Tagged: appraisal news

Fuzzy Math Of Home Values 0

The Fuzzy Math of Home Values

Fuzzy Math In a housing market that’s been mostly a cause for gloom, so-called home-valuation technology has become one of the few sources of excitement. After years of real estate pros holding all the informational cards in the home-sale game, Web-driven companies like Zillow, Homes.com and Realtor.com are offering to reshuffle the deck. They’ve rolled out at-your-fingertips technology via laptop and smartphone to give shoppers and owners an estimate of what almost any home is worth. And people have flocked to the data in startling numbers. Vigilant homeowners check their values to help decide whether it’s worth the hassle of...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models / AVM / Online Estimates

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Appraisal Institute Launches Opinions of Value Blog

The Appraisal Institute launched its new blog, Opinions of Value, on November 14. Content will feature the appraiser perspective on legislative and regulatory issues, enhanced discussion about recent industry media coverage and thoughts from AI leaders about upcoming trends. While a great deal of content exists in the blogosphere, the Appraisal Institute is uniquely qualified to provide expert analysis on all appraisal-related topics because the organization is the nation’s oldest and largest professional association of real estate appraisers with more than 24,000 members in 60 countries.

AI / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

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‘Middleman’ Appraisers Spur Concerns

If you’ve paid for a home appraisal within the last five years, a chunk of that charge likely went to a middleman you never knew existed. And because a third party was used, it might have driven up your closing costs and affected the quality of the valuation. Lenders often use appraisal management companies to block collusion between mortgage brokers and appraisers — and to comply with anti-fraud rules the industry adopted in May 2009. The hotly debated reforms have boded well for the appraisal managers, whose presence in the U.S. has jumped from a handful in the 1990s to...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

Wanted: Angry Appraisers 12

Wanted: Angry Appraisers – BankRape

Wanted: Angry Appraisers Experienced residential appraisers have spent the past 30 months wishing for change and wondering if it would ever come.  Most were fooled into believing that justice could be found by writing to politicians, signing petitions, and waiting for their state agencies and appraisal organizations to fix the problem. Nearly two years passed and the remaining appraisers continue to tread water while scanning the horizon for signs of a rescue. Appraisers awakened on April 1, 2011 (Appraiser Fool’s Day) with renewed hope, only to find that the tiny clause within Dodd Frank, “customary AND reasonable fees” had been altered at...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Customary & Reasonable Fees

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AGA Fights to Overturn Federal Regs Cutting Appraisers Fees

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2011 / PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The American Guild of Appraisers (AGA), a national organization of real estate appraisers that is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO’s Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), announced today it has retained a law firm as part of a broad-reaching effort to overturn recent federal regulations that dramatically cut the fees that appraisers are paid to perform appraisals, and threaten the viability of professional appraisal practice and the reliability of appraisals used in real estate transactions. In the aftermath of the national financial collapse brought on in part by badly underwritten subprime loans,...

AGA / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

Computerized Appraisals Win in HARP 2.0 0

Computerized Appraisals Win in HARP 2.0

Sanctioned use of computerized appraisals using algorithms and computerized databases of property data to determine a property’s value. The federal government, with the reluctant support of the two leading professional appraisal organizations, has sanctioned the use of computerized, appraisals using algorithms and computerized databases of property data to determine a property’s value. Can more widespread use of computer-driven valuations by programs called Automatic Valuation Models or AVMs, in mortgage origination be far behind? Millions of homeowners use AVMs to check the value of their homes on a half dozen web sites. Even though more sophisticated versions have been developed for...

AMC / American Society of Appraisers / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations

Valuation Support Services (VSS) Appraiser Panel Agreement 2

Valuation Support Services (VSS) Appraiser Panel Agreement

Appraiser will indemnify and hold harmless VSS… Frank Gregoire, with Appraiser Active Blog, added a post yesterday about AMC Appraiser Indemnification. Valuation Support Services (VSS) Standards & Approval Documentation Requirements and their Appraiser Panel Agreement can be accessed in Frank’s post here. Here’s a snippet below: Page 4: Conviction of Crimes: VSS is unable to enter into associations with individuals, who have been convicted of or plead guilty to any crime involving dishonesty or breach of trust, or have been convicted of or plead guilty to any felony or misdemeanor. Appraiser warrants he/she has truthfully and accurately answered the “Additional...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Indemnification Clauses

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FDIC Suffers Setback Against LSI

The FDIC Suffers a Setback in Case Against Lender Processing Services and LSI Appraisal As reported in prior posts, the FDIC, as receiver for failed lender Washington Mutual, sued appraisal management company LSI Appraisal and its corporate parent Lender Processing Services for breach of contract and gross negligence on May 9, 2011 (see post here), and on July 22, LSI and LPS filed a motion to dismiss. In that motion, LSI argued that the FDIC’s gross negligence claim should be dimissed based on the economic loss rule, that the FDIC’s alter ego claims against LSI’s affiliated corporate entities (including LPS)...

Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / FDIC / Lender Processing Services

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Show and Tell

Everybody complains that the states aren’t doing enough to police the profession. Appraisers are running amok. Fraud is rampant and the states are twiddling their thumbs while caseloads grow exponentially. The handful of published state disciplines nationwide are a mere droplet compared to the vast ocean of chicanery that’s rising out there. Right? My question is, where are all the settled cases from the various professional standards and ethics committees of the big appraisal organizations? There should be a generous compendium of meaty disciplines somewhere. But there isn’t. If you go to their websites you’ll find plenty of references to...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / AQB / IDFPR

Interior photos picture this 0

Picture This…Or Not

Maybe you should ask the homeowner if it would be alright to take the picture at all. When a consumer calls the department in a rage and wants to know “what law says that an appraiser can take pictures inside of my house?”, Houston, we have a problem. Actually, not Houston…and not the department. You, the appraiser and the client who ordered it have the problem because we will make it your problem. Law? There is no law for interior photos. There are guidelines and stipulations cloaked as requirements. That’s it. But, we do have privacy laws, don’t we? Clients,...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

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