Appraisal News and Appraisal Tips For Real Estate Appraisers - Your source for appraisal industry news, appraisers' opinions, and discussions of appraisal issues
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...
Can appraisers report an opinion of value as a range? Can that be done? The answer is both YES and NO, or as some like to say, “It Depends!” Here’s an interesting example of YES, involving two commercial properties in Miami Beach (yeah, I know, resi’s, but hang with me here!): Appraisals: Town-owned lots in West Palm Beach worth millions You will notice in the article that the value reported in the appraisals is stated as a RANGE by the appraisers. That is entirely acceptable when appraisals are done under the guidance of USPAP Standard 2. It makes sense to do it...
If you are in business long enough, you will get subpoenaed by someone involved in a dispute that may not even involve you. A subpoena is technically a court order compelling you to appear and testify or to produce records or both. If you are actually involved in the dispute as the plaintiff or defendant, your duty to comply with the subpoena is generally very clear and mandatory. However, when you are not the plaintiff or defendant, complying blindly with a subpoena without asking any questions may not be in your best interest. As a non-party, a subpoena may be...
House Bill 651: Appraisal Board Recordkeeping and Background Checks Raleigh, NC – Today Rep. Jon Hardister (R-Guilford) passed House Bill HB 651 – Appraisal Board Recordkeeping and Background Checks – which provides regulatory relief for the real estate appraisal industry. House Bill 651 eliminates the discovery rule for civil action related to real estate appraisals and establishes a five year statute of limitations, which puts North Carolina in line with the United States Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. This will reduce insurance and compliance costs for real estate appraisers, many of which are small businesses and independent contractors. The bill...
Calling on Licensed & Certified Residential Appraisers Appraisers, The Appraisal Foundation seeks candidates for its Boards. We need a diversity of ‘license types’ to serve on these Boards. Your service time and travel expenses are covered. I just completed an analysis for the current members on the Appraiser Qualifications Board. Individually, they are all nice and very qualified people, but they are ALL Certified General appraisers. In the US there are fewer CG’s than there are License or Certified Residential appraisers. The composition of the AQB has been largely dominated by CG’s for years. These are the folks who have mandated...
“Property Prices Reach an All-Time High” Oh really? The subject line is a press release headline put out by a national sales organization. Do you buy into the hype, or do you actually do local comparable property market research to verify trends? I just completed an appraisal on a property I appraised 2 years ago. I did a 5 year market study on comparables then, and found the market for that type of property had been DECLINING at that time. I did another 5 year market study on this same property this time around. And guess what? The property values for this type...
Appraisers need to have intent in order to be convicted of fraud… I have recently read several different posts and articles on the Internet stating that some appraisers have committed fraud unknowingly. Some describe instances of stating condition to be average when the property needed work, or “tweaking” the numbers to make the deal work. First of all it is important to note, the FBI defines mortgage fraud as “any material misstatement, misrepresentation or omission relied upon by an underwriter or lender to fund, purchase or insure a loan”. By that definition, such fraud can clearly be committed by both...
Appraisal Management Companies (AMC) are changing how our profession works. It’s important to know exactly how they are affecting the real estate process, especially if you are a home-owner, looking for real estate or are involved in another part of the property. Who does an Appraiser work for? An appraiser works for “The Client” named in the report who ultimately responsible for the appraiser’s compensation. It is important to realize that while a borrower may have paid a lender or third party the cost of the appraisal, “The client” remains the only party authorized to use the report. The appraiser...
Is AQB Potentially Changing Course on Appraiser Qualifications? Appraisers & others, The Appraisal Qualifications Board (AQB) is one of the voluntary Boards under The Appraisal Foundation. Their role is to analyze, debate, review, and decide the minimum qualifications necessary for a person to become an appraiser. While all who currently or in the past have served on this Board, are individually good and experienced people, collectively by Board action they have nearly caused residential appraising to grind to a halt due to their highly restrictive policy decisions. Yes, this a strong statement, and ‘halting’ won’t happen until the majority of current...
Important – Call to Action This must be done by Tuesday July 7 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is requesting comments on the proposed amendment to the “Know Before You Owe” mortgage disclosure rule, which proposes to move the rule’s effective date to October 3, 2015. We feel it is very important that the appraisal fee be disclosed separately from any add on fees such as an AMC fee. Recently 23 state appraiser coalitions including the Louisiana Appraisers Coalition worked together and submitted a letter to the CFPB about making it a requirement to separate the fees of the...
