Tagged: alternative

November 26, 2018

Open Letter to Taxpayers

An Open Letter to Taxpayers Dear Ms; Mrs. & Mr. Taxpayer: In a recent article published by Housing Wire; authored by Ben Lane (November 20, 2018) it was reported that our federal “regulators” are at it again. “At what?” One might ask. Facilitation of increased LOAN FRAUD & consumer deception with Taxpayers yet again left holding the bag. Click here for the article Back in 1994 (actually it started in 1989-91 when FIRREA was being drafted) the Fed agreed that the loan threshold for banks when an appraisal of real estate would not be required was $250,000. That was roughly...

AGA / AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations

November 15, 2018

Adjustments: Now What?

So, what are these methods and techniques? We’re told to “support” our adjustments. We hear words like “prove” your adjustments… as if there were some magic formula which can give an exact, correct, and absolutely true number. It used to be so easy… Our trainer gave us a sheet with the “right” adjustments. Simple. USPAP Standards Rule 1-1 says we must be aware of, understand, and correctly employ recognized methods and techniques. What are they? Who recognizes them? How do I apply them? So, what are these methods and techniques? Let’s look. In The Appraisal of Real Estate (ARE) p.46, it says: “Qualitative analysis techniques may also be...

AI / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

August 20, 2018

The C&R Compensation Argument

Audit amc’s for C&R payment compliance nationally… A wrongful denial of that immunity is effectively unreviewable because it subjects states and related entities to the indignity of defending sovereign action through protracted litigation. Delaying appeals or orders denying state action immunity will interfere with their regulatory freedom by distracting officials from their duties and hindering their discretionary actions. Please allow me to help with a summary of the past 10 years in the appraisal industry. Amc’s are billion dollar companies and they circumvent many long standing ethic and spirit of regulatory compliance laws in states where they operate. They shop...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Customary & Reasonable Fees

Limbo Anyone? How Low Will Clarocity Stock Go?

August 6, 2018

Limbo Anyone? How Low Will it Go?

No, I am not really going to talk about a Limbo game. I am referring to the stock of a company promoting hybrid appraisals across the country. Representatives of this company are at every industry meeting, promoting their products, often times invited to speak. You are probably sick of hearing about hybrid appraisals by now and honestly, so am I. So I will keep any verbiage about hybrids in the context of reference only and try not to bash them too much. If you are regular reader of Appraisersblogs, you probably have seen many articles about Clarocity Corporation. A quick...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models

Fannie Mae Invites VaCAP for a Sit-Down Discussion of Relevant Topics

June 15, 2018

VaCAP Sits Down with Fannie Mae

As many of you know Fannie Mae (along with Freddie Mac) has launched an initiative which they label “modernizing appraisals”. This initiative consists of two distinct facets: 1) “modernizing”, or redesigning the forms which are utilized and 2) “modernizing” the processes involved in producing a valuation including the inspection process, data collection, etc., up to the delivery of the completed report. In the pursuit of this goal Fannie Mae has pledged to leverage stakeholder input, and of course appraiser input is both valuable and critical in this regard. In gathering stakeholder input Fannie Mae reached out to VaCAP, and invited...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

Fix What is Broken before Replacing the Product

May 17, 2018

Fix It Before Replacing It!

Fix what is broken before replacing the product. Appraisers are talented professionals that know how to take mass amounts of data, filter through it, analyze & make sense of it all. Utilize the talents of the 70,000 plus experienced, licensed professionals & don’t short change the consumer… Yesterday was the National Association of Realtors Real Property Valuation Forum: Rethinking Real Estate Valuations: Alternatives to Traditional Appraisals. First, VaCAP was well represented with 8 members present from all over the state. There were many of our Network colleagues there as well from all over the country. Thank you for taking the...

AMC / American Society of Appraisers / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations

May 14, 2018

Alternatives to Traditional Appraisals

…increasing usage of alternatives to traditional in-person appraisals for valuations in real estate transactions… A California Judge has ruled Wells Fargo must pay $97 million to mortgage employees for not paying employees for the state mandated breaks. From the article, the Judge sided with the employees and ruled compensation for breaks should include commissions, not just an hourly rate. Just think, this is one state. Don’t most states have similar laws? $97,000,000 x 50 = $4,850,000,000 See the article here. Reminder: The National Association of Realtors, Real Property Valuation Forum presents: Rethinking Real Estate Valuation: Alternatives to Traditional Appraisals The...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisal Technology / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models

Clarocity Multi Million Dollar Garbage Technology vs. Appraisers

May 2, 2018

Garbage Replacing Appraisers?

If appraisers were to embrace such garbage, would the demise of this technology be sooner? …14.53 million dollar loss in 2017… Hey Clarocity, Give it up. It is time to face the facts! From Clarocity Public Financial Statements: 14.53 million dollar loss in 2017 9.49 million dollar loss in 2016 13.00 million dollar loss in 2015 5.43 million dollar loss in 2014 6.82 Million dollar loss 2013 4.95 million dollar loss in 2012 0.36 million dollar loss in 2011 1.19 million dollar loss in 2010 0.86 million dollar loss in 2009 44.8 million dollar loss in 2008 The 2017 Clarocity’s...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models

MISMO, Appraisal Data Mining, Hybrids, and Other Fraud Facilitators

May 1, 2018

Who’s to Blame?

Looking at who and what MISMO Directors are, is it a surprise that FNMA included language in basic appraisal forms resulting in appraisers having infinite liability and no ownership over their own work product IF they do work for FNMA?… European Union General Data Privacy Regulations (EU GDPR) may seem like a stretch for an Appraisers Blog topic, but please bear with me. For some time now, The Appraisal Foundation has been focusing on major international valuation issues other than real estate appraisals. IVSC is one of the bigger and most detrimental misdirection’s they’ve taken as far as impact on...

AGA / AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations

April 25, 2018

Working Paper Credibility Questioned

NO REAL ESTATE APPRAISER IN THE COUNTRY IS ALLOWED TO MISS THE MARK BY 7.8% WITHOUT RISKING LOSS OF LICENSE! The Working Paper demonstrates more than anything else, that given an 8-hour work day the computer will take 6 full working days (1.2 working weeks) to arrive at a result that is at best 7.8% error prone. Office of the Director, Honorable Melvin Watt Federal Housing Finance Agency… Dear Sir(s) The American Guild of Appraisers is a Guild within the more than 12 1/2 million members, retirees and family members of our parent union OPEIU, AFL/CIO. In addition to representing...

AGA / AI / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations