Category: Appraisal

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Solidifi Agreement

Solidifi Agreement provides little or no protection for the appraiser… Many appraisers have seen the Solidifi agreement that appraisers must agree to if they want to receive appraisal assignment from them. This 18-19 page agreement written by a lawyer which was paid by Solidifi provides lots of protection and power for Solidifi and little or no protection for the appraiser. Many of you might be on the fence, should I agree to this or should I not and know that I will lose some business. If Solidifi is your major provider of appraisal assignment they have just put you between...

Don't Fear the AMC's Indemnity Clause - Indemnity Clauses Are Not to Be Feared 7

Don’t Fear

…appraiser who claims to NOT SIGN any kind of appraiser employment agreement with an Indemnity Clause in it… This essay is not positioned as a promotion of AMC’s, which after writing to the end I realized some may believe. I don’t like the AMC business model. But for the time being, we are stuck with AMC’s if one desires to work in the mortgage lending arena. However, some lenders are beginning to realize the AMC business model is proving unworkable and unwieldy, and are moving back to direct assignment placement, or use one of the available ‘portals’ to distribute and accept assignments...

TALCB States 70% of All Complaints Against Appraisers Are Unfounded 118

Frivolous Complaints Against Appraisers

TALCB noted that roughly 70% of all complaints against appraisers are unfounded… The American Guild of Appraiser recently wrote to Texas Sunset Commission expressing member concerns and suggested solutions. We urge readers to copy, paste, edit and send their own comments – even out of state appraisers. Click here to send your comments. Posted AGA comments and concerns Appraiser complaints are allowed to be filed against appraiser by third parties that are not the clients. The appraiser has no recourse to these for recouping costs of defense. Third party complaints by non clients (agents; brokers, buyers, sellers) serve only to...

1, 2, 3... Let's Go! The More of US, the Stronger Our Voices - Appraisers Blogs 2

1, 2, 3… Let’s Go!

Your Executive Committee met last week to discuss future events and issues that impact us all in our day to day lives as professional Appraisers. Everyone of us is an unpaid volunteer working for you on issues that you may not even be aware of. Bernie Bugg and I met with the president and director of WRVA radio to see how we get our story out there. They were surprised and shocked to hear what is going on in the mortgage Appraisal world. They see the looming potential dangers. We are in negotiations with them now. It looks very promising! VaCAP memberships/website address (appraiser...

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions…. The Balance Between Art and Science 2

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions….

Each and every day we make decisions. Sometimes we base our decisions on sound, unbiased information, other times we may base our decisions on no information what so ever and are solely based on our opinions and perception. Right or wrong, we make a decision. Appraisers utilize sound unbiased information as well as our opinions and perceptions to complete appraisals. Markets are always changing and often historical data only represents just that, historical information. Historical data does not consider what is happening currently or what has been proposed for the future; both of which play an important role in how the...

Road to Perdition, Paved with IVS by The Appraisal Foundation & IVSC 2

Road to Perdition

It looks like USPAP and IVS are finally going to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. Didn’t Coca Cola already do that? It’s been awhile since I’ve harped about the International Valuation Standards (IVS) and the International Valuation Standards Council, or their inappropriate influence on USPAP. Perdition Road paving compliments of The Appraisal Foundation under sub contract to MISMO. Unnecessary Bridging from USPAP to IVS provided by TAF. For those unfamiliar with what (IVS) or who (IVSC) they are, the following link may help. Scroll down to the corporate sponsors section. THIS is who the ‘international sponsors’ are....

Reality vs Positivity - The Appraiser's Journey: What Happens when Reality Sets in? 41

Reality vs Positivity

Read any sales training publication and you will learn about positivity and how it helps you succeed. For the most part, this is true. But what happens when reality sets in? Positivity: Many appraisers have praised the decision by Fannie Mae to eliminate the 1004MC. No question, it is a flawed form, but every software vendor allows us to complete the form with the push of a button. This can be done in most MLS systems as well. The form shows the number of sales in the past 90 days and the number of current active listings. With enough data,...

Nationwide Appraiser Count - The Number Game - Appraisers Blogs 16

Nationwide Appraiser Count vs. Fake News

12 Year Trend: Active Appraiser Credentials… We often hear about the ‘shortage’ of appraisers in the US. This is fake news promulgated by a number of AMC’s who cannot find enough appraisers to do their assignments – largely because the AMC won’t pay the appraiser an appropriate fee for service, or other issues. John Brenan, Director of Appraisal Issues for The Appraisal Foundation, gave a presentation at the Washington State association of appraisers conference on Aug. 16. He showed this slide during his presentation: Note that these are CREDENTIALS… the licenses granted by the individual states, which are then reported to...

Criminal Charges Brought Against AMC Owner Brian Coester - Appraisers Blogs 33

Criminal Charges

Criminal Charges Brought Against AMC Owner VaCAP has been informed that AMC owner Brian Coester, of Coester Valuation Management Services (VMS), has new criminal charges filed against him. We have confirmed these charges through the court system public access system: Maryland Judiciary Case Search Criteria Below is a list of 19 court cases found under the name Brian Coester: Is Another Financial Scare on the Horizon? George Will, Washington Post Writers Group, has an interesting column in entitled “America is overdue for another Lehman-Like Episode”. In this article he stated that the stock market has enjoyed its longest-ever bull run. The...

The Public Trust - A Failed Goal? - Rearranging the Deckchairs on the Titanic 8

The Public Trust – A Failed Goal?

Presumably, "public trust" is the foundational test. Have our institutions, rules, regulations, standards, and social expectations failed us? The purpose of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) is to promote and maintain a high level of public trust in appraisal practice by establishing requirements for appraisers. Preamble 2018-2019 Our mission is to foster the public trust of our members and the appraisal profession through compliance with the highest levels of ethical and professional standards. The American Society of Appraisers Its mission is to advance professionalism and ethics, global standards, methodologies, and practices through the professional development of property economics worldwide. The Appraisal Institute Some ten years ago, financial...

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