Clarocity Soap Opera
…so what will happen to Clarocity Valuation Services?
VaCAP has been following the Clarocity Corporation Soap Opera since one of our members had trouble getting paid from them back in November of 2017. After doing a bit more research on them, we issued a warning to our members in December 2017 to pay attention as Clarocity was in financial trouble.
We kept watching and alerted our members that many of the AppraiserLoft Executives were now at Clarocity. We shared Clarocity was borrowing money at a bought down rate of 24% and repaying in stock shares in lieu of cash; all to cover daily operating expenses. AppraisersBlogs shared an article in August of 2018 when Clarocity stock hovered around a penny per share.
Our last warning was in February 2019 when Clarocity used the excuse of the “Government Shut Down” as to why appraisers were going unpaid. Clarocity defaulted on their $20,000,000 plus debt to StableView in January 2019.
On April 2, 2019 the main investor of Clarocity, StableView Assets directed the Trustee to “seize the shares” of Clarocity Corporation for repayment of their debt.
Well here is where it gets a bit interesting. The assets, are actually the subsidiary companies of Clarocity, which includes the Appraisal Management Company, Clarocity Valuation Services, formerly known as Valued Veterans.
Ok, so what will happen to Clarocity Valuation Services?
Once under the ownership of StableView Assets, they will be sold to iLOOKABOUT. Read about that agreement here.
Why StableView and iLOOKABOUT think there is value in an appraisal management company or the hybrid appraisal software they promote, is a question for another day.
So in a nut shell: Clarocity is insolvent, Clarocity Valuation Services is being foreclosed on and sold to iLOOKABOUT. Where does that leave the appraiser? Who is responsible for paying the appraiser? Will these companies strip the cash and assets? Is there money to pay the appraiser? Are any of the soon to be owners obligated under law to pay the appraiser?
Our advice: Proceed with Caution or Do Not Proceed at All
- The New Con: Hybrids, Waivers & AMCs Threaten Public Trust - December 16, 2024
- VaCAP Supports Shane Lanham’s Legal Fight - September 10, 2024
- It’s Just Responsible Journalism! - February 21, 2024
They’re slow but they paid me eventually
Yeah watch out for Street Smart Valuations, very slow and they never answer the phones . Completed a report in early Feb and no payment as of today
@Home VMS is another turkey.
This is why I do not work for AMCs, the lenders I work for also detest them. Whenever they need to use an AMC because the approved appraisers are backlogged, they have nothing but problems with the AMCs.
I have a Realtor friend who called me almost in tears one day, she had a loan with a broker for 6 weeks. The AMC never ordered the appraisal, now all of he dates in the contract were expiring. I told her to send the file to one of the lenders that I work for, which she did. The appraisal was completed in 3 days and the loan closed the next week. Sometimes it’s just better to work with local people who know what they are doing. It’s sad that some lenders cannot figure it out.
The AMCs are getting out of hand with who they use. I have seen some Realtors put a comment in the contract (additional provisions) that states the lender must use a local appraiser who knows the market. They do not want an appraiser from Denver or Boulder coming to Colorado Springs, and asking them for comps because the do not have the access to the MLS. Crazy stuff.
Ah but the forced usage of AMCs was supposed to be the cure all for the 2008 – 2013 housing melt down. It certainly cured the ills of banks that owned AMCs by pouring billions in new revenue into their coffers from the pockets of appraisers.
Looking back on things ten years after the fact I now see residential appraising as the most laughable profession in the U.S. today. It was however one of the most profitable and enjoyable careers prior to 2009.
Not only that retired, they made it personal to the residential appraiser as well
Good one Retired.
“What’s your best fee and turn time?” “Best for whom, specifically?” Crickets…
Keep an eye on Norman Hubbard as well.
Hey Dave…what about Norman, Hubbard??
They misrepresent and don’t pay. Avoid at all costs!
Another grotesque visage pulled off by former Appraiser Loft gang members
Bottom line.. dont turn in an appraisal to an AMC near the end of the month. Your invoice will be put to be the very end of the line. The AMC’s payroll and overhead take top priority. Your appraisal fee is effectively financing their operation until they decide to pay you. Non Bank Lender AMCs are the very worst offenders.
Even if a transaction closed WEEKS ago. It does not matter. Appraisers are ALWAYS the very LAST person to be paid.
TOTAL BULLSHIT
Btw. On the stock bull board Clarocity appears to have changed its name back to Zaio.
Best advice: DO NOT PROCEED AT ALL !
Best advice: DO NOT PROCEED AT ALL ! Or: Send me a check and when it clears I will proceed.
Nope. The consumer is still harmed if there is a financial incentive to drive their fees up, and the appraisers fees down. COD +, assuring cost plus, otherwise; fail. COD alone is not the solution, the amc issue is bigger than just reliable check streams for appraisers.
