Tagged: AMC

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Appraisal Advisor Now Completely Free for Appraisers

Appraisal Advisor is completely free for appraisers from here on out. They will not be charging appraisers anything to rate and review clients, and appraisers won’t be charged to view other appraisers’ reviews either. The OCC is now requiring that lenders “assess the third party’s reputation, including history of customer complaints or litigation,” and “assess the third party’s financial condition.” What does this mean for appraisers? It means that lenders are required to listen to what you’re saying about AMCs based on your scores, the invoices, reviews, and fees

Regulatory Claims Exclusion 0

Regulatory Claims Exclusion

Navigators Sues More Appraisers to Deny Coverage under “Regulatory Claims” Exclusion Last Thursday, November 14, Navigators Insurance Company sued two more appraisers to enforce “regulatory claims” exclusions in the E&O policies they purchased. These appraisers are in Nevada. Like the appraiser sued by Navigators in Florida on November 6, the Nevada appraisers are being sued by the FDIC for professional negligence in cases filed about a year ago. The objective of Navigators’ lawsuits is to seek court confirmation of Navigators’ legal position that there is no coverage under Navigators’ policy for damages awarded against the appraisers to the FDIC, which is demanding about $500,000...

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OCC bulletin regarding AMCs, lenders, and Appraisal Advisor

On October 30, the OCC issued a bulletin to all national banks and savings associations entitled “Third-Party Relationships: Risk Management Guidance.” The bulletin, in a nutshell, outlines how lenders should manage and ensure compliance of their third party vendors. AMCs, third parties in the OCC bulletin, must be managed by specific guidelines in order for lenders to maintain compliance. Appraisal Advisor offers compliance with that regulation by providing lenders, AMCs, and appraisers with its ratings and reviews system. Appraisers’ constant scoring of AMCs on Appraisal Advisor is now, more than ever, THE key deciding factor in which AMCs lenders use....

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AMC Background Checks: Fair or Not?

“I was just asked by an AMC to get a background check. Do I have to comply?” As risk management advisors for Appraisers and Inspectors, this is one of the questions we hear over and over again. Let’s face it — appraisal fees are lower than ever before. Essentially, AMCs are asking you to do the same amount of work for less pay. In some cases, they’re even asking you to do more work. Does it make sense then that you have to get a background check in order to work for a specific AMC? Unfortunately, the increased costs associated...

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GSEs Still Finding Problems with Home Appraisals

Three years after the creation of a database seeking to standardize the home appraisal process, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to see major issues in numerous appraisals submitted by mortgage lenders, American Banker reported Sept. 12. Fannie Mae conducted a sampling of appraisals and determined that 17.6 percent contained contradictory information, typically pertaining to the condition or quality of the property, Robert Murphy, the GSE’s director of collateral and single-family risk policy, told a Phoenix conference of risk managers. He added that those two factors are the most important in determining a property’s value. Elevated appraisals contributed to the...

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What Can the Government ‘Shutdown’ Teach the Appraisal Industry?

First of all, let’s be clear… it was not really a complete ‘shutdown.’  A large majority of federal workers were still at work, but for those who were furloughed, it was uncomfortable and scary for sure.  Though the can has officially been kicked down the road for a few more months, we will face another ‘crisis’ soon enough.  So, what can this debate teach us about appraising?  It turns out… quite a bit. Why did Congress and the President choose to delay the real problem with our national debt and budget—yet again—rather than just deal with the problem?  Why was...

AMC License Bonds 1

AMC License Bonds. Are They Working?

Are AMC Bonds Working? Current AMC Bond Requirements Eighteen states now require AMCs to carry surety bonds to be properly registered to operate in those states. The required bond amounts vary from $10,000 in New Mexico to $100,000 in Washington.  A list at the end of this post shows the required bond amounts in each state. Are AMC Bonds Working? The requirement for AMCs to carry bonds serves two purposes. First, the bond assures that if an AMC fails to comply with its financial obligations under a state’s AMC law, there will be funds available up to the limit of the bond...

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Have You Been Blacklisted by Lender?

We often receive calls from appraisers who have been blacklisted by a lender they do no direct appraisal work for. Typically, the story is the same. They are being dropped from an AMC panel that has given them a lot of business because the AMC found out one of the bigger secondary market loan buyers/lenders has blacklisted the appraiser. This is a lender they do not work for and/or haven’t done any work for in years. The blacklisting is based on some alleged issue with an appraisal done for another client and usually involves a review of the old appraisal...

The Appraisal Complaint National Hotline 2

The Appraisal Complaint National Hotline

Jim Park, the Executive Director at the Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC), gave an informative presentation at Valuation Expo this past June. In this session, Jim reviewed the functions and oversight duties of the ASC and current status and regulatory issues with the States. One of the more interesting topics covered in Jim’s presentation regarded the Appraisal Complaint National Hotline, which was established in accordance with the Dodd-Frank Act, put into law July of 2010. TThe National Hotline, which began taking referrals in March of 2013, acts only as a facilitator for complaints. In other words, the National Hotline identifies the Agency(s)...

Changes for Illinois AMCs and Appraisers 1

Changes for Illinois AMCs and Appraisers

One hundred eighty days flew by in an instant. When the AMC Administrative Rules were launched on March 4, 2013 we were in the infancy of AMC registration. Here we are, six months later and we’re nearing 140 registrants. That’s more than 20 per month. I expect by year’s end we’ll have 180 registrants or more. This is an important newsletter issue to keep. There are a lot of burning questions that need to be answered in one place so that everyone understands what is expected. What Happens Next? August 30, 2013 is the last day in which existing AMCs...

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