Sometimes the only substitute for experience, …is more experience. Dear Mr. Traynor: The American Guild of Appraisers has long been on record in opposition to the original requirement for a college degree to become any level of real estate appraiser. This was never a requirement of Congress at all, but rather one developed by the AQB over time. While we are pleased AQB has abandoned the college degree at the licensed and residential certification levels, we are disappointed to see it is still being proposed at the general certified level. We repeat for the record; there is nothing involved in...
Appraisers were simply order takers… A friend that refers a lot of commercial work to me forwarded the following communications from an AMC. He’s been telling to ‘go away’ for some time now. This time he played along to see exactly what it is they are hustling. I’ve redacted my friends name and eliminated excessive line spacing and repetitive email signatures. I also bold highlighted references to John Brenan & AQB communications. Otherwise it’s as copied from my email. We’ve all heard enough about hybrids so you can either read the copied emails or skip them. It’s the article from...
Like many other appraisers I received a copy of paperwork filed in conjunction with the Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board / FTC and Real Estate Valuation Partners (REVP) aka Valuation Partners. (Thank you VaCAP!) To me it’s a bombshell, but before I go into the story of who did what to whom, and for how much let’s start off by asking all readers to click this link to see who the players are. Even if you read the article elsewhere please read the following link. Got it? Great. Just so we are clear, one of the Chief players appears to...
Letter outlining the American Guild of Appraisers position in the national precedent setting matter of granting appraisal waivers for TriStar Bank in Dickson County TN. …this type of waiver is an outright invitation for fraud… December 8, 2017 RE: Tristar Bank, Dickson, Tennessee-Appraiser Waivers Request 11/20/2017 Dear R. Park The American Guild of Appraisers opposes the above referenced appraisal waiver request on behalf of our appraisal members and our more than 13 million taxpayers, consumer members of our parent unions. Tristar bank cites an absence of certified general real estate appraisers in their home office county (Dickson) as the basis...
Even the Pentagon gets hacked! Do Consumers really KNOW how their loan application data is being handled? Having worked for IRS, I know it is against the law for any government employee to divulge specific (identifiable) taxpayer information without exceptional effort to get advance approval. There is no legal way for that personally identifiable taxpayer information to get into the public domain without the taxpayers specific written permission for it. Even inside IRS, we were required to protect the identification of the taxpayer in any case related situational discussions where we sought each others advice. We could talk about the...
“…after forty years of studying markets, I got it wrong…” As time goes on, the one thing that appears to be both a societal and financial markets constant, is our inability to learn from our past mistakes. Late, a couple of nights ago (10/23/17), while channel surfing, I happened on an economics program intended to explain the financial crisis of 2008. My apologies for referring to a programming without its name or network. Instead, I had to consider the person who was the primary focal point of the program: Hyman Minsky (see link to The Economist here). Before reading the...
Palm Beach AMC, thank you for your blind/bulk solicitation. Just out of curiosity, why do you think I would share that kind of personal & confidential professional information with a firm I never heard of? I don’t even know what kind of fee schedule you are used to paying? You offer no references of any kind, yet you expect I will extend credit to you for thirty days? Without exception, THAT means that you will use MY fee to pay YOUR overhead for thirty days before you even consider sending MY fee to me. Firms that do not segregate appraiser...
AMS on fast track to replace AMCs… Well, it looks like the detritus of HVCC has finally come full circle. AMS (services vs companies) are on the fast track to replace AMCs. AMCs that foster their use haven’t realized that yet. They have given the lenders the tools needed to avoid costly appraisal management oversight departments while at the same time giving them the ability to use only those appraisers willing to make the deals work. They mistakenly believe that by delegating to an AMS or AMC they have met their due diligence requirements.Quality control? Sure. Just ignore the FNMA...
The image above is not a part of the Appraisal Technology Special Report “Across the street from a house are two vacant lots. Zillow thinks one of them is worth $16K and the other one’s worth $169K. You can see them on the aerial view here.” I was recently asked by professional peers if I would read and comment on a Special Report published by ValuationReview, with the introduction penned by Mike Holzheimer, Editor. This Special Report may be downloaded here. Let’s be clear up front. I was not asked because of my proficiency with grammar, punctuation or even my...
Diligent Asset Valuations Alleged Multiple Non Payment to Appraisers Anyone that knows me, or who has read past comments concerning California BREA’s non enforcement of C&R fees also knows I’m not generally their (BREA) biggest fan. However, it would be intellectually dishonest not to recognize a case where they did the right thing. The case in question, BREA vs Diligent Asset Valuations (DAV), involved alleged multiple order non payment to appraisers by an AMC where orders were placed or assigned through the MERCURY NETWORK. The specific logistics of how Mercury is involved could be of interest to those that use...
