How else can regular phone workers and non real estate technical persons control the process and profit from unnecessary middle management positions? They have to add value somewhere. Enter performance grading which rewards incompetent work on both sides, shutting down traditional time consuming detailed appraisal labor and promotes corner cutting outsourcing and boilerplate above all else. If every single distribution person was required to have an appraisers license, only then could a middle management company begin to make informed intelligent decisions regarding distribution. But if every single person was required to have an appraisers license, all this deceptive practice would have to stop immediately. No more fee skimming, playing people against each other, outright lying and manipulating the process, etc. In the real world, our current situation is that amc’s pay their own technical persons far more than licensed appraisers. They hire technical staff at far greater pay scales. Even many amc’s current hiring pages indicate that you need 5 years experience to be an appraisal reviewer, but only need 3 years in hr or related services to ‘manage’ those appraisers. The goal of amc’s has changed over a very short period from simply raking off the top, to taking the entire amount and replacing the appraiser completely. Group licensing for amc’s has been almost completely ineffective. Now every single employee and worker at an amc clearly needs to carry an appraisers license or these destructive practices will not end and will only continue to accelerate licensed appraiser attrition from the industry. These companies actively discriminate against handicapped, elderly, parents, part timers, and more competent appraisers. But if you play good employee and flip pretyped outsourced work back at a discount beyond your peers, they profit more, and subsequently prefer to send you the work ahead of all others. Purely profit driven decisions in violation of fdic rules on distribution but since individuals are not licensed, there is no way to hold them accountable to existing rule sets.

Yeah I should show them this article. I told them what transpired. AMC’s are now going to be obligated to post there fees to lenders so this is going to be exposed. These AMC’s are trying to take over our profession. I always said just think of how many certified appraisers Fannie Mae and the AMC’s have facilitated that are no longer appraising. There’s your shortage if there is one. AMC’s should be a thing of the past and I hope some day they will be so we can get back to being revered as professionals.

Jeff, show your client the two ClearVal Appraisals that were recently posted here and tell them that you don’t work for 10%; and refuse to lower your standards down to those deemed acceptable to Clear Capital.

Excellent article Peter. We need to get the word out to more AMCs and orgs like REVAA. Maybe they’ll get the idea eventually.

Yes I completely agree. I have zero interest in working with Clear Capital. The sad thing is there are some really great lenders that I could be doing work for but Clear Capital is standing in the way. Frustrating

Consider yourself lucky. Clear Capital is by far the worst amc. If you want to keep your good reputation, steer clear of CC!

A must read…

http://appraisersblogs.com/clearval-value-hybrid-appraisal

We’ve seen agreements seeking to control the behavior, attire, payment, and actions of the appraiser in a manner similar to an employee. Appraisers are independent contractors but lately I’ve seen AMCs like ServiceLink, Solidifi and Corelogic announce that they are/will be taking over scheduling. Solifi calls it Enhanced Inspection Scheduling where preferred times are offered to consumers. If the appraiser can meet the preferred timeframe, they can accept the order but they need to decline otherwise. Corelogic has something similar and I believe they call it Xcelerator. They are indeed turning independent contractors into employees. Glad to see these appraisers fighting back and getting compensated. If AMCs are going to control you, then why shouldn’t you get the employee benefits?