FHA Requirements vs USPAP – Appraisers Caught in Catch 22 Excerpt The new FHA Handbook will become effective on September 14, 2015. There has been much discussion of the implications of changing “should” to “must” in thousands of examples in the Handbook. As a Board member of the Arizona Association of Real Estate Appraisers as well as being on the FHA Roster, I have taken a good hard look at these requirements and then, it hit me as I was teaching the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) which is the basis of appraisal standards for every appraiser in...
Relationships, we all have them. And despite the efforts of Dodd Frank to destroy them, we have somehow managed to keep them. A big bank that I had a great relationship dropped me because their portal system decided there were too many appraisers last year and left me hanging. No orders for a year. Now they’re busy and want me to do appraisals. Great! But between the portal fees, underwriting charges, title surpluses, software charges, destination charges, taxes, etc. the fee works out to be substantially lower than most work I have. They asked me “don’t you value our relationship?”. I replied where...
What is Gross Living Area and What Does it Include? Appraisers, There are certain properties where aspects of Gross Living Area (GLA) might not be obvious. It’s more confusing when the selling real estate agents lump all “living space” together, because that’s what they are selling, or when the county assessor includes basements with upper level areas. These include homes with a detached ADU, additional rec room or sleeping space above a garage, additional living space with roof attached to the primary dwelling via covered breezeway, basement living spaces with separate entry, etc. Fannie Mae has a giant book called...
FHA Appraisers Increased Liability & Responsibility with New FHA Requirements Excerpt New FHA Requirements Put More Responsibility and More Liability on FHA Appraisers After reviewing the new HUD handbook, my overall conclusion is that there were not many changes to the overall requirements other than the word MUST. The prior handbook was a list of items that should be completed and verified whereas the updated HUD handbook clearly states that the properties MUST meet these items and the appraiser MUST verify the items in question. The following is a list of FHA requirements that MUST be completed and verified by the appraiser....
FHA Extends the Single Family Housing Policy Handbook Implementation Effective Date June 15, 2015 Handbook Implementation Date Extended 90-days to Give Lenders More Time to Operationalize On April 30, 2015, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced that it has extended the effective date for the policies contained within its new Single Family Housing Policy Handbook (SF Handbook; HUD Handbook 4000.1) from June 15, 2015 to September14, 2015. FHA recognizes that there currently are a number of competing initiatives occurring simultaneously in the mortgage industry that may be challenging mortgagee and other industry partner resources. For this reason, FHA is extending...
How do we move to be more of a Red Box? I stopped at a Sheetz to get gas. As I was standing there I noticed a Red Box Machine which had a steady flow of traffic. Next door was an old closed Block Buster Video. Hmm… When my kids were little it was a big treat to go to that Block Buster and rent a movie. We had to wait in line 5 to 10 minutes and now it’s closed. But the Red Box machine is steadily pumping out DVDs. So I got to thinking. What are appraisers? Are we...
Thank you Wall Street, your mothers must be very proud of you! I’m not sure when it happened, but sometime in my lifetime the family home stopped being where you chose to live to raise your family and put down roots and became an investment asset. It seems this transformation began when investment bankers on Wall Street first realized residential mortgage lending represented a potential source of huge profits. Prior to the Great Depression, a typical mortgage loan was for 50% of the cost of a home, was interest only, was for 5 years with a balloon payment due at...
Use of the Electronic Appraisal Delivery portal will be required for all FHA-approved mortgagees, effective for FHA case numbers assigned on or after June 27, 2016. Mortgage Letter 2015–08 published on March 26, 2015, provides more information. FHA’s EAD portal is a web-based technology system that enables electronic transmission of appraisal data and reports to FHA by FHA-approved mortgagees and/or their designated third-party service providers prior to loan endorsement. Features The EAD portal’s system messages provide real-time feedback on compliance with FHA appraisal data and report requirements. The portal leverages industry data standards and industry appraisal practices, and: Offers process efficiencies inherent...
FHA – Addressing Appraiser and Property Requirements, and Appraisal Report and Data Delivery FHA Appraisers, You will want to review the newsletter below, especially the part showing the changes to reporting requirements. I suggest you copy and paste this new info into a word processor, then print it out as a reference tool. Secondly, if you use a template with pre-filled info to start FHA reports, I suggest you change it now to comply with their reporting requirements that take effect in June 2015. A Closer Look: Addressing Appraiser and Property Requirements, and Appraisal Report and Data Delivery As announced...
Appraisers, The Mortgage Bankers Association tracks applications and publishes info weekly. There has been an incredible jump in applications by +49%! Huge! Means we’ll start getting busy in about a week or so. Click here for more info. For appraisers who do FHA assignments, it’s likely that those assignments will be fewer now through January 25. On the 26th, the Mortgage Insurance Premium cost applying to FHA backed loans will drop significantly. This will allow more borrowers to qualify for FHA loans. With this change, FHA has allowed lenders to ‘drop’ a previously accepted Case Number from the current loan doc, and are...