Amc’s pocketed billions of dollars by not returning cost savings to consumers. Will anyone ever return that to the borrowing consumers? That cost savings of discounted price quoting serves as a financial incentive to be the preferred appraiser, against fdic rules on appraiser selection, the management rule in our ethics book, and junk fee rules in general. Ethics? Appraisers should not be able to just suddenly start caring about the rules and ethics half way through when they’re the ones finally being harmed. That’s not how it works. If the shoe does not fit, stop wearing it. Epic level fraud and appraisers are all like, where is my check? It’s in the mail, just keep waiting homeboy.
Really look into all these companies…. they are all related with executives. This is a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, except Peter and Paul are one in the same. APPRAISERS WILL NOT BE PAID in this fiasco!
I am convinced that some of the reviewers working for the AMCs must have the Intellect of a tadpole. My appraiser buddy just had a request, to address if the location of the US Air Force Academy had an impact on the marketability of subject. What? the subject is located 8 miles away from the Academy. I do not know how appraisers can work for these dimwits. The Academy is located a suburban area out by itself, this property is located in Colorado Springs surrounded by several residential developments.
He had another request on the same day, subject and all comps are two-stories with unfinished basements. AMC reviewer wanted to know if he considered these other properties. My buddy called the reviewer and asked if he even bother to look at the properties before he sent the request, considering they all had finished basements. The reviewers response was “put a comment in the appraisal.”
In Colorado, anyone can fail a complaint against any appraiser for any reason. So, can an appraiser file a complaint against an AMC for being utterly stupid?
For the stips, that’s fun to talk about. It’s checkbox review based on risk profiles which are related to the funding entity, lenders internal policies, and robotic review returns through both their internal or third party web platform, as well as the alert returns the underwriter may deal with after submission. Through the entire process until the magic moment of final submission with all review parties, they all can have varied review point stringency setting options they control. Stand in the shoes of an underwriter to better understand the process and lift this false narrative illusion that only third party management companies are qualified to navigate this, links provided.
That’s where the rubber hits the road and all of this comes together, is understanding that regardless of how an appraiser approaches reporting, there may simply always be some measure of push back or request for further clarification as the various review parties seek to either bolster total loan package and process credibility through application of additional manual underwriting review scrutiny, or alternatively just apply a higher standard, sometimes unusually high, if the buyer may be on the edge of qualification in the first place or for some other reason. On a related note, FHA just issued a proclamation of increased manual underwriting, so hopefully that keeps slightly more full service appraisals in our hands without them being allowed to be scooted over to the risky waiver and hybrid programs.
Do you ever feel like sometimes you just can’t do a good enough of a job as an appraiser, no matter how hard you try? You’re not alone. Mortgage lending appraisers are operating in the dark if they don’t have a good framework understanding of all these issues. Betcha a pepsi and ten bear skins you can’t find a regular clerk at an amc that understands all of this or read even a portion of it.
Fannie QA on CU risk scores;
https://www.fanniemae.com/content/faq/collateral-underwriter-faqs.pdf
The eligibility matrix;
https://www.fanniemae.com/content/guide/selling/b3/1/01.html
UCDP user guide… Every appraiser should at least have reviewed this once;
https://www.fanniemae.com/content/guide/selling/b3/1/01.html
Another shorter UCDP results guide. If they get a return, you get a stip. Also most of that if not more is part of the manually defined checkbox review options for lenders through their third party distribution and order management platforms.
https://appraisalnewsonline.typepad.com/files/ucdp-user-guide-fannie-mae-messaging.pdf
FHA newsletter on manual underwriting recently;
https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/SFH/documents/SFH_FHA_INFO_19-07.pdf
Just for kicks quick reading on the manual underwriting process;
https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/FY16_SFHB_MOD4_UNDER.PDF
Now raise hands if you think non licensed people can handle all of this and our duties as appraisers can really be boiled down to relying on dirt cheap bottom dollar third party information while providing quality reports in a fraction of the time at a discounted rate, and possibly going over the edge with outsourced typing services, non licensed inspection runners, etc. Some appraisers whom have already gone with those programs have really increased their exposure. We’re entering the end of the pump phase after a long blow up of the real estate market. Guess what comes next.
CJK and Baggins spot on… Great points. Now add this one to the mix. Fannie Mae is so brilliant that the forms via the certification require inspection of the subject and comps. However for anyone covering GATED RESTRICTED COMMUNITIES your not getting into those communities for photos… So does that mean you orphan what the actual market does due to access and this insane NO MLS PHOTOS allowed. Nope, you override the stupid certs per your USPAP requirements and put in an commentary. After all are you not being hired for COMPETENCY vs. Fries with that form…
Lastly another very weak point on the Alphabet Condition rating field.. With the market run up many will see developers put in crap for components I mean basic stuff. So you get a comparable that is not a C1 like the subject but a C3 and if you actually DO YOUR JOB and see THERE IS A SUBSET of requirements for this field beyond the MERE C1 OR C3 adjustment (meaning updates) one can see a C2 OR C3 at times actually superior to a C1 due to this subset. Try running that one by the AMC’s and the Lenders they are like DEER IN THE HEADLIGHTS. Oh that is not possible. Sorry but yes it is, just because it’s new does not mean automatically its better. But hey for all those Appraisers RIPPING OUT PIZZA’s nationally you can thank them for this as they just do the bare minimum and along comes any appraiser actually doing their job and YOUR DONE, you don’t fit the mold, you don’t fit in.
