Appraisal News and Appraisal Tips For Real Estate Appraisers - Your source for appraisal industry news, appraisers' opinions, and discussions of appraisal issues
What are racially restrictive covenants? Are racially restrictive covenants valid and enforceable?.. There has been considerable discussion about ‘bias’ applying to appraisals on forums, and elsewhere, since the Congressional hearing in 2019 where appraisers were blamed for racial bias by the rep from the Brookings Institute. That rep vilified appraisers as being the culprits in the lending process, which is mostly bogus. Unfortunately, now that the charge has been made, appraisers and appraisal organizations are now forced to play on the defensive side of the ball, rather than being proactive and disclosing what actually transpired, on offense. I sense appraisal...
What once was a ‘three year’ project to redesign and implement revised appraisal forms has morphed into one taking far longer. Actual implementation and use of ‘new forms’ are not scheduled to happen until (presumably) early in 2024, but could be extended even further. By 2024, the currently used ‘forms’ will be 19 years old, and the current UAD overlay entering ‘teenage hood’ at 13. For context, the current Planet Mars Perseverance Rover mission to successfully plan and land scientific instruments took only 9 years! Details for the ‘forms redesign extension’ are based on the announcement from Fannie Mae (and Freddie...
What is the actual reason USPAP was extended without warning for an additional year? Don’t get me wrong. I am all for longer USPAP cycles or doing updates on an as-needed basis in an industry that changes very little. As I’ve mentioned before, Dave Bunton of TAF said during the ASB public call on February 19th that USPAP was extended another year because of COVID – yet that makes no sense. Zoom calls are ubiquitous these days, so COVID is not a legitimate reason – we can argue that TAF is MORE efficient with Zoom. I bring this up specifically...
…how to prevent a low appraisal in the first place… As real estate brokers in New York City, many buyers ask us what options exist if the appraised value comes below the contract’s purchase price. We explain how the appraisal rebuttal process works and how to prevent a low appraisal in the first place. Here are the most frequent questions buyers ask us. For this reason, we will draft this article like a Q&A. What happens when the appraisal is below the purchase price? What to do when the appraisal comes too low? How to contest a low appraisal? Can...
Bill A5185 and AMC Bill A5146 introduced to the state legislature in New Jersey show just how much state legislators don’t understand the appraisal profession. Valuation Legal warned us about this back in December: Appraiser and AMC Laws to Include Prohibitions Against Discrimination. From Bill A5185: 2. a. Prior to the initiation of a residential property appraisal, a holder of a license or certification under P.L.1991, c.68 (C.45:14F-1 et seq.) or registration under P.L.2017, c.72 (C.45:14F-27 et al.) shall provide a property seller with a document, in a form and manner prescribed by the board, informing the property seller of...
FTC vs LREAB Update The Supreme Court has denied the Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board’s petition to intervene in the administrative case for price fixing by the FTC. The FTC trial is scheduled to proceed on April 20, 2021. VaCAP is closely following this case and will update you as it proceeds. To view all the activity for this case, go to the FTC’s webpage here. Working RE Appraisal Survey Let your voice be heard on what is customary and reasonable fees for your services. Working RE is conducting the annual fee survey. We have been asked to help distribute...
The most weighted technique in most automated valuation programs comes down to one over-simplified formula, based on a guesstimation from an outside source that has no interest in the real estate system… Dear FHFA: Please accept the following comments in regard to Question A1.4. The response also includes comments on several additional questions. Thank you for taking the time to review these thoughts. Technology has made so many improvements in the last decade and we now have the chance to truly improve our home valuation system. With that being said, the last piece of the quality puzzle starts at the...
An appraiser shared the following with us which was posted on one of the appraisers’ groups. There’s been a lot of mis-information about the new FNMA form posted so i thought i might clear the air a little bit. Being a software provider i’m in the loop but i can’t disclose every thing i know due to confidentiality. That being said i’m just the messenger and don’t shoot the messenger. the new form is not to put appraisers out of business. if they weren’t providing the new form, then i’d be worried. the previous forms were designed for a typewriter....
The Appraisal Foundation has issued an exposure draft for Advisory Opinion (AO) 16. Advisory Opinion 16 is Fair Housing Laws: Avoiding Bias in Real Property Appraisal and Appraisal Review Development and Reporting. Unlike other exposure drafts, the text of the AO opinion has been rewritten. The traditional strike through of word or phrase changes is nonexistent. The Appraisal Foundation acknowledges “the Advisory Opinion was extensively rewritten”. Comments on the changes are due to The Appraisal Foundation by March 31, 2021 via SurveyMonkey or email, asb@appraisalfoundation.org. Although an Advisory Opinion is not a standard of practice, it does express what is...
Will the same states that do this for appraisers also mandate similar Fair Housing and Fair Lending courses for lenders, loan officers, mortgage bankers… Are you aware that US States are beginning to ‘require’ appraisers take required courses in how to treat people fairly, by requiring such a class for every license renewal period?? Here’s the law from New York state: 19 NYCRR § 1107.2. is amended as follows: Section 1107.2. Individual continuing education requirements (a) For State license and certification periods that commence on or after January 1, 2000, real estate appraisers and real estate appraiser assistants who hold...
