Tagged: appraisers

Appraisal news and appraisal tips for real estate appraisers – Your source for appraisal industry news, appraisers’ opinions, and discussions of appraisal issues.

Insights from CFPB's Public Comment Period 53

Insights from CFPB’s Public Comment Period

The comment period on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) “Request for Information Regarding Fees Imposed in Residential Mortgage Transactions” concluded on August 2, 2024, with a total of 959 comments received. Upon reviewing some of these submissions, several noteworthy perspectives emerged regarding appraisal fees and the role of Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs). The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) highlighted the lack of transparency surrounding AMC fees, which are often bundled together with the actual appraisal fee on the Closing Disclosure (CD). This opaque structure prevents consumers from understanding the true cost of the appraisal service and hinders their ability...

ACOW / AMC / American Society of Appraisers / American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute

Fannie's Loan Buyback Sophistry Relies on Modifying Analysts' Behavior 9

Fannie’s Loan Buyback Sophistry Relies on Modifying Analysts’ Behavior

“Many of the repurchase letters make no sense,” said the insider. If analysts don’t write enough defects on those files, they get hammered. If analysts fall short of their peers in “production points,” it’s considered their fault, said the insider.  At the heart of Fannie Mae’s valuation system is a tool that shunts a subset of the millions of loans purchased by the mortgage giant each year into a “high risk” pool. Fannie then pressures and incentivizes a corps of in-house analysts to create further doubt about the loans in order to send repurchase demands to lenders for up to...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Collateral Underwriter / CU / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

Maxine Waters wants appraisers investigated 119

Maxine Waters Wants Appraisers Investigated

On February 22, 2022, Maxine Waters sent a letter to HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge, TAF, ASC and AI regarding ongoing appraisal bias and discrimination. She is calling on the federal regulators and AI to investigate appraisers’ misconduct and potential illegal discrimination. She will also be introducing legislation to address ongoing discrimination. Maxine Waters’ letter “highlights longstanding racial inequities plaguing America’s home valuation system”. The letter highlights longstanding racial inequities plaguing America’s home valuation system, particularly in Black-majority communities and other communities of color. To illuminate the severity of this issue, Chairwoman Waters references an email recently sent by an appraiser...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / Political Action / Trending

FHFA RFI on Hybrids, Waivers, AVMS, Racism... 7

FHFA RFI on Hybrids, Waivers, AVMS, Racism

The FHFA is requesting input on appraisal related policies, practices and processes. We encourage everyone to submit comments. The Request for Input (RFI) is open to comment until February 26, 2021. The input received in response to the RFI will be used by FHFA to determine the necessary modifications needed to ensure Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) operate in a safe and sound manner. “Modernizing the appraisal process has the potential to create a more streamlined and accurate collateral valuation process. But if modernization is not properly adopted, it could have negative unintended consequences,” said Director Mark Calabria....

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models

Proposed Amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines in Mortgage Fraud Cases 1

Convicted for Committing Fraud Unknowingly?

Appraisers need to have intent in order to be convicted of fraud… I have recently read several different posts and articles on the Internet stating that some appraisers have committed fraud unknowingly. Some describe instances of stating condition to be average when the property needed work, or “tweaking” the numbers to make the deal work. First of all it is important to note, the FBI defines mortgage fraud as “any material misstatement, misrepresentation or omission relied upon by an underwriter or lender to fund, purchase or insure a loan”. By that definition, such fraud can clearly be committed by both...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

What is Gross Living Area and What Does it Include 29

What is Gross Living Area (GLA)?

What is Gross Living Area and What Does it Include? Appraisers, There are certain properties where aspects of Gross Living Area (GLA) might not be obvious. It’s more confusing when the selling real estate agents lump all “living space” together, because that’s what they are selling, or when the county assessor includes basements with upper level areas. These include homes with a detached ADU, additional rec room or sleeping space above a garage, additional living space with roof attached to the primary dwelling via covered breezeway, basement living spaces with separate entry, etc. Fannie Mae has a giant book called...

American Measurement Standard / American National Standards Institute / AMS / ANSI / Appraisal / Appraisal News

The Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board Holds the First Hearing for AMC’s Not Following the Laws and Rules for Determining Minimum Reasonable and Customary Fees - Imagecredit Flickr - GotCredit 16

AMC Fined for Reasonable & Customary Fees Violation

The Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board Holds the First Hearing for AMC’s Not Following the Laws and Rules for Determining Minimum Reasonable and Customary Fees As a result of a thorough investigation conducted by The Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board (LREAB), an adjudication hearing for an appraisal management company was held to determine if that firm is following the laws and rules pursuant to minimum reasonable and customary fees, as required by the Dodd/Frank Act and Louisiana laws and Appraisers Board rules. The case alleges the appraisal management company Coester VMS was not compliant with the state’s AMC laws and...

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

Truth-in-Lending Act - RESPA Ingetraged Disclosure - TRID Coming Soon Imagecredit Flickr - Dennis Skley 1

TRID Coming Soon Your Way

Appraisers and others, TRID is coming to mortgage lending on Aug. 1, 2015. In case you have not been paying attention to new aspects surrounding your typical measuring buildings and writing reports on a daily basis, TRID is set to become a major change in the mortgage lending process. TRID is the acronym for the ‘Truth-in-Lending Act/RESPA Integrated Disclosure’ process that applies to every mortgage loan as of 8/01/15.  It was part of the Dodd-Frank Law, with power given to the CFPB agency to devise the rules, forms and process. The intent is to consolidate and simplify processes that have...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / CFPB

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Residential Appraisers Dos and Don’ts

Residential appraisers are a critical piece in the puzzle that is determining a property’s “true” value. But in today’s market, the role they play is more pivotal than ever. When every dollar counts (as the players of the game may still be licking their wounds from the oh too recent housing crisis) sellers want to be able to get the highest value possible for their property and buyers certainly do not want to overpay for a home, so working with an appraiser who is trained to perform services in an ethical and professional manner with rich knowledge of the market...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice / USPAP

Laxer Restrictions - Residential Real Estate Industry & its lobbying groups pushing for looser restrictions on real estate lending - Imagecredit Flickr - Shawn Rossi 8

Laxer Restrictions? Not Again!

Skinning appraisers alive and blaming them for everything except the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa and now pushing for looser restrictions! With the overall economy improving and with unemployment dropping back to more manageable levels, it was only a matter of time before the residential real estate industry (builders, bankers, mortgage lenders, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Wall Street) and its lobbying groups and trade associations popped up and asked for Congress and federal regulators to reduce or end many of the restrictions placed on the industry after it gorged itself on the U.S. economy and left the table with only...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O / Errors & Omissions / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

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