Appraisal News and Appraisal Tips For Real Estate Appraisers - Your source for appraisal industry news, appraisers' opinions, and discussions of appraisal issues
How can it be said that valuing a property lower than its eventual sale price based on current market evidence is tantamount to BIAS? The article titled “FHFA Data Fueling Looks into Appraisal Bias” was in the Inside Mortgage Finance Publications e-newsletter on 4/06/23. The Federal Housing Finance Agency is a is a critical provider of the data necessary for oversight, enforcement and research, FHFA Director Sandra Thompson noted during a discussion in late March. According to aggregate statistics from the Uniform Appraisal Dataset released by the FHFA, roughly 57% of appraisals were above the contract price in 2021. Just...
We the people need to redirect the mortgage lending direction… The time for every appraiser and consumer to step up is now. This country was founded on the principle of “We the people”. Please sign this petition and share it everywhere. Appraisers have been the target for blame for everything gone wrong in the mortgage lending world. We were blamed for the Savings and Loan collapse, the financial crisis of 2008, and appraisal bias and racial discrimination. Appraisers have even been the target on loans gone bad after several years on payments. Yep, we have been the target and have...
In response to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) decision to allow Fannie Mae to expand its appraisal waiver program, the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) has released an op-ed by ASA’s Strategic Partnership Officer, John D. Russell, JD, criticizing this move. ASA believes that by expanding the appraisal waiver program and relying on data and models for mortgage lending instead of human interaction, Fannie Mae is leaving behind two very important aspects: safety and soundness as well as consumer protection. The fear is that overvaluation may occur due to a reliance on models which always try to chase value...
HUD awarded $54 million to 182 nonprofits to serve as posses in a a Spanish Inquisition-style drive. The deep pockets of the federal government will be used to help the nonprofits chill the protected First Amendment rights of appraisers to develop disinterested opinions of value of the properties they appraise. In the early 1990s, the Texas Legislature established an unusual nonprofit known as the Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation. The times were dire. A near-biblical plague of weevils had descended on the state’s cotton crop. So, state lawmakers granted the private organization the powers of government to combat the malevolent creatures....
The Appraisal Forms & UAD Redesign Spec has been released and the current forms are being retired. This means that appraisers will no longer be using individual forms for each property type, but instead will have to use a single dataset with output varying based on property characteristics. If you want to get an idea of what this looks like, take a look at Appendix D-1 of the spec document. The new URAR form is going to be used for all types of properties as well as hybrid & traditional appraisals. It is important to note that this redesign requires...
Waiving appraisal requirements on residential homes could erode consumer protection, stall attempts to create diversity in the profession… The recent announcement from Fannie Mae that they will waive the requirement for residential home appraisals has caused quite a stir in the industry. Fannie Mae’s decision to waive appraisals during this time of soon to come recession and bank liquidity issues is both surprising and concerning, and could have serious implications for both consumers and financial institutions alike. With falling values across many markets combined with rising mortgage rates putting even more pressure on borrowers’ wallets, this decision could potentially put...
Dear representative, waiving/eliminating property appraisal for lending purposes is wanton recklessness. Fannie Mae’s decision to waive/eliminate property appraisal for lending purposes is nothing more than wanton recklessness that could have serious repercussions in the future. The truth of the matter is that appraisals are an essential part of any mortgage transaction and should not be taken lightly or eliminated without due consideration. Without them, there can be no assurance as to whether a homebuyer will get what they pay for or if lenders will make bad investments with their money. In short, waiving/eliminating property appraisal requirements puts everyone at risk...
Mandatory completion of an initial fair housing course lasting 7 hours by January 1st 2025, as well as 4 additional hours every renewal cycle thereafter. Recently, the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) has proposed new requirements for those looking to become an appraiser or renew their certification/license. These include mandatory completion of an initial fair housing course lasting seven hours by January 1st 2025, as well as four additional hours every renewal cycle thereafter if this becomes standard practice. The following is taken right out of the new exposure draft on real property appraiser qualifications criteria. “The core goal is to...
At the crossroads of it all is a campaign to weaken or eliminate valuations… The nonprofit is now exploring ways it can set standards for automated valuations… Expect greater distortions from Freddie and Fannie’s plodding and committee-driven foray into automated valuations. Sometimes when the hair on the back of your neck stands up, there’s a reason for it. The nation’s $11 trillion mortgage market has been nationalized. This coup occurred in broad daylight and gradually. With Freddie and Fannie now in their second decade in federal conservatorship, the prospect that they will ever again be subjected to the watchful eye...
Who is going to organize raising the funds and hiring the lobbyist? We are woefully behind the curve here. Myself and many others were organized in the early 1990s and managed to protect the appraisers’ interests for the most part at that time. Here in 2023, there does not appear to be any meaningful response other than the same old anecdotal war stories we pass along among ourselves. Yes, past markets crashed due to really bad mortgage products/underwriting, and banks failed due to really bad management decisions to go along with those mortgage schemes, but if Uncle Sam is going...
