Category: Appraisal News

PowerLink Settlement Services Closing 3

PowerLink Settlement Services Closing

Another AMC Closing Down: PowerLink Settlement Services This information was passed along by Washington State Appraiser and Educator, Dave Towne. An AMC called PowerLink Settlement Services is expected to close down by the end of April per letter to their vendor appraisers. “Appraisers, Another AMC bites the dust, or will, by the end of April, per their letter sent to their vendor appraisers. They expect the volume of orders to taper off during March and April: PowerLink Settlement Services (and affiliates) Coraopolis, PA” The letter does indicate appraisers will be paid as long as invoices are properly submitted. It’s nice,...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / PowerLink Settlement Services

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Read That Agreement Before You Sign or Leap

Having the most unfair agreement will cause the lender or AMC to lose those appraisers I recently ran across the provision below in a new contractor agreement between an AMC and its panel appraisers, when one of LIA’s insured appraisers asked me to take a look at the agreement. The contract contained the average indemnification provision found in most unfair AMC contracts in which an appraiser promises to defend and reimburse the AMC for “any and all liabilities, damages, costs and expenses (including all legal fees) arising out of or relating to any claim, action, suit, complaint, liability, damage, or other...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / CFPB

Appraisal Complaint Hotline Usage 0

Appraisal Complaint Hotline Usage

Four Reasons Why ASA & NAIFA Urge Appraisal Subcommittee to Delay Rollout of National Appraisal Complaint Hotline On February 6 ASA, along with the National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers (NAIFA), sent a letter to the Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) urging them to delay the planned March 29th implementation of the national appraisal complaint hotline, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act. In pushing for the delay, ASA and NAIFA pointed to several issues regarding the hotline’s formation: That the appraisal complaint hotline was created in a closed process, without adequate stakeholder exposure or input; The hotline, as proposed, violates Congress’s intent...

American Society of Appraisers / Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisal Subcommittee / Appraisers News

Three Ways to Reverse the Mass Exodus of Appraisers - Hire a Trainee 3

Hire & Reverse the Mass Exodus of Appraisers

If you are doing too much and not being paid enough, you are a PERFECT candidate to hire and train a new appraiser.  Three Ways to Reverse the Mass Exodus of Appraisers I was recently in Texas at yet another appraisal conference. The man who was speaking asked everyone to stand up. There were approximately 140 appraisers in the room. He then asked for those under 30 years of age to sit down. About five people did. He asked those under 40 to sit down. About 10 more did. Under 50. About 25% of the room was now sitting. Finally,...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Business Development

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Guidance RE Exposure Time

New Guidance Helps Appraisers Analyze Exposure Time The Appraisal Institute published “Guide Note 14: Concept of Exposure Time” Feb. 12 to help appraisers understand exposure time and how to incorporate its analysis into appraisals. The guidance addresses how appraisers should link exposure time, which refers to the time a property remains on the market, to their value opinion and comply with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. The Guide Note states, “An analysis and opinion of Exposure Time is required for appraisals where the definition of value is tied to a reasonable or stipulated exposure time. A discussion of...

AI / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

Overtime Lawsuits Affecting Appraisal Firms, Lenders and AMCs - Imagecredit Flickr - Pictures of Money 1

Overtime Lawsuits Affecting Appraisal Firms, Lenders and AMCs

Are employee appraisers of appraisal firms, AMCs or lenders “exempt” from overtime pay under the FLSA? Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employees in most types of businesses are required to be paid overtime at 1.5x their hourly rate if they work more than 40 hours in a seven-day workweek, unless they are properly classified as “exempt.” As I’ll show in three cases below against an appraisal firm, a lender and an AMC, this law presents a genuine liability risk to businesses in the valuation industry. Let’s start with what should seem like a basic question: Are employee...

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

AMC Declares Bankruptcy: What Appraisers Need To Know 0

Bankruptcy Declared by AMC

AMC Declares Bankruptcy: What Appraisers Need To Know You received a letter in the mail informing you that your client has filed for bankruptcy.  It is this moment you realize that this bad news just became your problem. Many of us are familiar with the recent bankruptcy filings of Evaluation Solutions and its subsidiary ES Appraisal Services. Peter Christensen, attorney and general counsel to LIA Administrators & Insurance Services, shared in his blog that the total unpaid fees to appraisers, agents, and brokers as listed in bankruptcy documents is $11,048,411.97!  This is a remarkable amount.  Evaluation Solutions’ bankruptcy documents accounted for...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / ES Appraisal Services

Home Inspectors Appraisers Doomsday 6

Home Inspectors & Appraisers’ Doomsday

The Sky is Falling for Appraisers & Home Inspectors Chicken Little was right – the sky is falling…and landing on both appraisers AND home inspectors. Home inspectors often suffer from a general lack of respect, part of which is caused by the fact that they have no single set of national standards of practice like appraisers who have USPAP. Appraisers, on the other hand, suffer from what is commonly known as appraisal creep where the conditions and requirements of appraisal work keep expanding, but the fees for the work either shrink or stay the same. Now, forces within the government...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O / Errors & Omissions / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

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The FHA is Broke – Bailout Broke

Chairman Hensarling Announces Series of Committee Hearings Focused on Looming Financial Crisis at FHA Washington, Jan 30 – Chairman Jeb Hensarling announced today that the Financial Services Committee will hold a series of hearings throughout the year that focus on the financially troubled Federal Housing Administration, the FHA’s outsized role in the nation’s housing finance system, and the need to create a sustainable mortgage finance system. The FHA’s single-family insurance fund, which insures more than $1 trillion worth of home mortgages, has a negative economic value of $16.3 billion, according to an actuarial report released by the Department of Housing...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / Federal Housing Administration / FHA

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Is the Appraisal System Broken?

John Brenan, The Appraisal Foundation, and Melissa Cohn, The Manhattan Mortgage Company, discuss on CNBC, whether the home appraisal system is broken after the Dodd-Frank Act. …complaints are skyrocketing and many appraisers are getting low or even failing grades now. Why is this happening?

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / Dodd-Frank Act / C&R Fees / The Appraisal Foundation

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