Tagged: appraisal fees

Skewed Customary Fee Perceptions - Imagecredit Flickr - Quinn Dowbroski 14

Skewed “Customary” Fee Perceptions

I no longer care about “customary”. “Customary” in Dodd-Frank’s customary and reasonable is a negatively biased fee before state studies begin! We all know that the “C” part of C & R is supposed to represent the normal fee charged by most appraisers for similar work and conditions. Some AMC appraisers even know the “R” part is supposed to be an amount that is reasonable based upon ALL factors necessary for completion of the assignment in a USPAP compliant and professional manner. Unfortunately HVCC and the AMC havoc it wreaked has existed far too long for there to be a...

LSI Fees - Absolutely Criminal! 15

LSI Fees – Absolutely Criminal!

We used to do a lot of work for LSI back when they paid semi decent fees that were only about 10% below the competitive norm back around 1992. I think the norm was around $300 and they were paying $275+/-. In late 1992+/- they cut back to $235. We lost a few people but most stayed. Bear in mind the appraisers were being paid on a fee split. I think they got 50% of the firms fee. I was on salary for QC review and teaching work plus a split fee for field reviews. Back then it was much simpler to...

TRID Impact on Appraisal Fees 8

TRID Impact on Appraisal Fees

Appraisers, The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) has mandated new residential mortgage application and disclosure procedures, which take effect Oct. 3, 2015. Here’s a link to a brief article about this. When a consumer applies to a mortgage lender, the lender requests certain information from the consumer before the clock starts ticking in terms of ‘timing requirements’ on the consumer’s application. When the application is considered “complete”, the lender has 3 business days to provide the consumer with the Loan Estimate document. What’s of concern among lenders and appraisers is the speculated inability to change appraisal fees, which is disclosed...

Voice of Appraisal Podcast RE Coester vs. Virginia Real Estate Appraiser Board (VREAB) Lawsuit - Imagecredit Flickr - Patrick Breitenbach 7

Lawsuit of Coester vs. VREAB

Voice of Appraisal Podcast RE Coester vs. VREAB Lawsuit Folks, Phil Crawford with Voice of Appraisal has another great podcast about the appraisal profession and the recent lawsuit filed in Virginia against the Real Estate Appraiser Board (VREAB). This is probably the most important Voice of Appraisal show to date. In this “must listen” podcast, Phil discusses Coester lawsuit against VREAB and AMCs’ unsustainable business model. He does a stellar job with his analysis and recommendations of Coester vs. VREAB lawsuit. Phil, a fellow appraiser, who has become a catalyst for change in the appraisal profession, stated in his earlier...

AMC's “My Way or the Highway” Attitude 47

AMC’s “My Way or the Highway” Attitude

Apparent appraiser abuse by AMC’s… As Chairman of the American Guild of Appraisers (AGA) National Appraiser Peer Review Committee, I have had the opportunity to see and hear directly about many cases involving alleged, as well as apparent appraiser abuse by AMC’s. These cases ranged geographically from California, Arizona, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana, New Jersey, Virginia, New York, Maryland, and District of Columbia. As a QC consultant to a smaller appraiser owned AMC, I have also seen low fee spreadsheets from a variety of lenders that had 90% listed at the SAME APPRAISER fees: $495.00 (which INCLUDED the AMC...

27

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....

Determining What to Charge for Appraisal Fees - Hard & Soft Costs - Imagecredit Flickr - Chris Potter 9

Determining What to Charge for Appraisal Fees

Charge too little and you can’t cover your expenses Have you ever asked yourself why gasoline prices seem to fluctuate so dramatically? Maybe it’s the weather. Perhaps it is a conspiracy in the Middle East. Surely the politicians are to blame. To be sure, the correct answer is complicated and likely multi-faceted. There is much that goes into what your card is charged at the pump, but not much the common man probably understands. You can bet however that those who make these decisions do indeed know and understand how it all works. Have you ever wondered why a Big...

Comment Subscriptions 8

Appraisal Fee Disclosure – Call To Action

Important – Call to Action This must be done by Tuesday July 7 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is requesting comments on the proposed amendment to the “Know Before You Owe” mortgage disclosure rule, which proposes to move the rule’s effective date to October 3, 2015. We feel it is very important that the appraisal fee be disclosed separately from any add on fees such as an AMC fee. Recently 23 state appraiser coalitions including the Louisiana Appraisers Coalition worked together and submitted a letter to the CFPB about making it a requirement to separate the fees of the...

Appraisal Institute Seeks Separation of Appraisal and AMC Fees 3

Separating Appraisal Fees from AMC Fees

Disclosures regarding payments for appraisal management services versus appraisal fees On July 1, 2015, the Network of State Appraiser Organizations (NSAO) submitted a joint letter in response to the CFPB request for comments on the proposed amendment to the “Know Before You Owe” mortgage disclosure rule, which proposes to move the rule’s effective date to October 3, 2015. It specifically addresses the lack of requirement to mandate disclosure to the consumer that the fee paid for an “appraisal” be clearly defined and break down what portion is being paid to the lenders’ third party appraisal management company and which portion of the fee is...

Appraiser-Client Relationship - Imagecredit Flickr - Dennis Hill 15

Don’t You Value our Relationship?

Relationships, we all have them.  And despite the efforts of Dodd Frank to destroy them, we have somehow managed to keep them. A big bank that I had a great relationship dropped me because their portal system decided there were too many appraisers last year and left me hanging. No orders for a year. Now they’re busy and want me to do appraisals. Great! But between the portal fees, underwriting charges, title surpluses, software charges, destination charges, taxes, etc. the fee works out to be substantially lower than most work I have. They asked me “don’t you value our relationship?”. I replied where...

xml sitemap
blank