Category: Appraisal News

September 20, 2022

What Is My Incentive?

Why would I bother taking on the added risk of an inconvenient process? Where is my incentive again? As an appraiser, I have to ask (seriously) why should I care if the profession has a shortage of skilled appraisers? Logic dictates that If there is a shortage, then I will remain busy. Even if waivers (another ruse to eliminate appraisal work) increase, I’ll be busier with fewer appraisers. Especially with so many of them “trained” under PAVE or PAREA programs. If there is an adequate supply of appraisers, then users of appraisals will continue to seek cheaper alternatives from them...

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

September 15, 2022

Appraisal Foundation, Like Khloe Kardashian, Rattled Tin Cup for PPP Alms

Yet it applied for $270,706 in PPP relief intended to aid small businesses, such as the mom-and-pop appraisal shops coerced at the state level into participating in the foundation’s privately run regulatory regimen… Wearing a scoop-neck black catsuit from her brand’s High Shine Compression line, media personality Khloé Kardashian, whose net worth has been reported at $60 million, turned heads recently at Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila launch party in Malibu. What could this fashionista and socialite have in common with the Appraisal Foundation, an obscure publisher with a government franchise and guaranteed annual grants from a tiny captured federal agency?...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisal Subcommittee / Appraisers News / ASC

September 13, 2022

Grants to Help Train Appraisers

To establish grants directly to supervisor appraisers to help cover the training costs for each Trainee… Folks, this article appeared in American Banker on September 7, 2022. In my view, after reading it, the article appears to present a balanced perspective about what appraisers have been experiencing since the FIRREA law was mandated back in 1989. It also exposes problems with getting new people into the appraisal profession. If you have been paying attention to appraisal related activities over the years, you will recognize the names of people quoted in this American Banker article. One thing that has not been...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / The Appraisal Foundation

How Can an Eminent Domain Attorney Help You?

September 9, 2022

Why Hire an Eminent Domain Attorney?

Taking private property for public use is one of the most powerful government actions under the constitution. The exercise of this power is commonly known as condemnation. The power itself is referred to as the eminent domain power. Eminent domain can occur at the federal, state, and local levels of government. If you are notified that your home, land, or property will be condemned for a public use, you will likely have many questions that need answers. That is when you may wish to consult with an eminent domain attorney; someone who is experienced in eminent domain law and can...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

September 7, 2022

Restoration Value Magicians!

And just like that, real estate appraisers from across the country have now added a new line item to their résumés, websites and marketing material: RESTORATION VALUE MAGICIAN. Oh wait, haven’t some AMCs and others already claimed to be such magicians when it comes to this topic? The pandering and save face attitudes of some of these organizations is concerning. Instead of looking at the big picture of infrastructures, the neighborhoods, the cities and more, to determine what sort of things can help areas identified as “Black neighborhoods”, they want to blame the appraisers. Here is a thought. How about...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

Appraiser Bias Allegations Unmask Nonbank Lenders Debt Traps

September 2, 2022

Appraiser Bias Allegations Unmask Debt Traps

Claims of tainted appraisal unmask something else… the renewed “churning” of mortgages by nonbank lenders. Convinced racism torpedoed valuations in their home refinancings, the owners of three properties in the San Francisco Bay Area told their stories to Julian Glover, a reporter who covers the race, culture and social justice beat for ABC’s San Francisco affiliate. Similar claims of tainted appraisals have surfaced in Philadelphia, Chicago and, more recently, Maryland. A civil lawsuit was filed in one of the cases in a federal district court. A claim was dismissed Wednesday based on a flaw unrelated to the case’s core allegation...

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

August 29, 2022

Baltimore Racial Bias Lawsuit

When reading over the Baltimore document, it appears painfully clear (to me) that there is a competency issue exposed. Folks, below is the Baltimore court paperwork for the latest appraiser bias suit that recently ‘hit the fan.’ This document is fairly specific, in that it reveals quite a lot about the two appraisals performed, including the home locations for the ‘comps’ used. The attorneys representing the plaintiffs are from the same Washington, D.C. firm that The Appraisal Foundation hired to examine USPAP. That firm was the one which has provided new ‘discrimination avoidance’ verbiage being considered in the USPAP Third...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice / USPAP

August 25, 2022

Appraiser Miller Wins

Appraiser Miller wins important claim in racial discrimination lawsuit. Judge ruled Plaintiffs did not rely on Miller’s appraisal. The other claims continue but this was an important claim. It also shows the Plaintiffs lied to the Court. ORDER GRANTING MILLER DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT; DISMISSING PLAINTIFFS’ SEVENTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF AS ASSERTED AGAINST MILLER DEFENDANTS; VACATING HEARING. In their Seventh Claim for Relief, 2 plaintiffs allege the Miller Defendants negligently misrepresented “that they were providing an unbiased appraisal of [the Austins’ house],” and that the Austins “reasonably relied” on such representations “in attempting to secure a mortgage...

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

August 18, 2022

Racial Targeting Under the Heading of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

This time around, the racial targeting is masked as a virtue under the heading “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” or “DEI.” Valuation Jiu-Jitsu Will Lead to Future Addie Polks Addie Polk was a 91-year-old African-American widow who shot herself in the chest in 2008 during a Fannie Mae-initiated eviction in Akron, Ohio. It marked the low point in Fannie’s embrace of toxic mortgages. Fannie, now in federal conservatorship, bought or guaranteed subprime loans made to vulnerable borrowers in the years leading up to the 2007-2008 financial crisis. There are now signs of new abuses. Under the banner “equity and inclusion,” some...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / Trending

August 16, 2022

No End Date for Future Editions of USPAP

Future editions of USPAP will have an effective start date but no end date. Folks, on Thursday August 11, 2022, the ASB/TAF announced the extension of the current USPAP to the end of 2023. Assuming that a ‘new’ USPAP is formally approved in time, the next issue of USPAP will become effective January 1, 2024. But here’s the interesting wrinkle about this, which I admit I missed in their 8/11/22 announcement: “How long is the current version of USPAP effective? With this announcement, the 2020-21 USPAP will now have an effective date through December 31, 2023. This is an additional...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisal Subcommittee / Appraisers News / AQB