Category: Appraisers News

How Does the Presence of Sex Offenders Affect Appraised Value? 11

Sex Offenders & Appraised Value

“You know there is a half-way house for sex offenders in the neighborhood, don’t you? It’s about two blocks away from the subject”.. OK. You’re well and truly involved with your research on a job that’s already late. You think you’ve got all your due diligence-bases covered. But you call the broker to confirm on last detail and she asks you, “You know there is a half-way house for sex offenders in the neighborhood, don’t you? It’s about two blocks away from the subject”. Needless to say, you are taken aback! No, you had no clue there was such a facility two blocks away from...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice / USPAP

Biden Calls Out Racial Bias Among Appraisers 56

Biden Calls Out Racial Bias Among Appraisers

To counteract low appraisals in minority neighborhoods, Biden says he’ll push for training to address racial bias among appraisers… Appraisers, you might want to “take a gander” at this article in the link below, because it indicates possible/probable changes coming. I especially like the ‘extra training for appraisers’ to avoid discrimination/racial bias. Not. In other words, appraisers are at fault for lower values in certain neighborhoods which are not as highly valued as others, and so we must be indoctrinated to be more sensitive. Buckle up folks, as it’s going to be an interesting ride. Excerpt from Biden Admin and...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / NAR / National Association of Realtors

Are Appraisers Being Sued for Errors Relating to the COVID-19 Pandemic? 2

Appraisers Being Sued for COVID-19 Errors?

The alleged errors in appraisals that parties are suing appraisers over during the pandemic are the same types of errors that appraisers usually get sued over… Wow. I did not go into the basement on my last visit. I’ll explain why an appraiser wrote that in a moment. Are appraisers being sued for errors relating to the COVID-19 pandemic? My short answer is “no” – there’s no pattern of that happening. One of the services that I provide to my legal clients is tracking lawsuits and legislation that relate to valuation services. I locate and follow cases of all types...

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

Radian Ending & Replacing Traditional Appraisals with Artificial Intelligence 14

Radian Ending Traditional Appraisals

In the news release, Radian, an AMC licensed in most US States says they will help their clients ‘transition’ away from traditional appraisals… This news release was circulated yesterday, October 29, 2020, by the Radian Group Inc. Radian Group (NYSE:RDN) will wind down its traditional appraisal business, which offers residential real estate appraisal services through a panel of independent contractor appraisers, to focus on core mortgage and real estate businesses driven by digital products and services. This news is so fresh that their very attractively designed web site and associated pages still glowingly highlight how wonderful their ‘traditional appraisals’ are… at least...

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

Why is Only One Side of the Racism Claim Appraisal Story Being Told? 260

Why is Only One Side of This Story Being Told?

There are always two sides to every story; however, understanding is a three-edged sword: your side, their side, and the truth in the middle. Recently there has been a wave of news stories about racism in the appraisal profession brought on by a couple in Jacksonville, Florida. That couple, Abena Horton, a black woman, and her husband Alex Horton, a white male, made claims that an appraiser who first appraised their home came in low on the appraisal due to her race. You can read one of the numerous stories here. Before anyone here accuses me of being racist etc.,...

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

Update on FTC’s Price-Fixing Enforcement Action Against LREAB 6

New Appellate Decision – LREAB v FTC

FTC’s price-fixing enforcement action against LREAB… A federal appellate court – the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit – has issued a decision in the long-standing fight between the Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board (LREAB) and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission about “customary and reasonable” appraisal fees. I’m venturing here to provide a short, understandable, unbiased summary of the litigation and what this latest court decision means. What did the Court of Appeals decide? Here’s the very short summary: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is pursuing an administrative complaint it filed in 2017 against LREAB, contending that LREAB’s “customary and reasonable”...

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

Was Fast & Cheap AMC Appraiser Racist? Biggest Snowball of Your Life 14

The Biggest Snow Job of Your Life

Remember the saying “Pick two: fast, cheap or good. You can only have two of them?” Well you see, amcs got impatient and stopped reading after fast and cheap… The concept is simple enough, a fire wall between the loan production staff and the appraiser to avoid any possible pressure, coercion or influence. It sounded like a good idea to many; hence the HVCC legislation passed and was enacted. This was a period of trial and error for so many and before anyone found their way, along came Mr. Dodd and Mr. Frank to give their official stamp of approval...

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

Consolidated Analytics AMC Fined for Appraisal Order Blast Violation 18

AMC Fined for Appraisal Order Blast Violation

Consolidated Analytics, an AMC based in Anaheim California, was fined $3,000 for violating the Utah AMC Administrative Rules R162-2e-306 “Offering An Appraisal Assignment and Communicating with Two or More Appraisers About a Potential Assignment. The specific part of this rule that pertains to broadcasting has been relatively effective in reducing broadcasting of assignments. Clear Capital recently was fined $5,000 for failing to comply and there are additional complaints working their way through the system. CONSOLIDATED ANALYTICS, INC., BRIAN GEHL, Owner/Manager, Appraisal Management Company, Anaheim, California. In a stipulated order dated June 24, 2020, Consolidated Analytics, Inc. admitted that it broadcast...

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

Pictures in Private Neighborhoods Can be Tricky 11

Photos in Gated Communities Can be Tricky

Let’s talk about assignments in private neighborhoods, gated communities, or secure communities. Rich folks buy, sell, and refinance their homes, too, so they need appraisals. You have an assignment in a security community. There is security at the entrances, you must be on security’s authorized visitor list to get in, and your permission to enter this private community extends solely to visit your subject. So, here is the question: while inside this gated, secure community, do you also drive around and take photos of the comps? Now, even though you are reading this, I can see you looking at me...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

Verifying Property Sales Data Is Key Element in Doing Appraisals Correctly 10

Verifying MLS Shown Sales Price

Verifying property sales data is a key element and requirement in doing appraisals correctly… Verifying property sales data is a key element and requirement in doing appraisals correctly. We cannot just assume the MLS reports sale prices correctly. One aid to help do this is by using one of the ‘data download’ software providers which prefill many property data items in the report comparable grids. These companies have direct interties with the local MLS (most, not all across the US), and public data from either your jurisdiction recording or assessor office, or an amalgamation company such as Realist. Two ‘data...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Software / Appraisal Technology / Appraisers News / DataMaster

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