Call to Comment; AMC Disciplinary Action
1. A Call to Comment has been issued. 2. VA is looking for Appraisers. 3. AMC Disciplinary Action Snowballs into Multiple States…
A Call to Comment has been issued. The FTC is asking for public comments on the consent decree by the Louisiana Real Estate Appraisal Board. The time line to comment is short and ends on July 22, 2021. VaCAP asks each of you to take a few minutes and read the consent decree as well as the analysis provided by the FTC before commenting.
The link for the Federal Register that contains all the information can be found here. The pdf version is below.
The Veterans Administration is looking for Appraisers. A VaCAP member has asked us to share the following email:
Good Afternoon:
We hope the summer has been good to you. With business and travel opening up, The Department of Veterans Affairs Roanoke Value Stream Office is continuing to experience high volumes of appraisal requests. As noted in the prior communications, we are doing our best to maintain balance in the number of appraisers we add to the panel in a proper proportion to the volumes we are receiving and specific only to areas where we are exceeding max capacity or exceeding timeliness regularly. That should serve us well should the industry cycle back down (we all have seen these) verses just growing the panel without regard to the future impacts.
To that end, VA is experiencing a need for focused recruitment in a couple counties at this time. We ask for your help in getting word out to appraisers in the following  counties should you have contacts.
- Warren
- Clarke
- Page
- Shenandoah
Please ask that they inquire with the Roanoke Value Stream Office at: cv.vbaroa@va.gov or if you are able to provide a name and contact information for the prospective appraiser, we will gladly reach out to them.
We truly appreciate the exceptional service that all are striving to provide our deserving Veterans at this unprecedented time.
Thanks for all you do
Kevin Diomedi
Valuation Officer, Roanoke Value Stream Office
(877) 827-3702 Ext. 3145044
AMC Disciplinary Action Snowballs into Multiple States. US Real Estate Services Inc was disciplined in Utah for a violation of Utah Regulations and it snowballed into disciplinary action in four additional states, including Virginia. Will other states follow? See the Virginia case below.
BACKGROUND:
On October 29, 2020, the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation received information from Jim Chapman, Board and Regulatory Administrator for the Real Estate Appraiser Board (“Board”), regarding US Real Estate. (Exh. C-1)On August 27, 2020, the Board received an email from US Real Estate self-reporting disciplinary actions taken against US Real Estate by the Minnesota Department of Commerce (“Minnesota DOC”), the Oklahoma Real Estate Appraiser Board (“Oklahoma REAB”), the Utah Department of Commerce (“Utah DOC”), and the Nebraska Real Property Appraiser Board (“Nebraska RPAB”). (Exh. C-1 and C-2)
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Ahhhh, USRES again….. My vote is for fines based on income. They used to be a great company, until they redirected half of all appraisal fee payments to a top heavy corporate management squad. All that talent, paid on the back of half fee appraisals. We got more out of them 15 years ago than they even dare to compensate today, and everything was direct assignment. They were among the set of the original appraisal management companies before the amc business model was redefined and then ineffectively regulated as we know it today. We got reo for $650 from them all the time by fax orders and they accomplished substantial order distribution with only a handful of employees, because they never shopped anything and simply forced their clients to pay the appraisers stated fees. It all fell apart when RESNET tech allowed them to game the appraisers against each other for maximum volume and minimized fees. USRES, what a shame and sore spot for appraisers whom had previously advocated for the amc model, from when the amc model was respectable and billed separately for it’s services. This company will never live it down, moving to the predatory assignment model, because their baselines were established ahead of the crowds. USRES, say it ain’t so!