Category: Appraisal News

An appraisal is not THE opinion of value - Imagecredit Flickr - takomabibelot 0

An Appraisal is not THE Opinion of Value

My opinion of value is well-supported… Some of you are going to need to hang up your ego hats for this one. You know who you are. I see you hanging out on the online appraisal forums. You are the ones who do not just have an opinion, but THE opinion. Don’t worry, I will let you put it back on before I am done. As appraisers, we are often asked a question similar to this, “Why can two professionals appraise the same property, yet come up with two different values?” It is an excellent question, and one that has...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

FHA Appraisers Increased Liability & Responsibilty with New FHA Requirements 27

FHA Appraisers Increased Liability with New Requirements

FHA Appraisers Increased Liability & Responsibility with New FHA Requirements Excerpt New FHA Requirements Put More Responsibility and More Liability on FHA Appraisers After reviewing the new HUD handbook, my overall conclusion is that there were not many changes to the overall requirements other than the word MUST. The prior handbook was a list of items that should be completed and verified whereas the updated HUD handbook clearly states that the properties MUST meet these items and the appraiser MUST verify the items in question. The following is a list of FHA requirements that MUST be completed and verified by the appraiser....

AAREA / Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / Arizona Association of Real Estate Appraisers

Protect Yourself with a Limitation of Liability Clause . Limitation of liability clauses are contractual provisions used to cap the liability of a party to a contract or transaction. - Imagecredit Flickr - Tax Credits 3

Protect Yourself with a Limitation of Liability Clause

Set Your Limits and Protect Yourself with a Limitation of Liability Clause In a recent case on the West Coast, a certified general appraiser was sued for professional negligence by a commercial lender. The lender had made a high-interest, short-term loan to an  investor/developer for the purchase of a large parcel of land that the borrower planned to subdivide and sell as mini-ranches. The property was appraised for approximately $5 million in 2007, and the lender had loaned $3.2 million. Within months after closing, the borrower’s project began sputtering because of the financial crisis, and by early 2009, the borrower was in default. The property sold at...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O / Errors & Omissions

Unpermitted additions assignment condition 1

Unpermitted Additions “Zombie” Assignment Condition

Unpermitted Additions This is a “zombie” assignment condition that seems to never die. Let’s agree that unpermitted means something was constructed without a required written permit. There are plenty of jurisdictions that don’t issue permits because the permit process doesn’t exist. The assignment condition goes something like this: The appraiser is not to include any GLA from any unpermitted additions unless they use comparables that have similar unpermitted additions. Here’s what Fannie Mae stated in their September 2014 FAQs: If the subject property features an unpermitted addition, can the square footage of the unpermitted addition be included in the total gross living area reported on the appraisal report? If the appraiser has identified an addition(s) that does...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

Appraiser soon to be jailbird - convicted of a felony for incorrectly reporting the last sale date of property in an appraisal used to defraud a lender in a mortgage fraud scheme 4

Appraiser Soon to be Jailbird for Fraud

In a million dollar mortgage fraud scheme Appraisers, An appraiser in NY state has been convicted of a FELONY for incorrectly reporting the last sale date of a subject property in an appraisal report, which was used to defraud a lender in a million dollar mortgage fraud scheme. You can read the full story here. Per the info in the story: “Essig is the owner and operator of Essig Appraisals, an appraisal company that specialized in residential appraisals. According to statements made in Court today during Essig’s plea, Essig admitted that he made a false entry in an appraisal that...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Quality Monitoring / Appraisers News / AQM / Collateral Underwriter

Appraisers Blacklisted 24

Blacklisting Lawsuit Continues

Appraiser Michael J. McSwain filed a lawsuit against Yadkin Valley Bank and the appraisal management company (AMC) StreetLinks Lender Solutions, alleging that he was retaliated against for failing to reach targeted values.

According to the suit, McSwain performed two appraisals for StreetLinks in late 2012, on behalf of Yadkin Valley Bank, both of which failed to “meet value.” The suit cites explicit emails from the branch manager at Yadkin which state:

“StreetLinks has sent out a BUTCHER on two of my last refis [sic] … make sure he is not sent out in our county and make sure he is not on the approval list…I thought I would let him do these two just to see. NOW THE DEALS ARE DEAD.”

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

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What Should an Appraiser Do?

Burdensome indemnity language required by a lender or AMC Appraisers are often required to sign lengthy contracts to obtain assignments from lenders or Appraisal Management Companies. These contracts outline the scope of work, when the assignment is due, how to transmit reports and other items that require review and understanding. Once the contract is formalized, the appraiser is then legally required to comply with its’ provisions. One important and often troublesome requirement is the Indemnity Provision. The concept of indemnity means “security against hurt, loss or damage”. Through indemnity, one party can shift the responsibility of loss to another party...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O

Scope Creep - Appraisers 4

Scope Creep!!!

Seems like everyone hates AMC’s and scope creep. Scope Creep!! I ordered a sub at a sub shop. I love tomatoes! So I asked for extra tomatoes. I was charged. I took my car in for inspection. I told the mechanic since my car was up in the air and the tires were off to rotate the tires. I was charged. BUT, the tires were off. The cook’s hand was in the tomatoes. WHAT’s up? I was asked for two listings. I wanted to charge. I did a restricted report on an office building (sales comp approach only). The client called and wanted a cap rate, then an expense ratio. They refused...

AI / AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News

Bottled water and Automated Valuation Model (AVM) - Lie 4

Bottled Water and AVM – Sold on a Lie

How about bottled water? Advertising is a powerful tool and very smart people will do some very dumb things, if they are properly motivated. There are many examples of how advertising creates an illusion and how we all fall victim (at least for a while) to smooth ad campaigns. One great example is automobile insurance rates. “Switch and Save. Every insurance company ran ads promising savings over their competition. Well, of course, they all can’t be true, but for over a year there was a massive switch in policies by consumers. The ads worked. How about bottled water? News shows...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models / AVM

Going the distance in USPAP 3

Going the Distance in USPAP

Arbitrary distance limitations…. When I was in private practice, much of my litigation work took me to Somonauck, Sandwich and Plano, Illinois. That’s about 45 miles west of where I live. Still, I had so much work in those areas, you’d think I had an office there. However, if I were working for many AMCs, I’d have been considered too far out of my area for the assignment. Some AMCs, under the guise of authenticating geo-competency, restrict assignments to Illinois certified appraisers based upon arbitrary distance limitations. Most typically seen are 15 miles for urban/suburban locations and 25 miles for...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

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