Category: Appraisal News

UAD Redesign Timeline 5

UAD Redesign Timeline

Appraisers, to see more about the upcoming new UAD currently in design, read the Updated Timeline link in the message below. My concern at this point is ‘training’ materials will be available in Q4 2024, but actual implementation of the ‘new reporting process’ won’t begin until Q3 2025 with limited production, into 2026. Note that in the future “form numbers” won’t be used. Instead, the assignment instructions will be based on a scope of work for the loan process on the particular Subject property. As someone who’s potentially interested in ‘training’ appraisers on the new process, it seems to me...

Class Valuation Requests for Proposals 82

Class Valuation Requests for Proposals

It turns out they were actually rejecting your proposals and not your bids!  It’s time to grab your popcorn and settle in for another round of AMC shenanigans. Last week, Class Valuation, the esteemed AMC known for their impeccable reputation, sent out an email to appraisers claiming that they do not “bid for the cheapest and fastest appraisal.” Instead, they send out a request for proposal, because apparently, they are now a Fortune 500 company looking for fancy proposals from appraisers. Just imagine the appraisers scrambling to put together PowerPoint presentations and fancy graphs to impress Class Valuation. But hey,...

Damned If You Do and Damned If You Don’t 34

Damned If You Do and Damned If You Don’t

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t has become the new normal in the real estate appraisal profession. The government and those that write the rules have made it illegal (a punishable violation) to refuse an appraisal assignment in an area which consists primarily of non-whites. The government and those that write the rules also state the purpose of an appraisal is to determine the value of the home/property in its market setting, so an underwriter can make a lending decision. Back in the day, this protected the lender from lending more than the home/property is worth. It also...

False Claims of Racism Against Appraiser 40

False Claims of Racism Against Appraiser

…my career, business, and health at risk due to false claims made by a homeowner.  As a professional real estate appraiser with many years of experience, I have seen my fair share of disputes between homeowners and appraisers. However, the situation I am about to share with you is one that has left me shocked and appalled. It is a story of false claims, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and the damaging effects of a homeowner’s actions on an appraiser’s career, business, and health. It all started when I appraised a veteran’s home for a potential refinance. From the very...

HUD Mulls Use of Convicted Felons to Ramp Up 'Discrimination Testing' 29

HUD’s Use of Convicted Felons to Ramp Up ‘Discrimination Testing’

It wants to bootstrap released felons by allowing them to work as so-called “fair-housing testers” for the many nonprofits HUD provides grants to… If the rule is changed, the HUD-subsidized nonprofits could hire felons to ramp up sting operations against real estate brokers, leasing agents, mortgage loan officers, escrow officers, title officers, appraisers, property managers and others.  Few would argue that society doesn’t benefit when convicted felons are rehabilitated and re-integrated. But according to a frequently cited study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about two-thirds of released prisoners are arrested for a new crime within 3 years, and three-quarters...

McKissock Ditches PAREA 31

McKissock Ditches PAREA

On January 1, 2024, McKissock announced that they were pulling the plug on their PAREA project. The primary factor contributing to this cancellation was the substantial resource cost, which exceeded initial estimates and resulted in a higher-end price for customers. This decision was made with the recognition that a higher cost would create a new barrier to entry into the appraisal profession, potentially hindering individuals from pursuing a career due to financial constraints. Happy New Year to you and yours. We hope this letter finds you well. With a strong commitment to responsibility and transparency, we want to inform you...

Foreclosures in Black Communities Due to Overvaluation 13

Foreclosures in Black Communities Due to Overvaluation

What were the results? Most had foreclosures. They bought a house worth much less than they paid for it and never planned or budgeted to make a mortgage payment in the first place.  About 2 years before the crash of ‘08, I ran across a company out of DC called “Metro Grapevine” and “Metro Dream Homes.” It was a Ponzi scheme marketed by a black to blacks only. It was by invitation only. They promised if you bought your home through their program, they’d pay it off in seven years and you never had to make a payment. The requirement...

Biden's Remark on Home Values Sparks Backlash 41

Biden’s Remark on Home Values Sparks Backlash

President Biden’s recent comment about the discrepancy in home values between Black and white families has sparked backlash on social media, with many accusing him of being a “divider”. During a campaign speech at Charleston Church in South Carolina, Biden stated that homes owned by Black families are often valued at less than those owned by white families, even if they are built by the same builder. “Today, a home owned by a Black family on one side of a highway, built by the same builder on the other side of the highway & a white guy living in it,...

Limitations for Damages Against Appraisers 0

Limitations for Damages Against Appraisers

Why would any damages against an appraiser be more than the actual fee paid to the appraiser?  House Bill 53 has been introduced into the 2024 Virginia General Assembly, directly impacting Virginia Real Estate Appraisers. The legislation introduced by R. Lee Ware places a statute of limitations for damages against appraisers and appraisal management companies at 5 years. SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED: Actions against real estate appraisers or appraisal management companies; statute of limitations. Provides that no action for damages or other relief alleging that a certified general real estate appraiser, a certified residential real estate appraiser, a licensed residential real...

Appraisers Destroying Goliath's Messaging 35

Appraisers Destroying Goliath’s Messaging

Goliath’s strength is in his messaging. It is appraisers who are destroying the message.  The seeming destruction of the appraisal profession by the federal government, GSEs and lending stakeholders is a collective action problem. Appraisers are responding to new GSE and lending dictates with reactions based on our own personal well-being. Not enough people speak up or stand up to change the trajectory of the narrative. Or so it seems. Appraisal waivers, hybrid appraisals, automated valuation models, all based on the last 13 years of data collection by an entity I will call Goliath has created a paradoxical inversion of...

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