Category: Appraisers News

Appraisal news and appraisal tips for real estate appraisers – Your source for appraisal industry news, appraisers’ opinions, and discussions of appraisal issues

TEAPOTS Exposed: The PAVE Initiative’s Illusion of Justice 22

TEAPOTS Exposed: The PAVE Initiative’s Illusion of Justice

The PAVE Initiative’s lack of TEAPOTS case entries reveals a fraudulent scheme that betrayed homeowners, vilified appraisers, and hid the truth from Congress.  The Biden administration’s PAVE Task Force initiative was never a legally engineered program to uncover racial bias in the appraisal industry. It was, as I have now uncovered, a systemic administrative illusion: a complex, bureaucratic apparatus designed to justify federal grant funding, inflate internal performance metrics, and maintain political optics — not to administer justice. This wasn’t enforcement. This was theft of government funds dressed in legal theater. Homeowners were deceived. Appraisers were targeted. The law was...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / FHA / HUD / The US Department of Housing and Urban Development

Bye Bye AMC: A Script to Sideline Appraisal Middlemen 48

Bye Bye AMC: A Script to Sideline Appraisal Middlemen

The “Bye Bye AMC” script, a clever SQL solution, aims to disrupt Appraisal Management Companies by automating merit-based appraiser assignments, slashing AMC fees, and boosting transparency in real estate valuations.  In the high-stakes arena of real estate appraisals, where precision tangoes with red tape, a sharp SQL script named “Bye Bye AMC” is poised to shake up the status quo. Crafted by Chase Pursley, founder of Appraisal Inbox, this code isn’t just a string of queries — it’s a potential death knell for Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs) that have long profited by squeezing appraisers, meddling in valuations, and padding their...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Customary & Reasonable Fees

Appraisal Institute’s Harassment, Tests, and Dance with AMCs 43

Appraisal Institute’s Harassment, Tests, and Dance with AMCs

The Appraisal Institute’s latest chapter is a double dose of harassment woes — harassment allegations rocking its leadership and the systemic harassment of appraisers by AMCs, all under a scandalous spotlight.  The New York Times article by Debra Kamin, published on May 8, 2025, unveils a disturbing culture within the Appraisal Institute (AI), peeling back the curtain on a decade of alleged sexual harassment with Craig Steinley — former president and current vice president — who found himself in the uncomfortable spotlight. Accused by at least eight women of inappropriate behavior, Steinley’s antics include unwanted groping, as detailed in interviews...

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

The PAREA Program: Costly Promises, Empty Support 23

The PAREA Program: Costly Promises, Empty Support

The PAREA program markets itself as a shiny, mentor-free express lane to becoming a real estate appraiser, but its steep price tag and lofty promises often lead to a dead end. For many, it’s less a pathway to success and more a costly detour. Eriv V, one frustrated hopeful, recently shared a raw, unfiltered account of his disillusionment with PAREA, exposing a system that falls short on support and delivers more headaches than help. Below, his candid review is quoted word for word, offering a stark warning for those eyeing a career in appraisal. Eriv V’s Comment: ⭐ 1-Star Review...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

The Perfect Storm: A Veteran’s Take on a Dying Craft 93

The Appraisal Profession’s Perfect Storm: A Veteran’s Take on a Dying Craft

The new UAD form, the AMC fee gouging, the waivers, the false bias claims – it’s a perfect storm of assaults.  I’ve been an appraiser since 1993, back when fax machines were cutting-edge and the internet was a clunky novelty. Over three decades, I’ve seen this profession weather storms — economic crashes, regulatory overhauls, you name it. But what’s happening now? It’s not a storm; it’s a tsunami. Our industry is hemorrhaging talent, drowning under false accusations, and getting squeezed by corporate greed and bureaucratic overreach. As someone who’s stubbornly refused to bend the knee to Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs),...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisal Subcommittee

Fannie Mae’s Conservatorship: A Babysitter’s Blunder 39

Fannie Mae’s Conservatorship: A Babysitter’s Blunder

Calling the FHFA a babysitter for Fannie Mae doesn’t fully capture the dysfunction.  What the general public doesn’t understand is that Fannie Mae has been under conservatorship since the 2008 market crash — a status far from ideal, just one step from bankruptcy. By definition, a conservatorship is a legal arrangement where a court appoints a conservator to manage the affairs of an entity unable to do so itself, due to financial distress or other incapacity. It’s a polite term for babysitting an organization that can’t handle its own affairs. A Babysitter Who Sparks Chaos Calling the Federal Housing Finance...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / CFPB / Consumer Financial Protection Bureau / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

A Cry from the Appraisal Trenches: The Fall of GSE Oversight 84

A Cry from the Appraisal Trenches: The Fall of GSE Oversight

That could bring our best and brightest back to GSE lending, leveling the playing field with fairer work distribution.  Picture this: a system built to protect homeowners, backed by taxpayer dollars, now teetering on the edge of betrayal. The regulatory framework governing Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) was once a fortress of consumer protection, transparency, and fairness. As an appraiser, I’ve watched this fortress crumble. The rules imposed on GSEs and their partners—our trade-off for their congressional charter—have been chipped away through years of cunning maneuvers by trade groups and stakeholder interests. What’s left is a hollow shell, far removed from the...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models

Fannie Mae Fraud and Abuse Exposed 33

Fannie Mae Fraud and Abuse Exposed

History of waste, fraud & abuse at this rogue organization…  Fannie Mae reported this week it had fired more than 100 employees for unethical conduct, including facilitation of fraud. Expect more such news as the truth emerges about this organization’s activities over the past half-decade. At the beginning of the decade, under the protective camouflage of its federal conservatorship and Covid-19, Fannie began eliminating critical checks and balances in a radical experiment with U.S. taxpayers’ money and the U.S. economy. The mortgage giant began scrapping or weakening long-accepted underwriting safeguards like standard FICO scoring, title insurance, mortgage insurance, downpayments and...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models / AVM / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

Hybrid Appraisals - Flawed Data or Flawed Agenda? 55

Hybrid Appraisals – Flawed Data or Flawed Agenda?

Brian Zitin’s self-serving interpretation of Reggora’s survey results on hybrid appraisals is a textbook example of twisting flawed data to fit a preconceived flawed narrative. He triumphantly proclaims that 60% of appraisers plan to perform hybrid appraisals, painting it as some groundbreaking shift in the industry. But the reality is far more nuanced and less flattering to his agenda. “Our main question to appraisers: Do you plan to perform hybrid appraisals? The result was a 60/40 split with 60% saying yes they will! That is quite the controversial result and indicates a lot more education and effort will need to...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Trending

Appraisal Institute Scandal - Widespread Fraud Uncovered 92

Appraisal Institute Scandal – Widespread Fraud Uncovered

The Appraisal Institute is embroiled in yet another scandal, and this time it involves widespread fraud and cover-ups at the highest levels of the organization. Alissa Akins, a former director at AI, blew the whistle on a long-running scheme where the nonprofit knowingly misreported test scores to state regulators, potentially allowing unqualified appraisers to get licensed. When Akins tried to sound the alarm and fix the problems, she was met with a “don’t ask, don’t tell” attitude from leadership and ultimately got fired in retaliation. It’s absolutely mind-boggling that an organization tasked with upholding standards and ethics in the appraisal...

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

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