Category: Appraisal

VREAB Letter to FHFA Calling for Delay of UAD Implementation

August 30, 2011

VREAB Seeking Delay of UAD Implementation

VREAB Letter to FHFA Calling for Postponement of UAD Implementation August 29, 2011 Mr. Alfred M. Pollard, General Counsel Federal Housing Finance Agency Dear Mr. Pollard: At its August 16, 2011, meeting, the Virginia Real Estate Appraiser Board (Board) received public comment from a number of Virginia appraisers expressing their unease with the September 1, 2011, implementation of the Uniform Appraiser Database (UAD) by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under the direction of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). These and other Virginia appraisers have concerns that conforming to the UAD might lead to misleading appraisal reports as the UAD’s...

AARO / Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / ASB

MBREA Meeting with Congressman Frank RE Customary & Reasonable Fees

August 25, 2011

MBREA Meeting with Congressman Frank RE C&R Fees

Update on MBREA Meeting with Congressman Frank Regarding Customary & Reasonable Fees One of our readers forwarded MBREA’s email following up on the meeting with Congressman Barney Frank about Customary & Reasonable Fees. “We recently reported about a meeting MBREA had with Congressman Barney Frank. Congressman Frank is aware of the appraisal professions concerns about customary and reasonable fees and has been working with the Federal Reserve on its interpretation of the statute. Congressman Frank wrote in a followup letter to MBREA Government Affairs Committee Chair, Allan Cohen, “…I am especially sensitive to any misinterpretation of legislation we enacted because...

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

August 25, 2011

What’s Wrong with Most Indemnification Clauses in AMC Contractor Agreements?

Objectionable indemnification clauses purport to shift 100% of the liability to individual appraisers… AMC independent contractor agreements are now receiving more attention. A key issue that many appraisers and regulators have focused on is that many AMC contractor agreements use very one-sided indemnification clauses to attempt to shift financial liability for the appraisals the AMCs manage to individual appraisers. NAR recently wrote to federal regulators expressing serious concern that such AMC clauses are interfering with appraiser independence and hurting appraisal accuracy and quality — i.e, if appraisers fear being sacked with unbearable liability based on an appraisal later being deemed...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O

August 23, 2011

HUD FHA UAD Implementation Pushed Back to January 1

HUD Mortgagee Letter 2011-30 delays HUD FHA’s requirement for implementing the Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) until January 1, 2012. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HOUSING- FEDERAL HOUSING COMMISSIONER AUGUST 22, 2011 MORTGAGEE LETTER 2011-30 To ALL APPROVED MORTGAGEES ALL FHA ROSTER APPRAISERS Subject: The Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) and appraisal reporting forms Purpose of this Mortgagee Letter: The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will adopt the Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) and two of the UAD compliant appraisal reporting forms, which further define specific data fields in these industry standard appraisal reporting forms. Effective Date: To allow Mortgagees sufficient time to make any necessary data...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Federal Housing Administration / FHA / HUD

August 22, 2011

TAF Responds to WSJ Article

The Appraisal Foundation Responds to August 12 Wall Street Journal Article On August 12, 2011 the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled “Judgment Call: Appraisals Weigh Down Housing Sales.” The Appraisal Foundation has submitted a letter to the editor in order to clarify several aspects of the article. August 17, 2011 The Editor The Wall Street Journal 1211 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10036 Dear Editor: We are contacting you in reference to an article written by S. Mitra Kalita and Carrick Mollenkamp that appeared in The Wall Street Journal on Friday, August 12, entitled “Judgment Call:...

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

August 21, 2011

HUD New REO Mapping Tool

HUD Unveils New Web-Based Mapping Tool to Display Nearly Half of U.S. Foreclosed Properties WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today launched a new web-based mapping tool displaying the location of all foreclosed properties held by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). These foreclosed homes collectively account for nearly half of all real estate-owned or REO properties in the U.S. HUD’s REO Portal is intended to help local communities, homebuyers and responsible investors to acquire these properties and accelerate efforts to stabilize local housing markets. This new mapping tool will be of...

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

August 17, 2011

a la mode Releases UAD Recorded Webinar

a la mode recently released a recorded video of the live “Intro to UAD” webinar. This hour long video includes: Part 1: Intro to UAD Part 2: What is the UMDP? Part 3: UAD Overview Part 4: UAD FAQ’s Part 5: Examples of Common Inconsistencies Part 6: UAD Rules Part 7: Using UAD in the software

a la mode / Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Software / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

August 16, 2011

NAR Letter to Regulators Regarding AMC Indemnification Clauses

Calling for a ban on the use of indemnification clauses used by AMCs On August 11, 2011, National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) President Ron Phipps sent a letter to federal regulators calling for a ban on the use of indemnification clauses used by appraisal management companies (AMCs). The letter was sent to Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Dear Secretary Donovan, Secretary Shinseki, Chairman Matz, and Acting Director DeMarco: I am writing on behalf of the 1.1 million members of...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Indemnification Clauses

August 15, 2011

TAF Preview on USPAP 2012-13 Changes

Video on changes to the 2012-2013 USPAP The Appraisal Foundation recently released a video on changes to the 2012-2013 USPAP adopted on April 8, 2011. The purpose of this 23 minute video is to provide appraisers with advanced notice of changes to USPAP that could impact their practice. It is not intended to be a substitute for the 7 hour National USPAP update course. Summary of changes adopted includes: Revisions to the definitions of “Client”, “Extraordinary Assumptions”, Hypothetical Condition” and a new definition of “Exposure Time” Revisions relating to Development & Disclosure of Exposure Time Opinion Revisions to Standards Rules...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / ASB / The Appraisal Foundation

August 10, 2011

How to Create a UAD Format Report & UAD Sample URAR

Where is the new UAD format report? Lately, we have been receiving a lot of emails from appraisers confused about WinTOTAL and TOTAL 2011’s Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD). Many think that they need to download a specific file, even though their software is up to date. “Where is the new UAD?”, we’ve been asked! So we prepared a short video tutorial explaining how to create URAR report in UAD format in WinTOTAL. You just need to make sure your software is up to date. Watch the video below: T.J. McCarthy has made his “Sample URAR in UAD Format” available...

a la mode / Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Software / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac