Relationships. It’s a lost art of business when it comes to the appraiser profession… I have been an appraiser since 2003, when I started my career path. Since then, the appraiser profession has gone through many changes, none more impactful than creating the Home Valuation Code of Conduct or HVCC law that was put into effect after the crash. HVCC created the new normal for the profession where Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs) were installed as the firewall or third party between the appraiser and the lender. Overnight on May 1st, 2009, appraisers all over the country lost every relationship they...
…the racial bias narrative will be what is utilized to remove appraisers from the lending equation… Removing us will finally put the FOX completely in charge of the HEN HOUSE…this entire narrative could very well end up costing us all, our way to make a living… Unfortunately, Professional Appraisers have no organized voice and I don’t see that we ever will. There is no one to defend us. And that has been used against us for years. After all that Appraisers have been through over the last 15 years, the racial bias narrative and the allegations of racial discrimination in...
…other states will also modify their appraisal license renewal CE class requirements to include some form of anti-bias training… Folks, I attended the ACTS Conference in Bay St. Louis, MS, sponsored by National Association of Appraisers, last week. While there, enjoying the interactions of ~150 attendees, a primary topic of conversations and presentations was the impending impact to appraisers regarding anti-bias training and bias attitudes. The onslaught of negative news articles, and legislation at state and federal venues was a direct result of the ‘hijacking’ of the Congressional Hearing in 2019 which was supposed to focus on “Appraisal Modernization.” Instead,...
What once was a ‘three year’ project to redesign and implement revised appraisal forms has morphed into one taking far longer. Actual implementation and use of ‘new forms’ are not scheduled to happen until (presumably) early in 2024, but could be extended even further. By 2024, the currently used ‘forms’ will be 19 years old, and the current UAD overlay entering ‘teenage hood’ at 13. For context, the current Planet Mars Perseverance Rover mission to successfully plan and land scientific instruments took only 9 years! Details for the ‘forms redesign extension’ are based on the announcement from Fannie Mae (and Freddie...
Dude, I Reserve the Right Not to Serve You Anymore! OK, let’s face it: real estate appraisers are in the service business. We provide a service – real estate appraisals. We provide those services to anybody willing to pay for them. That’s what service providers do. To which you say, “Dustin, you have a deep grasp of the obvious.” Well, let’s go a little deeper. Part of what I do is stay in touch with local real estate brokers and appraisers. Some of us have a local restaurant we frequent. At the front door is a sign letting all patrons...
How much vetting have you done on the appraisal management company? How involved are you as the lender in the day to day activities of the appraisal management company?… The world has changed and most everything in our lives involves technology. The technologies available to each of us are tools. They are not a more reliable means, merely more convenient. Human thought and analysis is still required in every aspect of life. When the Final Rules of the Dodd Frank Legislation went into effect, many lenders chose to use appraisal management companies with the false idea they had no liability for...
Intentional and unintentional racial bias by appraisers on refinance loans is uncommon and not systemic… On January 4, 2021, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) published a study titled “How Common Is Appraiser Racial Bias? An Analysis Using Big Data to Determine Whether It Is Common or Uncommon that an Appraiser’s Knowledge of an Applicant’s Race Results in Valuation Bias“. They concluded allegation that knowing the race of the applicant results in racial bias by appraisers on refinance loans is uncommon and not systemic. This same analysis supports the conclusion that unintentional bias based on race is also uncommon and not...
Can AMCs mandate the appraisers on their panels take the COVID-19 vaccine?… Over the holidays, we received the following email from Dave Towne: Not sure if this is actually true, but an AMC put out a message on Christmas eve day saying that appraisers should be included in the Phase 1C of the COVID vaccination program. The quoted source was the Evidence Table for COVID-19 Vaccines Allocation Phases 1b and 1c of the Vaccination Program. Essential workers* (non-health care) Persons aged ≥65 years Persons with high-risk medical conditions Allocation within Phase 1 of the COVID-19 vaccination program (post Phase 1a)...
The first case about real estate appraisers to reach the U.S. Supreme Court in almost 60 years may concern the Federal Trade Commission’s price-fixing claims against the Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board. Would that be a good thing for appraisers? Well, maybe it’s not the best timing. Filed in 2017, the FTC’s administrative complaint asserts that the Louisiana appraiser board, “a state agency controlled by licensed real estate appraisers, has unreasonably restrained price competition for real estate appraisal services.” The FTC contends that the board carried out this price-fixing through its regulation of fees paid to appraisers by appraisal management...
I recently saw a Facebook post where an appraiser was quite upset and offended that an AMC asked him to dress professionally for an appraisal walkthrough. Now, this was a request that was made up front as one of the conditions for accepting the order. Reading the post, it sounded like this appraiser was upset for two reasons. One, he was offended that the AMC was implying that he does not take his job seriously enough or dress professionally enough. Two, he felt like the AMC did not have a right to tell him how to do his job (i.e....
