Category: Appraisal Organizations

Need for Speed? AMC vs Direct Lender Ordered Appraisals TATs Study 104

Need for Speed? Hybrids are NOT the Answer!

…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...

IRS & USPAP: Substantially in Accordance with USPAP vs Being USPAP Compliant 0

IRS & USPAP

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 Back LREAB Against FTC - FNMA Ends 1004MC - Stress Test Failed? 5

States Back LREAB Against FTC

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...

How Many Appraisers Are in North Dakota? - Appraisal Shortage Saga Lingers 46

How Many Appraisers Are in North Dakota?

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...

BB&T Adopts VA Appraisal Fee Schedule & Will Refund Appraisers Upload Fees 10

Appraisal Fee Increase & Upload Fees

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...

Financial Ecosystem Changes & ASA's Response to the Treasury Report 10

Financial Ecosystem Changes

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....

AMROCK Valuations New Service Seems to Seek Circumvention of USPAP! 14

Can you say ‘L-A-W-S-U-I-T’ boys and girls?

Fellow appraisers I strongly discourage anyone from accepting AMROCK Valuations work generally due to their poor track record in dealing with appraisers across the country; and their apparent habit of making up their own appraisal rules as they go along without regard to C&R fees; Dodd Frank and most other common sense sound appraisal practices up to and including USPAP. Y’all remember USPAP don’t you? A series of uniform rules we’d all follow to promote, preserve and protect the American real estate appraisal profession and the American Public. That is until it became an inconvenient impediment to MISMO; FNMA and...

Is the Property Inspection by an Unlicensed Person Considered Assistance? 77

Is that not Significant Assistance?

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...

AMC Registration Act, Hybrids Take Another Hit, & Appraiser Liability Webinar 13

Hybrids Take Another Hit

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...

At or During? Time Period of an Appraisal Assignment - Appraisers Blogs 5

At or During?

“At the time of assignment” refers to the time period commencing… Last month, the Appraisal Standards Board (ASB) provided the ‘first draft’ of the proposed changes to the 2020-21 USPAP, which I circulated. One of the points they mentioned is a goal to make USPAP easier to read and more understandable. OK, commendable. Then on June 27, 2018, the Appraisal Foundation and the ASB released the latest USPAP Q&A “suggestions.” (The USPAP Q&A’s, AO’s, and FAQ’s are not directives, or even a ‘legal’ part of USPAP. Instead, they offer independent commentary on how a particular issue could be handled or solved, but may...

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