Tagged: ACI

FTC Attorney Response & AGA Seeking Appraisers Opinions 9

FTC Attorneys Response to AGA

Is the FTC asserting that FNMA is exempt from antitrust laws? I don’t think of myself as being obtuse, nor do I think those that know me well would consider me to be particularly slow of wit or comprehension. Despite this, I’m truly confused by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) attorneys response to the American Guild of Appraiser (AGA) email letter we sent them. The first sentence states “The federal antitrust laws prohibit anticompetitive mergers and business practices that seek to prevent hard-driving competition, such as monopolistic conduct, attempts to monopolize, and conspiracies and combinations that harm competition and consumers.”...

Clear Capital Push For Hybrid VA Appraisals 54

Clear Capital’s Push For Hybrid VA Appraisals

Clear Capital suggests that the VA consider the use of a desktop appraisal On April 4, 2017, the House Committee on Veterans Affairs held a hearing on “Assessing VA Approved Appraisers And How To Improve The Program For The 21st Century.” The hearing was designed to “assess VA’s current appraisal process, as well as specific difficulties for timely appraisals in highly rural areas”, as well as to investigate possible technological solutions to mitigate timeliness issues. Much of the hearing focused on two areas: The requirements for becoming a member of the VA appraiser panel, and the baseline requirements for comparable...

Is There a Fourth Approach to Real Estate Value? 17

Is There a Fourth Approach to Real Estate Value?

I want to talk to you about the fourth approach to value… …and specifically an occasion on which it truly saved my bacon. Now, I know a lot of you real estate appraisers out there probably started chuckling as soon as you read the words ‘fourth approach to value.’ If you did, I get it, believe me! I used to be the same way. Over time, however, I’ve grown to see how it can often be a vital part of the valuation process. Let’s have a quick recap for anyone who’s either forgotten the fourth approach, or never learned it...

Slow Pay AMCs and Ponzi Scheme Payment Process 143

Slow Pay AMCs

Slow pay reputation AMCs and Ponzi scheme payment process… Folks, Through several of the ‘media sources’ I read recently, I’ve learned that “a particular AMC” based on the west coast has a slow pay reputation. As so often happens with low echelon AMCs with few clients, when business slows down, their payment process becomes a Ponzi scheme. Ultimately they go out of business. I currently have an outstanding report with that AMC, but the payment due date to me is March 7. So I’m respectfully withholding their name publicly from others, until and unless they don’t pay me on time....

Freddie Mac Criminal Aspects of Its Appraisal Free Mortgages 38

Freddie Mac Criminal Aspects of Its Appraisal Free Mortgages

Freddie Mac is opening itself up to over 150,000± potential individual lawsuits… This is a response from Mike Ford to Kenneth Harney’s article, “Freddie Mac planning appraisal-free mortgages”. I represent the American Guild of Appraisers, #44OPEIU, AFL-CIO, and the real estate appraisal-related consumer and taxpayer interests of our more than fifteen million± AFL-CIO members, retirees and their families. I’m prompted to write this open letter regarding your recent well written & researched article, titled “Freddie Mac planning appraisal free mortgages”. Regrettably, it was too brief to cover several additional critical aspects of the issue, but I assume the Chicago Tribune’s...

ACI Sky Causing Distress for Appraisers 49

ACI Sky Causing Distress for Appraisers

Are you giving in to ACI Sky? An appraiser who will remain anonymous tells us… “within the last week, I have had two issue of concerns with “UAD” compliance and ACI Sky Delivery ( I can hardly write that; as, it is a significant source of stress when I have to deal with it). I have tried to submit reports, with issues that prevented the upload (no surprise with “Sky”). The first involved the 1004MC form. The comparables that were available for the subject were extremely minimal – something like 4-6. The last period only included 1 comparable (no valid...

Desirable - banned Fannie Mae words 10

Desirable, Rite or Rong?

Desirable, banned or permitted? I was caught up in a minor ‘dispute’ last week when a review appraiser wacked my knuckles when I described a ‘neighborhood’ as being “Desirable.” My original message was re-distributed on various forums and I’ve tried to read all comments to see how I might learn from this episode. Lots of appraisers offered their input. Some supportive and positive, some cautionary, and some who believe much of what we have to deal with is pretty trivial. “Banned words” were originally identified in the Fair Housing Act law many years ago (not the EEOC law as I...

First American Financial and ACI software 13

Software Provider Conflict of Interest(s)?

ACI software & “restricted appraisals” that suffer from schizophrenia… It’s been awhile since I reviewed or researched influences affecting products offered by appraisal software providers. It’s hardly been a number one priority lately. However, I just noticed something I’ve missed for I can’t even begin to guess at how long. Like many appraisers, I use a variety of software providers. Some do some things better than others, or easier. It’s usually been a matter of preference. I started out back in the 1980’s with Formfil PC+, back on my old DOS based system. It was a decent appraisal software. Pretty...

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Appraisal Fees ARE Being Manipulated

Gas prices in California were $4.25 to $4.50 when oil was last at $100 a barrel. A week ago they were $50+/- a barrel and our pump prices were still over $4.00 a gallon. We are told ‘environmental’ mandated blended methanol is the cause of the $1.30 higher pricing than anywhere else in the Continental US. When those environmental laws were being passed we were told they’d only add from $0.05 to MAX of $0.15 per gallon-NOT $1.30 or 43% more! We KNOW that California politicians have also very recently heavily increased gas taxes in their never ending war against internal combustion....

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Differences Between Neighborhood and Market Areas & Analysis

Neighborhood is broad and general in nature… When examining appraisal reports, it is commonly noted that the Neighborhood section of the 1004 appraisal report contains data for sales of properties that are comparable and competing to the subject, rather than for sales of all homes of the same category (i.e., single family detached). Professional appraisal reference works, such as Appraising Residential Properties, 4th Edition (published by Appraisal Institute) address the differences between a “neighborhood” and a “market area.” Further, various Fannie Mae selling guides and announcements, and the HUD 4150.2 handbook contain guidance for appraisers regarding the analysis of neighborhood...

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