Category: Appraisers News

Lender Liability for a Negligent Appraisal? 12

Lender Liability for a Negligent Appraisal?

Does a mortgage lender have liability to the borrower for a negligent appraisal?  As residential property prices plateau or decline in various markets and as borrowers have financial problems with fewer financing options, there are more legal claims being filed by borrowers against appraisers and lenders in relation to appraisals for loans made in recent years. Essentially, the cases are situations of “buyer-borrower remorse.” Leaving aside the appraiser’s potential liability, does a mortgage lender have liability to the borrower for a negligent appraisal? An Ohio appellate court recently said “no.” It ruled that the lender did not owe the borrower...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O / Errors & Omissions

The Appraisal Problem and Undue Diligence 8

The Appraisal Problem

Gone are the days of hiring a professional appraiser to solve the appraisal problem. For decades lenders have taken on the responsibility of shaping the appraisal process and dictating the solutions to the appraisal problem. Savvy appraisers push back in a positive fashion to try and enable the lender to receive a report that not only meets USPAP, FIRREA, Fannie Mae, or HUD/FHA/VA an UAD reporting guidelines, but also provides the client with a report that is clear, concise, accurate and not misleading. An appraisal report can be on time, have all the boxes checked, no inconsistencies, meet all the...

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

Are Computer Programs Biased or Unbiased? 7

Are Computer Programs Biased or Unbiased?

Whether or not computer programs are despised or supported depends on the narrative being spewed. Which is it? Are computer programs good for generating appraisal values but when the narrative is to influence an anti-police sentiment using computer programs is too problematic? Last week’s article titled “The Government Screwing Over an Entire Industry” strengthened my conviction how eager and anxious Fannie, Freddie, and certain Congress persons are to replace appraisers with computer programs. The idea is that computers will do it more fairly and with equal justice and allow for “generational wealth”. They contend that appraisers are trying very hard...

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

NAR Appraisal Survey... Impact of Appraisals on the Current Market 6

NAR Appraisal Survey

The results of the NAR appraisal survey show more than half of appraisers reported AMCs to be the greatest challenge in their business with 40% reporting not being compensated fairly. Only 3% of members witnessed or experienced discrimination in an appraisal… NAR Research conducted a survey of all 9,700 appraiser members and 50,000 randomly-selected non-appraiser members to determine the level of impact of appraisals on the current market and member business in terms of cost, turn-around times, and other challenges and to measure member experiences with bias and discrimination in the appraisal process. Highlights of the NAR Appraisal Survey The...

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

Commercial Property: What Does a Real Estate Appraisal Cost? 6

Commercial Appraisal Reports: How Much Do They Cost?

Every business that owns a commercial property will require an appraisal. Commercial real estate transactions are the most common. Commercial real estate appraisals are necessary when acquiring or selling a commercial building. As with home appraisals, commercial property appraisals offer unbiased, third-party insight into their value. In contrast to residential properties such as single-family houses or condominiums, commercial appraisals estimate the value of stores, offices, hotels, apartment buildings, and the like. When you build, insure, tax, mortgage, or sell real estate, an appraisal is required. Besides helping secure a loan or ensure that you have enough insurance, it may also...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

The Government Screwing Over an Entire Industry 16

The Government Screwing Over an Entire Industry

The government wants to move to a fully automated appraisal format, and the more that they can dirty the narrative in their favor, the quicker they get to their objective… This just in: In a recent memo, the CFPB wants you to know that if you are buying a home, that you can contest your appraisal. By the way, anyone at any time can contest an appraisal for any reason. This isn’t new. Not at all. In fact the CFPB doesn’t really give two craps about your opinion of value or the Appraiser’s opinion of value. This has nothing to...

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

Wells Fargo Workers Went on Appraisal-Fraud Bender 14

Wells Fargo Workers Went on Appraisal-Fraud Bender

Loan officers at Wells Fargo altered values in the bank’s database, so loans would qualify for so-called appraisal waivers… It feels like Ground Hog Day all over again. Who can forget the Wells Fargo banker who, stressed from opening fraudulent accounts in the name of hapless depositors, had begun guzzling hand sanitizer? That was in 2016. New revelations from the nation’s second-largest mortgage lender will make the U.S. taxpayer want to take a good long pull on the nearest bottle of hand wash. Dozens of loan officers at Wells Fargo altered values in the bank’s database, so loans would qualify...

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

HUD Secretary's Comments Evoke Folly of 1919 Sex Scandal 16

HUD Secretary’s Comments Evoke Folly of 1919 Sex Scandal

Secretary Fudge launched into what sounded remarkably like discriminatory rhetoric: “The problem is who is in the appraisal industry. When you look at an industry that is 95% white … Because [the white appraisers] collect the data, the data is not good data.” Sometimes when government investigates a perceived problem, it creates a genuine one. Assistant Secretary of the Navy (and future president) Franklin D. Roosevelt sent two investigators in 1919 to Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island to look into reports of immoral behavior – code at the time for “homosexual activity.” Their report found no such activity. But...

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

Appraisal Management Companies Take a Sizable Cut of the Appraisal Fee 97

AMCs Take a Sizable Cut of the Appraisal Fee

It still proves my point: Appraisal Management Companies take a sizable Cut of the appraisal fee… It was March 28th, 2018 that I wrote my very first blog post entitled “What’s not in your wallet?” where I went into great detail about how Appraisal Management Companies or AMCs get paid and how the consumer is not aware of the fact that the AMC is taking much of the fee while finding the cheapest and fastest appraiser. In that blog post, I gave many examples of the abuse appraisers and consumers are absorbing by these Appraisal Management Companies. How one borrower...

AGA / AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations

Remove Predominant Price from the New Forms 16

Remove Predominant Price from New Forms

Something that has ‘stuck in my craw’ or ‘frosted my cookies’ for years is the nonsense about stating a specific “PREDOMINANT” price for neighborhood homes. And then being forced to explain why the Opinion of Value is not precisely that number, and if not, why not. Real estate is IMPERFECT. Properties, especially comparables, seldom, if ever, sell for the very same or extremely similar prices. If that is the case, how can there be an exact “PREDOMINANT” figure? The possible exception to this are highly dense urban developments where the new construction homes are cookie cutters, and the builder sells...

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

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