Tagged: appraisal news

Independent contractors pros cons 2

Independent Contractors vs. Employees Pros and Cons

Business owners must determine whether to hire appraisers as employees of the company or as independent contractors. Because many appraisers are self-employed or run small businesses with few staff, recruiting and staffing employees can present a unique set of challenges. Business owners must determine whether to hire appraisers as employees of the company or as independent contractors. According to a recent article in Valuation magazine, businesses are increasingly taking the independent contractor option whenever possible due to the significant savings and flexibility for the employer. However, there are pros and cons to both angles. Benefits for appraisal firm owners and...

Appraisal Exemptions Proposed Rule 1

Proposed Rule on HPML Appraisal Exemptions

Appraisal Exemptions: Agencies Issue Proposed Rule to Exempt Subset of Higher-Priced Mortgage Loans from Appraisal Requirements WASHINGTON— Six federal financial regulatory agencies today issued a proposed rule that would create exemptions from certain appraisal requirements for a subset of higher-priced mortgage loans. The proposed exemptions are intended to save borrowers time and money and to promote the safety and soundness of creditors. The appraisal requirements for higher-priced mortgages were imposed by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). Under the Dodd-Frank Act, mortgage loans are considered to be higher-priced if they are secured by a consumer’s...

Appraisal fee study 6

Appraisal Fee Study – Louisiana

Louisiana Appraisal Fee Study The Business Research Center at Southeastern Louisiana University conducted an online survey of mortgage lenders with offices in Louisiana and licensed Louisiana real estate appraisers to collect information on typical residential real estate appraisal fees paid in Louisiana in 2012. Appraisal fee data were restricted to appraisal fees paid directly to licensed appraisers (i.e., not routed through appraisal management companies (AMCs)), per guidance of relevant federal regulations for determining “customary and reasonable” fees. Useable responses were received from 113 mortgage lenders located in 25 parishes (plus out-of-state) and 383 appraisers with primary offices in 38 parishes (plus...

Bank of America Appraisals Reviewed in India 6

Bank of America Appraisals Reviewed in India

Bank of America Reportedly Sending Property Reviews to India Bank of America reportedly opened a unit in India to review valuation reports in an effort to boost its share of the U.S. mortgage market at a lower cost, Bloomberg reported June 28. Workers in the new Bangalore office use checklists to decide if appraisals are complete, according to people who talked to Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity. Bank of America also eliminated positions at its Plano, Texas-based LandSafe appraisal division, which made $78.8 billion in loans in 2012. “One of the biggest problems in the mortgage business is all...

Real Estate Appraisers Warned us About the Crisis but We didn't Listen 2

Appraisers Warned Us but We Didn’t Listen

Federal actors could have responded to the appraisers’ warning and prevented the crisis On July 9, 2013 I participated in a radio interview with a lobbyist for the 100 largest financial firms. The San Francisco radio program host asked me what question I would ask the lobbyist and I said that any discussion should begin with allowing him to state his view of what caused the crisis. In the course of his explanation, he bemoaned the fact that there was no warning about the crisis. I found this ironic because I had just published that morning an article about how the...

Volunteer to help VaCAP 1

Letter From Pat Turner

Volunteer to Help As we move forward into a new year and the time for renewing our memberships, I wanted to share some points with you. Yesterday I had a long time respected friend and colleague take me aside to offer me some good advice and counsel. She had been at a gathering of appraisers and she was concerned with the few of us who have joined and/or renewed our VaCap memberships. She asked people why and the overwhelming answer was “Well, VaCap has not done anything for me lately”. This was a wake-up call. Reflecting on that, I can...

CoreLogic acquires Marshall & Swift & DataQuick 1

CoreLogic to Acquire Marshall & Swift/Boeckh & DataQuick

The combination of CoreLogic, MSB and DataQuick should yield significant future growth opportunities… CoreLogic® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading residential property information, analytics and services provider, today announced the Company has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Marshall & Swift/Boeckh, a leading provider of residential and commercial property valuation solutions to the property and casualty insurance industry, DataQuick Information Systems, a property data and analytics information company, and the credit and flood services operations of DataQuick Lender Solutions from the Decision Insight Information Group (DIIG). Founded in 1930, Marshall & Swift/Boeckh (MSB) is the leading provider of building cost information,...

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When the FDIC Comes A’ Knockin’

The implosion of the real estate bubble reverberated across the American landscape.  Neither residential nor commercial markets were spared.  This implosion not only had a very palpable effect on the economy, but on the political debate of this nation as well.  That political debate—as it seems is often the case—has turned to finger-pointing.  Those fingers have now curled up into a fist, and that fist is now knocking on the doors of appraisers across the country. In the aftermath of the economic downturn, many banks were taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) after their balance sheets dived...

The Veteran’s Administration - A Model for All AMCs 3

The Veterans Administration – A Model for All AMCs

AMC should learn from the way the Veterans Administration treats their appraisers Let us begin with the obvious – the Veterans Administration (VA) is not an Appraisal Management Company (AMC).  They are a non-profit, government entity that works under different rules, so making a direct comparison between the two is not entirely fair.  However, there are some things I think every AMC should learn from the way the Veterans Adminstration treats their appraisers. Personally, I have been trying to get on the VA’s appraisal panel for over 6 years.  They are a tough nut to crack.  After much persistence, however,...

ESA Bankruptcy, Is Chase To Blame Or A Victim? 3

ESA Bankruptcy, Chase Culprit or Victim?

ESA Bankruptcy, Is Chase to Blame or a Victim? I find myself offering thoughts about many strange and unusual situations involving appraiser E&O and risk management in general, but today may be the strangest subject of all – why it appears Chase did nothing wrong in the ESA bankruptcy case. Don’t misunderstand this as meaning I like Chase in the slightest. I strongly disapprove of what Chase has done and continues to do to appraisers using blacklisting, strong-arming, and filing state licensing complaints to force its will on the appraisal profession. I find much of what Chase has done as...

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