Is Mr. Brian Coester Being Honest?
The real question I have is simple: Is Mr. Brian Coester being honest with people, and telling the truth about what REALLY happened? I’m skeptical, but I don’t do business with CoesterVMS.
I sure have read lots of first-hand comments from appraisers about either slow pay, or not being paid, for reports completed for CoesterVMS. That makes me highly uncomfortable about accepting any assignment from them, unless they pay the report fee UP FRONT, and they don’t get the report until the check actually clears the banks involved. (This does work, by the way, as appraisers have notified me who have done this.)
Based on Brian Coester’s personal postings, there are two things I do know about Mr. Brian Coester: he likes to quote Bible verses in his communications – many relate to staying vigilant in the face of adversity, and he loves participating in martial arts training and exhibitions. Actually, three things: the third is he has been involved with the courts for various situations since he was 26 years old. He’s now in his mid-30’s. Those items are found in various public places, easily searched. One case involving an appraiser is still pending.
If you decide to do business with that, or any AMC, keep very close tabs on payments. If your state has regulations mandating AMC’s pay appraisers within a defined number of days, know what they are, and take appropriate action if you don’t get payment appropriately. Do not do more than TWO ASSIGNMENTS ‘on credit’ before accepting others, and demand payment for the outstanding ones before accepting new assignments. Remember, you’re a FEE appraiser, not a FREE appraiser.
Scoundrel AMC’s will take advantage of you if you don’t pay attention to your business.
Dave Towne on e-AppraisersDirectory.com
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Practice makes perfect Mr. Coester. Hopefully one day you’ll grow up to be a REAL CRIMINAL. Washington DC and Wall Street are always searching for people with your skills.
Coester VMS doesn’t pay. Stay away!
coestervms.com/lenders
Hold on, I thought AIR was appraiser independence requirements.
Hold in, I thought the amc was to provide separation from mortgage production, not to be the long arm of the lender hiring lender personnel.
Hold on, what’s this ‘expansive appraisal database’? I thought there were clear rules on both data retention and use of data within the CU system…
Appraisers and lenders who choose to work with amc’s are helping a great many of them defraud borrowing consumers. Only if an amc has an upfront fee based on cost plus billing can they claim differently.
I did some work for this AMC a few years back. They were ok then but I have not received any work from them in a long time. Im guessing it was a blessing!
Brian Coester should be ashamed of himself. These AMCs were put in place to protect the appraiser yet I have been financially and emotionally harmed by the AMCs. The low fees, the ridiculous turn times, the unwarranted QC requests. As I type this I just received a QC from Clear capital on a 1004D to provide street photos? Why would they need street photos for a subject to completion 1004D? When will this end? Does anyone in government read these articles? Why does it appear everyone wants the appraiser out of the process? What other business gets this type of abuse?
Have a blessed day!
For what it’s worth…FNMA requires street photos for 1004d. The scope creep is coming from FNMA.
Coester has been notorious for always blaming the “banks” for non payment or bouncing of checks. Never saw an AMC have so many banking problems. One outrageous incident that was posted and discussed on another forum even involved a bogus letter allegedly written by a bank officer who apologizes for any inconvenience it caused Coester. And now, another incident? people are expected to believe yet another bank fumble? How could one AMC possibly have such bad luck and misfortune yet eschew any responsibility?
It’s rather incredulous that a law firm would open themselves up to a suit where alleged loss of business claim could result due to issuing a seizure notification “mistake” letter.
What reputable lenders should be asking themselves is do they want an AMC with such a poor, long-standing and sullied reputation to be representing them as their agent? What does it say about them? Two lawsuits- one open alleging hacking an Appraisers email account and another settled alleging fraud and a sundry of other agregious charges? What? They never bothered to check ? Aren’t lawsuit questions Lenders ask Appraisers upon panel approval? While his glowing press releases and marketing skills may rival those of PT Barnum – Working boots on the ground Appraisers are are aghast by his everyday business practices.
Lenders need to spend more time on Appraiser blogs to discern the real deal about his reputation.
Just look at his previous statements/dealings and you will come to the right conclusion.
Certresidential – some of the best advice to lenders I’ve ever read pertaining to Coester or his CoeterVMS.
My question is how this future sausage maker candidate gets any banking or lender business to begin with? If he cannot manage his own business without frequently and repeatedly bouncing checks or becoming involved in lawsuits how can he possibly ‘manage’ anyone’s appraisals?
Don’t lenders run background checks on the AMCs they select like they do appraisers?
Best question of the day. Signs point to….. NO.
Let’s rehash an old question, popular, and never answered adequately.
If amc’s provide a valid service, why can’t they bill for that separately from the appraisers fee.
Landed another 3 direct panel slots just this month. It’s not rocket science.
