Criminal Charges Brought Against AMC Owner VaCAP has been informed that AMC owner Brian Coester, of Coester Valuation Management Services (VMS), has new criminal charges filed against him. We have confirmed these charges through the court system public access system: Maryland Judiciary Case Search Criteria Below is a list of 19 court cases found under the name Brian Coester: Is Another Financial Scare on the Horizon? George Will, Washington Post Writers Group, has an interesting column in entitled “America is overdue for another Lehman-Like Episode”. In this article he stated that the stock market has enjoyed its longest-ever bull run. The...
Presumably, "public trust" is the foundational test. Have our institutions, rules, regulations, standards, and social expectations failed us? The purpose of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) is to promote and maintain a high level of public trust in appraisal practice by establishing requirements for appraisers. Preamble 2018-2019 Our mission is to foster the public trust of our members and the appraisal profession through compliance with the highest levels of ethical and professional standards. The American Society of Appraisers Its mission is to advance professionalism and ethics, global standards, methodologies, and practices through the professional development of property economics worldwide. The Appraisal Institute Some ten years ago, financial...
…there is a shortage of appraisers willing to work for sub-par fees and unrealistic turn around times… The American Guild of Appraisers has already heard from many of our North Dakota and nearby states members on the above request. The most recurrent complaint is that there is no numerical shortage of appraisers in North Dakota (approximately 300+-) as well as adjacent states appraisers that regularly cross over to serve client needs there (another 30 to 40+-). What I am told is that there is a shortage of appraisers willing to work for sub-par fees and unrealistic turn around times! There...
On July 31, 2018, at the Appraisal Institute Annual Conference, Fannie Mae announced the end of the 1004MC. News quickly spread among the appraisal blogosphere, and on August 7, 2018, the new Selling Guide showed that the 1004MC was no longer required. Rejoicing was heard throughout the land. Although the 1004MC is no longer required by Fannie Mae, the appraiser still needs to support their opinion of market trends, supply and demand, and marketing time. The exact verbiage found in the 8/7/18 updated Selling Guide is: The appraiser’s analysis of a property must take into consideration all factors that affect...
…surveys indicate that appraisals ordered directly by lenders take much less time… Dear Colleagues, There is a current narrative that appraisals take too long and cost the consumer too much! Does this sound accurate? Preliminary coalition surveys indicate that appraisals ordered directly by lenders take much less time than appraisals ordered by AMCs. Additionally, the cost of Hybrid Appraisals has been disclosed in reports as $495 being paid to the AMC. How is this a savings to the consumer? They get an inferior valuation product and pay the same price as a full appraisal. Who is truly benefiting from this scenario? Fannie...
Treasury Department & IRS BOTH officially adopted USPAP back in 2009… except when they don’t want to follow it… The Appraisal Foundation is once again misinterpreting the very regulations they purport to be reporting and telling consumers to be sure to follow. As a matter of fact by substituting their own verbiage for what Treasury Regulations and IRS (Final Rule) policies actually say, they could be causing extreme harm to untold numbers taxpayers. The following article includes a link that MUST be read to understand all the nuances, and which should be used as the final determinant of what is...
States Support Louisiana Real Estate Appraiser Board against the FTC States (and appraisers) are very interested in the outcome of the LREAB vs FTC to protect their own sovereign actions. On July 11, 2018, the states of Mississippi, Idaho, Iowa, Rhode Island, and Utah filed an amicus brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit supporting the Louisiana Real Estate Appraiser Board. See the entire brief here or below. The outcome of this will impact each and every one of us. As we reported a few days ago, one lender, BB&T, has opted to step up...
The answer is 153, who are individually licensed in North Dakota. I didn’t segregate the three different license types. This figure came from a download of the ASC appraisal registry of ND licensed appraisers, and not counting duplicate name appraisers with multiple licenses in other states. Many of these appraisers are ‘dual licensed’ in more than one state, in most cases immediately adjacent, but sometimes in states far distant from ND. What’s the population of North Dakota? According to Wikipedia: The United States Census Bureau estimates North Dakota’s population was 755,393 on July 1, 2017, a 12.3% increase since the 2010 United...
VaCAP has learned from one of our members, BB&T will be following the Veterans Administration Fee Schedule moving forward. They will also being reimbursing appraisers for all upload fees. This is exciting news. Please share with your contacts and clients. See the announcement below. To: BB&T Approved Mortgage Appraiser Continuing our commitment to compensate appraisers with fees which are customary and reasonable, BB&T utilizes the Veterans Administration’s published fee schedule as a foundation. We wish to inform you that we are adjusting our mortgage fee schedule to remain consistent with recent fee increases announced by the Veterans Administration to certain states in...
Treasury report calling for a more digitalized mortgage process, including the use of AVMs, hybrid appraisals & appraisal waivers… A few days ago, HousingWire reported the Trump Administration calling for sweeping changes to the financial ecosystem. In short, the article references a report by the Department of the Treasury calling for a more digitalized mortgage process, including the use of AVMs, hybrid appraisals and appraisal waivers. The HousingWire article has a link to the Treasury Report, which is 222 pages or you can click here to read the report. VaCAP has received a copy of the ASA’s response to the Treasury Report....
