Overwhelming Majority Are Against Hybrids
The next Virginia Real Estate Appraisal Board Meeting will be held on July 30th, 2019 @ 10:00 AM. This meeting will be a historic meeting as the board will be discussing the proposed hybrid appraisal guidance document and the corresponding 153 public comments. Also on the agenda, CoesterVMS is listed under the disciplinary cases!
Why is this meeting so important?
First, the 153 comments is the second highest amount of comments that have been made on any guidance document in the past year. The highest amount of comments on any proposed guidance document was by the Board of Health Professions in which 727 comments were received. In third place, a proposed guidance document issued by the Virginia Department of Health received 35 comments. All of the others received less than 5 comments.
So to summarize, the proposed hybrid appraisal guidance document is the only non health related guidance document to receive significant comments. Adding more importance to the proposed guidance document is the fact that all but 2 of the 153 comments were against hybrid appraisals, citing public trust concerns. That’s 98.7% of those who responded that are against these products.
If you have not had a chance to read the comments, it is highly recommended you take the time to do so. You can access the comments on Town Hall by clicking here.
VaCAP encourages all appraisers to attend this meeting and if you did not get an opportunity to comment on Town Hall, there will be a public comment period in which you can share you thoughts.
- The New Con: Hybrids, Waivers & AMCs Threaten Public Trust - December 16, 2024
- VaCAP Supports Shane Lanham’s Legal Fight - September 10, 2024
- It’s Just Responsible Journalism! - February 21, 2024
Today hybrids, tomorrow just data. Goodbye ole friend. Residential Appraiser
Hybrid appraisals is seemly hijacking a honest appraisal process.
Big tech and big lenders. Soon to wield a never before seen economic power over American consumers. There is no such thing as a safe loan.
That is a very high percentage of the public comments against these products. It does not seem likely the Board could ignore those comments.That Board is in place to serve and protect the public. If they ignore the public comments, the ground work is ripe for the board to have to defend their actions in court. But then again, that may be exactly what needs to happen for these products to disappear entirely.
I hope every appraiser in Virginia is at that meeting speaking up against these products.
FWIW the Georgia complaint case against the Indiana appraiser that did the ClearVal hybrid I’ve written about in the past, is still ongoing.
I’ve been interviewed by an Assistant Deputy Attorney General from Indiana, and a State Investigator from Georgia. Both will remain anonymous out of respect for their sensitive positions.
(1) Indiana seemed to want to discourage this type of thing, but apparently, their state law left them no jurisdiction in the instance cited.
(2) The Georgia investigator after a couple hour discussion did not leave me with the impression (speculatively) that either a wrist slap or dismissal would be likely. Also not likely (but still possible) would be a revocation. That leaves appropriate fine and mandatory remedial education as a possible outcome. I cannot write as if speaking for any agency or state that my interpretation was intended by any investigator. This is MY take away only. Ultimately the State Board there will decide. I felt comfortable they are taking the issue very seriously. I was hopeful their results would be published prior to Virginia’s hearing.