Category: Appraisal News

Coester Sued by Former Senior VP 128

Coester Allegedly Engaged in Fraud Sued by Former Senior VP

Mr. Coester Was the Party Engaging in Fraud Coester VMS, a Maryland based appraisal management company, and it’s CEO, Brian Coester, are facing a lawsuit by Robert Scheer, former Coester VMS Senior Vice President. Robert Scheer filed a lawsuit claiming tortious interference and is seeking a declaratory judgment that the 2012 Non-Disclosure/Confidentiality agreement provided by Coester is fraudulent and a forgery. “CVMS and Mr. Coester have a history and pattern of engaging in fraudulent conduct which has led to their reputation for dishonesty in the appraisal management company industry….” 10. Mr. Scheer left his employment at CVMS, where he was...

Digital Masking of People a Fair Housing Requirement of Mythodology 27

AMC Fair Housing Mythodology

AMCs are on notice to cease demanding and insisting that appraisers do digital staging. You’ve seen the AMC’s orders. “Appraiser is to obscure, blur or remove individuals from photos.” Why? Fair housing laws say so, that’s why. Do they? I had my first settlement conference with an AMC recently. Appraisers have been participating in settlement conferences with Appraisal Board members and Department attorneys for years. Because there is no Board for AMCs, the opportunity falls to me. At issue was the ubiquitous “client requirement” involving digital masking of people from images. While lenders and AMCs wave the Fair Housing penalty...

GLA Adjustment & Pizza Slices – They Do correlate! 22

GLA Adjustments & Pizza Slices – They Do Correlate!

Determining the GLA Adjustment in Appraisal Reports I promised in a previous post I’d send out my method for determining the GLA adjustment in appraisal reports. Goodness! Appraisers actually found that statement buried in the prior post, and have ‘rung my chimes’ requesting this info! OK, but first, the pizza analogy. I often tell clients and other appraisers that appraising (residential) real estate is far more complex than grabbing a store-bought pre-boxed pizza (that has exactly the same ingredients from box to box no matter which store you shop in) at a grocery and then applying 425 degrees of love...

Purpose of the Appraisal Report 41

Purpose of the Appraisal Report

We have lost track of the purpose of the appraisal process This is an open letter to anyone who may have an interest in the residential real estate market. This includes buyers & sellers, homeowners, mortgage companies & brokers, real estate brokers & agent, loan officers, FHA/HUD, Fannie, Freddie and others. We have lost track of the purpose of the appraisal process. The purpose of the appraisal process is to provide an opinion of the estimated value of the property. The appraiser is hired to provide his/her opinion of the estimated value of the property usually by the intended mortgagee....

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Twisted AMC & C&R Fees Gone Wrong!

This AMC is Just Wrong & Confused! An AMC sent an appraiser the following email this morning: “…..customary and reasonable fees are compliant under Virginia presumption that rates are based on recent rates paid to a representative sample of providers of appraisal services in the geographic market based on the fee schedules of these providers. Please complete the attached form and submit to:“ Wow are they confused about customary and reasonable fees! This is a severe twist on Virginia Regulations for customary and reasonable fee compensation to appraisers. Virginia Law mirrors the language in the TILA. They are essentially the...

Expert Witness AMC Order Blast & Appraiser's Response 5

Expert Witness AMC Order Blast & Appraiser’s Response

AMC’s order blast for Expert Witness Appraisal Services Before I can offer ANY bid, you folks need to decide whether you want a FNMA 1004 form, a 1073 form or a 1025 form. If the latter is sought, then a 1004MC would not appear to be relevant. I am expert witness qualified in Los Angeles County Superior Court. In addition to the base fee (due in advance) which starts at a minimum of $1,500 for SFR, $2,000 for a condo and $2,500 for a 2 to 4 unit rent controlled property in Los Angeles, I charge $350 an hour for...

Transfer of FHA Appraisals 2

Transfer of FHA Appraisals

FHA Case Transfer FHA Appraisers, The document below was issued yesterday by HUD FHA. Sometimes clients will ask appraisers to ‘put the report into the new lender’s name’ if the lender changes within the allowed time frame for a current appraisal. With FHA, the Case Number and the existing report STAYS WITH THE PROPERTY ADDRESS. The appraiser does not have to re-do a FHA report when the lender changes, per this in the document below: Working with Case Transfers Mortgagees should note the following about case transfers relative to appraisal reports in both the EAD portal and FHAC: If, prior...

Appraiser’s Response to LRES Order Blast 80

Appraiser’s Response to LRES Order Blast

LRES Standard Interior Appraisal Request? Your special requirements and micromanagement of the appraisal process dictate that I charge a fee commensurate with the additional, but typically unnecessary work needed to produce credible results. You are the potential client (agent), so that that is your prerogative and it would be my pleasure to accommodate you as long as appropriate compensation is provided. Respectfully, there is little about your appraisal request that is “standard”. Please explain briefly what you consider to be a ‘standard interior appraisal’. That definition does not appear in The Appraisal Institute’s Dictionary of Real Estate Appraisal. To be...

Evaluation vs appraisal - a lesser product for even lesser money? 7

To Eval or Not to Eval

An evaluation, when performed by an individual acting as an appraiser, is an appraisal… Recently, a document entitled, The Interagency Advisory on Use of Evaluations in Real Estate-Related Financial Transactions was released. Many in the lending and appraisal professions see this as a federal permission slip for evaluations to be completed by Illinois Certified Appraisers. The document reiterates what we already know about evaluations: Under the appraisal regulations, the following transaction types do not require an appraisal, but do require an evaluation: Transactions in which the “transaction value” (generally the loan amount) is $250,000 or less; Certain renewals, refinances, or other transactions involving...

Appraisers to Comment on AMC Registry Fees 11

Appraisers to Comment on AMC Registry Fees

AMC Registry Fees not be passed on to the appraiser… The Appraisal Subcommittee is accepting comments on the proposed rulemaking to implement the collection and transmission of AMC registry fees. VaCAP has submitted a letter in support of the registry of AMCs by the ASC and is strongly advocating in the rulemaking that the registry fees not be passed on to the appraiser or consumer. We encourage each appraiser to provide comments to the ASC. Comments are closed on July 19, 2016, so please comment NOW. Post your comment here. Comments must be submitted by 07/19/2016 at 11:59 PM As...

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