Bottom line is UAD and the AMC’s have boxed the appraisers into a corner (the experienced ones that actually care about doing a decent job) not the daily dough maker doing volume and using Alamode and Spark (and never even reviewing the dam data but only saying huh, I’m done it’s from public records and or the MLS so I’m done here, next, next, next). Not picking on Alamode as ACI does it and others to follow.
TURN TIME IS KING and nobody cares!!!
You have 48 hours from the inspection to finish, so if you do the report on a thursday or friday and your a family guy you either using Alamode and Spark to have a life and contributing to the problem (I get it you have no choice or do you) which is going to be 36 hours very soon now as I’m already hearing that creep into my markets.
So there is no way in hell appraisers (to defend those using Alamode and Spark) can live up to this utter nonsense without saying FLIP IT, to keep up.
Math model
24 hours in a day
– 8 hours of somewhat of a life and sleep
= 16 hours to turn a report
48 hours turn time
-16 hours (sleep, somewhat of a life)
= 32 hours to turn a report
These figures do not include other job functions including using the restroom or pouring a cup of coffee and or seeing your neighbors leave for work and then come home while you type up to and past midnight.
Profession is dead… GET OUT.
Jaded Appraisers One Stop Shop
Remember back in the day when mortgage brokers had the bank implosion meter?
Maybe, Appraisers should have one for AMCs.
The intimidation factor is too high these days for that sort of effort. Back in the day we could complain about the individuals, then call the better ones sitting next to them, so much of that all went public.
These days if you have conflict with the amc, you lose the entire body of mortgage people for that bank, and all the other banks the amc may work with, along with all future opportunity for banks the amc may cycle through. And they share lists and then generate lists which lenders may then distribute to the next amc.
Truth is, the amc process is so veiled in secrecy behind some informational iron curtain, we really don’t know what they’re doing except what we can infer from their process shortcomings.
Marion. Absolutely Marvelous idea. And it should be a very public friendly lender accessible site. A place where Appraisers can balance and report honestly the Snow White business practices and red roses images AMCs portray to their clients.
Waged bets would be easy earnings if even half of Coesters clients knew or were warned in advance of the shennaggin being played on them and Appraisers.
It is amazing how many appraisers worked for Brian Coester for free, he was just a slick talking dweeb who walk away with all the cash. It appears he has started a new company with the appraisers money. Some people just need a good ass whooping. This is why I do not work for AMCs.
LOL Thanks for the giggles.
So true. Sadly there are a lot of appraisers that are working for Clarocity for free as well. With all the warning out there, it truly amazes me how they can lookup and have no clue what is going on around them.
Marion your stealing my material! I said that months ago on another post! Joking it’s nice we think along the same lines! I haven’t worked with AMC’s for years! They are all the same it’s just whether you prefer dog poop or cat poop
http://bankimplode.com/
582 Banks imploded since 2007.
AMCs should be close to that number now.
There is talk of an investigation for Insider Trading going among those con artists at Clarocity.
https://stockhouse.com/companies/bullboard?symbol=v.cly&postid=29657154
On the billboard they changed the name back to Zaio. ? ?
Shane Copeland walked away free as a bird from the Loft fiasco and probably thinks he can talk a walk away from this one as well.
DO NOT PROCEED, THEY LITERALLY FIRED THE MAJORITY OF EMPLOYEES WITHOUT NOTICE!!! ONLY HAVE A COUPLE ON SITE TO ANSWER CALLS AND TRY TO ATTEMPT TO SAVE CLIENTS.
THEY WILL NOT/ARE NOT GOING TO PAY YOU, DO NOT CONTINUE TO DO ANY WORK FOR THEM,
I AM A PRIOR EMPLOYEE AND HAVE FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE
Take a piece of cheese (assignment) throw it in the middle of the basement floor (appraiser pool). Watch 10 rats (appraisers) run towards the cheese (assignment). The first one that reaches the cheese wins the prize (order). That’s how AMC’s work. No regard for tenure, quality of work, expertise, morale character or legal awareness. The only answer to the problem is the disappearance of the AMC beast.
Ironic that I found this site since I got an email telling me that they had a check for me and it would expire in 90 days which was their policy for any issued check. I haven’t done a valuation for them in years. I think it is a scam?….lol