Whether you believe Fannie Mae’s comprehensive rollout of Collateral Underwriter will finally weed out the lazy form-fillers or it will end up euthanizing the aging residential leg of the profession once and for all, is not the subject of this article. There are plenty of blogs, articles, and seminars that are wrestling with the efficacy of CU and its long-term impact. To be sure, the profession has entered the new age of big data. Residential appraisers will need to navigate regression analysis, heat maps, trend lines, oblique aerial images, and especially how to tie it all together into something meaningful. From...
I recently received an AMC update and reminder about the need for and why actual comparable photos are necessary. My reply: Original Comparable Photographs: Scope of Work Point 3: Inspection of the comparable sales from at least the street. This requirement does not tie the appraiser to a specific time for that inspection. Geographical competence would have the appraiser in the area of the comparables many times, and depending on the appraiser’s experience, for many years. Taking a comparable photo a month, six months, a year or more after the sale, does not represent the sale’s condition at the time...
FNMA’s CU is causing a big industry ruckus. ICAP member Keith Wolf, SRA, AI-RRS, created a survey in January because opinions being posted across multiple message boards and blogs are fragmented. The results of this survey are out and show that a vast majority of appraisers believe Fannie Mae CU should be transparent. Nearly 70 percent of appraisers said that they will increase fees to cover the extra work CU may cause and 80 percent believe that CU risk scores will cause lenders and AMC clients to request appraisers to fit comps to the CU model. Also 73 percent believe that...
Call to Action in Support of Virginia Senate Bill Requiring AMCs to Pay Appraisers C&R Fees Appraiser Colleagues, Finally, you have an opportunity to get what you have been screaming for: customary and reasonable fees for your work. On January 23, 2015, Senator Martin offered Senate Bill NO. 1445, requiring appraisal management companies to pay appraisers customary and reasonable fees. The bill mirrors the language in Dodd-Frank. A copy of SB 1445 as introduced is attached. Please contact your legislative representatives in support of this important legislation. VAR’s support will be important to the success of this bill. Please include VAR...
Dear Real Estate Appraisers of America, To date, each of you have invested years of your life and tens of thousands of dollars to create your real estate appraisal career. No small feat. You have sacrificed greatly to get to where you are. And, now you are feeling as if everything you have worked so hard for is being stolen away from you. Tragically, over the last 5 years there has been a whirlwind of events that has resulted in a very frustrating situation for appraisers. AMCs who have been permitted to increase profits by driving down appraiser fees and...
We Studied USCRAP… Not so long ago I had multiple clients. They would call me if they needed my professional services and trusted me to perform a satisfactory service. I’m a streetwalker. I drive and walk the streets looking at houses and photographing them from the street (outcalls) and sometimes going inside to determine condition (in calls). This worked well for many years until the Federal Government got involved in the late 1980s. The Feds discovered that a few streetwalkers had exaggerated their claims of professionalism and service and declared in the 1989 DIARRHEA that all streetwalkers must be licensed...
Network of State Appraisal Orgainzation’s letter to FHFA Director Watt Regarding Fannie Mae Collateral Underwriter (CU) Program For over the past couple of months, VaCAP has participated with 18 other State Appraiser Coalitions in drafting an unified response to Fannie Mae’s Collateral Underwriter Program. Their letter to FHFA Director Watt briefly outlines their concerns, offers recommended solutions, as well as asking for a meeting to discuss the issue for the benefit of all vested parties. Please take a few minutes to peruse the letter below: Dear Director Watt: On behalf of the independent state professional appraiser organizations signing below, I...
A federal judge said he will not unseal files related to an alleged appraisal rigging scheme that Washington Mutual launched in an effort to favor mortgage lenders just before the 2008 market crash, Courthouse News Service reported Dec. 3. The case involves a federal class action suit launched in 2008 in San Jose, California, by Felton Spears Jr. and Sidney Sholl who claimed that Washington Mutual, Lender’s Service Inc. and appraisal management firm First American eAppraiseIT colluded in 2006 to create inflated mortgage-loan appraisals that allowed the bank to sell aggregated security interests in the properties at inflated prices. At...
Fannie Mae’s Collateral Underwriter – Industry Update White Paper Folks, I just found this document (PDF attached) written primarily from a ‘lender’ perspective about the upcoming Collateral Underwriter (CU), which applies only to 1004 and 1073 form reports effective Jan. 26, 2015, but probably will be carried over to the 2055 and 1075 form reports after the initial shake out cruise. 13 pages – will help you understand what FNMA will be looking for in terms of appraisal report QC functions performed by AMC’s, and the lender’s appraisal review departments. Knowing what they will be checking will help you avoid...
Some Good News…For a Change? – 2nd Annual List (A Work-In-Progress) Last year, around Thanksgiving, I had put together a list of some positive things going on for appraisers. It was/is all-too-rare that we hear positive news regarding the appraisal profession. There is an awful lot of complaining that goes on, most of it justifiable, but little good news that gets shared. Part of the problem is that there is no central source for information regarding our profession which appraisers might utilize in order to find out what is going on across the country and affecting our profession, and could be used to...
