On Appraisals, Should You Follow The Money? Asks Kenneth Harney
Follow the Money Some appraisers are being paid less than half the fee, while the balance flows to an appraisal management company. Washington – The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is working on a real estate issue that gets to the core of the agency’s purpose: Bringing clarity and better disclosures about the often opaque and costly fees that homebuyers, sellers and refinancers are hit with at closings. One of the disclosures now under review might surprise you: appraisal charges. Why do they need clarifying? Doesn’t just about everybody who applies for a mortgage, whether it’s to buy a house...
