Most appraisers could care less about an amc score card… Professionals don’t treat other professionals like they are in grade school… What exactly is appraisal independence? Dodd Frank requires appraisal independence and associates it with pressure against the value of the property. But what about other areas of the appraisal process in which appraisers receive pressure? Let’s take turn times for example. Normal turn times in a steady market average 5-7 business days in most markets. Market activity, location, complexity, etc. will require longer turn times. First let’s define a business day. This is Monday through Friday and excludes Federal...
Jan Bellas breached their past wall of intransigence… Thank you SOLIDIFI Wow. That was more painful than I thought it would be. It’s no secret that I have been an extreme critic of Solidifi in the past. It’s also possible I will be so again in the future. I have not ‘sold out’ or traded my integrity or standards. What happened is that Jan Bellas of the American Guild of Appraisers, V.P. of Member Services has with great effort (and very little suggestion) breached their past wall of intransigence. With Solidifi’s Sr. Executives (Mr. “P” in particular) the very first...
…forget the risky position foisted on the consumer by the loan officer… Well, here we go again. In my previous blog posts titled “Round and Round” and “Pressure My Story”, I spoke to examples of how lenders and/or AMCs have been pushing and pressuring appraisers to hit certain values on transactions. If an appraiser did not hit these numbers, or make changes to make the transaction work in the lender’s favor, the appraiser would be threatened with non-payment, removal from appraiser panels, and/or blacklisted. If you haven’t read those blog posts, feel free to go back and have a look....
Yet another third party huckster has entered into the real estate appraiser and appraisal arena. It’s that time again! Yet another third party huckster has entered into the real estate appraiser and appraisal arena. Apparently motivated by pure altruism. We identified a need in the marketplace to address a common problem that lenders are regularly challenged with in providing accurate appraisal quotes and then ensuring pricing on the Loan Estimate is consistent and compliant,” stated Vladimir Bien-Aime, president and CEO at Global DMS. (I LOVE this guy, he writes like me!) Global DMS Launches SnapVal to Provide Instant, Accurate, Guaranteed...
…average costs and appraisal turnaround times are minimal… VaCAP joins 29 State Appraisal Organizations in opposing an increase in the appraisal threshold. Behind the scenes, VaCAP and the Network have been working with Constantine Cannon LLP on drafting a formal comment on the proposed appraisal threshold increase from $250,000 to $400,000. The result is very thorough and factual. Each state organization contributed facts, figures and scenarios and Constantine Cannon compiled it all referencing current law and prior attempts of increasing the threshold. VaCAP is proud of the work that has been accomplished and proud to be part of a Network...
So who is really responsible for payments to appraisers?… Where to start with this? Do I have to refer you back to my past articles like What’s Not in Your Wallet or Appraisers Outraged? Where do we even begin… We begin here. Another story of an Appraisal Management Company going out of business, owing tons of money to appraisers for services they provided. Coester VMS, once one of the biggest players in the game, closed its doors recently. They closed them leaving appraisers with thousands of unpaid invoices for services that who knows if they will ever be paid for....
We object to the proposal to increase the de minimis threshold at which no appraisal is required… Sirs: The American Guild of Appraisers (AGA), of the Office Professional Employees International Union (#44 OPEIU) of the AFL-CIO represents the members and extended family and retirees, taxpayer and consumer real estate appraisal interests of nearly Twelve and a half million citizens and voters. We object to the proposal to increase the de minimis threshold at which no appraisal is required from $250,000 to $400,000. Respectfully, if anything is done with it at all, lowering it to a range not to exceed $100,000...
For those who are not familiar with what an AMC is, it is short for Appraisal Management Company. They are not new, but since the adoption of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, the number and the frequency of their use have increased. They are the order manager for the lender and ensure appraiser independence. If you have not already read “What’s Not in Your Wallet” or “Round and Round!”, go get a little more familiar before reading this. AMCs manage appraisal orders. They find the appraisers to give the orders to, and are supposed to provide quality control reviews...
…appraisers continue to receive requests for reconsiderations on a daily basis. White Paper: Requests for Reconsiderations The paper states that one factor that complicates requests for revisions is that there are no consistent industrywide policies, guidelines, or forms related to this process. Furthermore, over recent years there have been changes in statute and policy with respect to appraiser independence obligations, which has resulted in some confusion among users of appraisal services (and appraisers) as to exactly what may be asked and provided in such requests. It is important to distinguish these requests from a request to make corrections or address...
Create a task force of only independent appraisers… Appraisers are a minority in the real estate/lending world and tasked as the gatekeepers of mortgage transactions to protect everyone in the transaction from their immediate rapacity. Of the 40 some thousand residential appraisers I have no idea of the exact division of field appraisers to reviewers. I’m guessing that maybe it’s divided in half, or say a third which are reviewers and then there’s probably another third or so that are newer licensed appraisers. So now we have around 20,000 or so Certified Appraisers that are in the field and are...
