&R Fee Stipulation & Appraisers Online Petition

TAVMA strongly disputes the substance of the on-line petition Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Re: Interim Final Rule – Customary and Reasonable Fee Stipulation Dear Ms. Johnson: The Title Appraisal Vendor Management Association (“TAVMA”) wishes to express its views about the misinformation being disseminated by appraisal organizations and publications about the Federal Reserve’s Interim Final Rule and Appraisal Management Companies (“AMC’s”). TAVMA is a national trade association of real estate settlement services providers including many leading appraisal management companies. Some appraisers continue to attack AMC’s by asserting that the DOD Frank Act, TILA...

Landsafe appraisal service agreement - appraisers are gatekeepers 4

Aren’t Appraisers the Gatekeepers of our Collective National Equity?

LandSafe Appraisal Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America, recently released its latest “Appraisal Services Agreement” to its panel appraisers. The agreement includes, among others, indemnifications of LandSafe against any liability, and loss of intellectual rights. If this goes through and appraisers agree to sign this new agreement, other AMCs will follow LandSafe’s lead and produce their own version of Appraisal Services Agreements. LIA Insurance has reviewed the new LandSafe Appraisal Services Agreement. The review is available to LIA’s insured appraisers and READI members but others can also view it by registering with code 201700. The whole idea of appraisers as...

AGA Meets With Rep. Barney Frank to Discuss Fed's Rule on Appraiser Independence & Reasonable & Customary Fees 1

AGA to Discuss Appraiser Independence & C&R Fees

…excluded from Reasonable and Customary fee surveys… The American Guild of Appraisers (AGA) / Guild 44 of the Office and Professional Employees International Union, AFL-CIO met with Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) on April 14 to discuss the Guild’s concerns with the Federal Reserve Board’s Interim Final Rule (Rule) regarding Appraiser Independence. With the implementation of the Rule issued April 1, 2011, the Federal Reserve has introduced faulty regulation that implicitly fails to capture Congressional intent to reform the appraisal process and Appraiser Independence and the necessity to promote the use of market driven, Reasonable & Customary (R&C) fees for various...

Lenders May Still Profit Most from Appraisal Fees 3

Lenders May Still Profit Most from Appraisal Fees

Lenders May Still Profit Most from Appraisal Fees, writes Kenneth Harney WASHINGTON — When you pay $450 to $550 at settlement for an appraisal on a  home purchase or refinancing, do you assume that all or most of the money is  going to the appraiser who comes to the house and performs  the valuation? That’s logical, but probably not correct. Despite new Federal Reserve  regulations that took effect April 1 requiring lenders to pay appraisers fair  fees, growing numbers of them say they are still being offered $200 to $250 —  even as low as $134 —  for work that...

Questions Regarding Customary and Reasonable Fees? 0

Questions Regarding Customary and Reasonable Fees?

Where To Direct Questions and Comments Regarding Customary and Reasonable Fees There has been a lot of confusions about where appraisers can direct questions and comments regarding customary and reasonable fees. The Appraisal Subcommittee has recently posted the following information: The appropriate agency to receive your concern about a creditor’s compliance with the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), including the creditor or the creditor’s agent paying an appraiser a customary and responsible fee, is the agency that enforces TILA for the creditor. If the agent or appraisal management company (AMC) is affiliated with a federally-regulated creditor, the appropriate agency to receive...

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Appraisers Online Petition Opposing AMC fees as C&R

Appraisers online petition opposing use of AMC fees as Customary & Reasonable Please consider signing the online petition launched by appraisers and written by George Hatch, opposing the use of AMC fees as Customary & Reasonable: Federal Reserve Board to Clarify Customary and Reasonable Appraisal Fees On October 18, 2010, the Federal Reserve Board announced an interim final rule to Regulation Z of Title 12, also known as the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). One of the elements to Regulation Z is a binding requirement upon creditors and appraisal management companies to ensure that appraisers who are not employees of...

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