Amc’s still to this day have done nothing more than present as money making gimmicks.
If Mr. Coester is being honest, that it was a banking mistake, then why did his bond company offer a 90 day notice of the bond being terminated? In North Carolina, our appraisal board notified all appraisers that the bond would expire on 2/16/2019 and included instructions for filing claims. I understand that a few other states have received the same notice from the bond company.
An AMC that can’t balance its debits and credits, is not a business it’s Romper Room!
You could be the best appraiser in your local area and be respected by your peers. Or you could work for AMCs and be known as a fool. Your choice!
Since we appraisers are all background checked thoroughly, and they have our fingerprints – there is no reason why an AMC owner/operator and its officers should not be thoroughly background checked. They are looking for fraudsters which is what banks and other lenders did when the Federal regulators put in that law, because it was just the appraisers who made all those high values that caused the S&L and Bank bailouts of 1989 (when we got licensing) and 2008 when we got Dodd Frank.
Back in the old days, when lenders kept their mortgages in-house, they hired trusted appraisers who they could rely upon to perform objectively which protected both the lender and the consumer. Then realtors blamed appraisers for being too low when they had a “deal”, and despite them being compensated based on a commission, and them being an interested party to the transaction, they again perpetuated the myth that appraisers caused these downturns in real estate values. Now, since Wall Street actors who gambled with your fake equity never paid a price for their illegal “securities”, they are still selling derivatives and playing the market like a dice game, but there are real people being hurt.
The middle class dream of home ownership has been dead and our children have to live with their parents to save for a down payment then pay a huge monthly nut to live in a decent neighborhood, or they can rent. Rents have gone up so much we need rent control in some cities because there is such a shortage of housing. We have homeless people all over, sleeping on sidewalks and begging for money who have no health care or hope of getting out of their situation. Meanwhile, millennials are not able to afford the average priced house, unless they work for a tech giant like microsoft or google. Dumb ass kids turn over faster than pancakes in a hot pan at the verizon or at&t/direct tv store, and their jobs are so dumbed down they know nothing about their product and keep to a strict script, screwing you every month while losing your contacts, stealing your data and tracking you everywhere you go with your cell phone…
So, if we are to control our work, we need to go back to paper, and only appraisers should touch our jobs and only highly qualified, experienced review appraisers should question the appraiser, his/her judgement and that appraiser should be given sufficient time to produce a credible report, while not paying an arm or leg for annual and monthly MLS dues. Actually, zillow, producing an avm might be cheaper and faster, but we know it is not accurate, then if you get an unlicensed, untrained, 20 year old who knows nothing about real estate but is given control over your assignment, then they get more than the appraiser, nothing but fraud has to be suspected.
Since I am an old-timer with over 50 years in real estate and 40 as an appraiser, it is not in my DNA to commit fraud; it is scary to think one could get locked up if some jackass clerk doesn’t like you or you had the nerve to take two or three weeks to complete an appraisal of a home in a changing market. We should only quote fair professional fees, compensation that is adequate to cover expenses and a reasonable profit, because no one gets rich in this business if they are not cutting corners on the research, process, writing and reconciling the data, and coming up with a supportable opinion as of a specific date; then quote them two or three weeks for turn-around time, and then we can testify in front of congress or any regulatory body that it is not sound to use computer analyses that uses public data that is unconfirmed, and no human inspected the property and did an independent valuation analysis. It is just not sound financial practice.
Computers are good for some things, like writing, computing, and some analyses, however, it is always the appraiser’s judgement that counts, and underlying that is that they are honest and they did all the necessary steps to opine on the value of real estate. This is not rocket science, but the highest standards of our profession, our ethics, and value in the financial world has been eroded after years of blaming us as a scapegoat to cover their crimes, fraud and then they make us work for an amc if we want to work on federal loan transactions.
Heck, Michael Cohen just got only 3 years after a life of crime and a fine of a million dollars which he can pay; appraisers have probably been given more time than that for falsifying an appraisal to favor their client, or get more work from the lender. The days are long gone when appraisers could choose their own clients, and no other profession in the financial world has such a restriction. Urge lenders to keep loans in-house, urge politicians to abandon the amc model and stand up for yourself and don’t whore for an amc, ever! Make them pay up front, or forget it!
Oh boy, what a great commentary. Everyone involved in appraisal distribution should be individually licensed. Insiders have a certain way of assuring the system is designed around their proprietary interests.
Why are Appraisers prefacing Brian Coester name with Mr.? I was under the impression such a prefect was reserved as measure of respect.
Because “Steaming pile of pony loaf” (SPoPL) is reserved for other purposes?
Welp. We have a conclusive answer to this question now!
Amc’s are fake news.
Oppression from lenders! Lack of government protections for appraisers! Amc’s please save us!
Anyone still buying that?