Tagged: appraisers

0

Major Change to Fannie Mae Selling Guide

Major Change in Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide Appraisers and report reviewers, Fannie Mae issued an update to their Selling Guide on 12/16/14. It contains this pretty major change to their guidelines: Adjustments to Comparable Sales As a result of an analysis of Uniform Appraisal Dataset data specific to comparable adjustments, Fannie Mae has eliminated the 15% net and 25% gross adjustment guidelines and has provided clarification with respect to Fannie Mae’s expectations for the appraiser to analyze the market for competitive properties and provide appropriate market based adjustments without regard to limits on the size of the adjustments. Updated Selling Guide...

5

AQB Proposed Background Checks Focus on ‘Public Trust’

The Appraiser Qualifications Board of The Appraisal Foundation on Dec. 2 released a new exposure draft of proposed revisions to the 2015 Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria. Among the revisions is a requirement that all applicants for real property appraiser credentials have a background that does not call into question public trust. To meet that requirement, applicants must provide state appraiser regulatory agencies with all information and documentation necessary for a jurisdiction to determine an applicant’s fitness for licensure. An applicant will not be eligible for an appraiser credential if they have been convicted of or pleaded guilty or nolo...

Court Won’t Unseal Files on Washington Mutual Appraisal Scheme 0

Court Won’t Unseal Files on Washington Mutual Appraisal Scheme

A federal judge said he will not unseal files related to an alleged appraisal rigging scheme that Washington Mutual launched in an effort to favor mortgage lenders just before the 2008 market crash, Courthouse News Service reported Dec. 3. The case involves a federal class action suit launched in 2008 in San Jose, California, by Felton Spears Jr. and Sidney Sholl who claimed that Washington Mutual, Lender’s Service Inc. and appraisal management firm First American eAppraiseIT colluded in 2006 to create inflated mortgage-loan appraisals that allowed the bank to sell aggregated security interests in the properties at inflated prices. At...

3

I Can’t Talk About This Appraisal Even if They Waterboard Me!

Anyone who appraises real property long enough stands a decent chance of being swept up in a divorce. Someone else’s. There you are, minding your own business…opening the snail mail in hopes that your clients have finally sent those checks when… A subpoena pops out accompanied by a check for some chump-change amount. What you discover is a subpoena originating from a law firm you never heard of…about a couple getting divorced whose name is unfamiliar…but the property address looks vaguely familiar. Of course! You appraised this house in 2012…for a refi. But now some strange lawyer wants you to bring this dusty refi report to court with you…next Tuesday! Upon receiving a subpoena the natural first reaction for many...

2

Troubling Times at Fannie Mae

Appraisers should be concerned by Fannie Mae’s lack of transparency about its Appraiser Quality Monitoring system (AQM). In their published guidance and in various interviews, in the upcoming print edition of WRE (January 2015) and elsewhere, they remain mum on the specifics of a process that can potentially end an appraiser’s career. If they have rules, procedures and guidelines in place to evaluate the work of appraisers in a fair and consistent manner, they are not making the details public. We believe it’s time that they do so. This is from the cover story in the upcoming print edition of...

4

Collateral Underwriter White Paper

Fannie Mae’s Collateral Underwriter – Industry Update White Paper Folks, I just found this document (PDF attached) written primarily from a ‘lender’ perspective about the upcoming Collateral Underwriter (CU), which applies only to 1004 and 1073 form reports effective Jan. 26, 2015, but probably will be carried over to the 2055 and 1075 form reports after the initial shake out cruise. 13 pages – will help you understand what FNMA will be looking for in terms of appraisal report QC functions performed by AMC’s, and the lender’s appraisal review departments. Knowing what they will be checking will help you avoid...

4

What’s Going on With Fannie Mae’s Collateral Underwriter?

The recent announcement that Fannie Mae will expose its sellers to the Collateral Underwriter™ (CU™) appraisal review tool has appraisers wondering if the process will affect their current and future appraisals and even present problems for past appraisals. Well, from the appraiser perspective, the short answer is you probably won’t notice much difference when this change takes place in January 2015. Fannie Mae’s Collateral Underwriter appraisal review process is not a new concept. This is the same tool that Fannie Mae has been using internally to review appraisals submitted to the Uniform Collateral Data Portal® (UCDP®). Receiving the appraisals as...

Marijuana and Appraising 5

Marijuana and Appraising

Should appraisers notify client about marijuana growing on property? This topic is sure to elicit many opinions. Both “fer & agin”. Should you notify your lender client about marijuana plant growing prior to completing an appraisal of a property if you observe such activity? Especially if you see more than the MAXIMUM allowed in your state. See the chart in the PDF article below. I’ve had this discussion with Washington State appraisers after our initiative was successfully passed. Some appraisers frankly don’t give a rip about potentially illegal or property damaging activities. They only believe they are there to ‘appraise...

Collateral Underwriter Stew & Hedonic Regression 5

Census Tracts, Hedonic Regression and the CU Stew

Bet you didn’t know that the adjustment grid is a form of Hedonic Regression! Appraisers, The new Collateral Underwriter electronic review process developed by Fannie Mae has many appraisers on edge. This will become the ‘ultimate authority’ or gold standard for reviewing appraisal reports as of January 26, 2015… at least as far as FNMA is concerned.  Your reports will either ‘pass’ or ‘fail’, depending on many factors.  Some of those factors are outside your immediate control. “Big Data” is one giant pile of stuff that is being put into the CU pot, stirred together like a stew. Except there...

0

Can You Use a Sale That Closes the Day After Your Inspection Date?

So, here’s the situation; you are appraising a unique property in a limited area with few sales. You inspect the subject on Wednesday and finally get to the write up on Friday morning. As you are searching the neighborhood for sales, you notice a fairly comparable home that sold on the same street. It happens to be the very best comparable you have. The problem? It sold on Thursday…the day after the inspection date. Bummer! But, can you still use it? In order to answer this intriguing question, let’s step back for just a minute and look at the bigger picture....

xml sitemap
blank