Tagged: black

Government-Sponsored Mortgage Giant Fannie Flouts Law 17

Fannie Wants to Script Conclusions of Outside Analyst – Believes It Is Above the Law

Government-sponsored mortgage giant Fannie Mae is essentially forcing banks to repurchase any loan it wants if [the appraiser] refuses to use the comparables Fannie has selected.  [The corporation] was created by the government, is controlled by the government, and operates for the government’s benefit,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy in a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in 2015. He was describing passenger rail hegemon Amtrak, but he could easily have been describing government-sponsored mortgage giant Fannie Mae. The Roberts Court held the National Railroad Passenger Corporation – known more commonly as Amtrak – was a government entity for the purposes of the...

Fannie Mae to State of Maryland: DROP DEAD 33

Fannie Mae to Maryland: DROP DEAD

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae and her twin, Freddie Mac, have a message for the State of Maryland: Kindly disintegrate. A snubbed Maryland task force is close to filing its report to the governor. It attempted, in vain, to obtain detailed information about the government-sponsored twins’ valuation algorithms – tools that have replaced many home appraisals in the Old-Line State and resulted, some contend, in a feedback loop and run-up in home prices. The task force was formed on the reasonable premise that the state has an interest in the twins’ activities, since Marylanders will be left with the clean-up costs,...

Federal Officials Team up with Freddie, Fannie to Deceive Investors | The Censorship of Appraisers 34

The Censorship of Appraisers

Thirty-seven hours after President Biden took the oath of office, White House officials met with executives at social media companies. The officials threatened restraint-of-trade lawsuits and regulatory action if the companies failed to censor what the White House deemed “misinformation.” In a parallel development, we can now connect the dots that similar talks occurred among White House officials, employees of government-sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and private vendors to throttle the protected speech of individuals and firms in the mortgage industry engaged specifically for their independence. The latter serve as bulwarks in federally backed mortgage transactions. In...

LoanDepot Appraisal Discrimination Settlement 33

LoanDepot Appraisal Discrimination Settlement

Connolly and Mott v. Lanham, 20/20 Valuations, and loanDepot.com, U.S. District Court, Maryland. This is one of the appraisal discrimination cases that has received significant attention – among appraisers, the media and government agencies. A Black couple in Baltimore – Dr. Connolly and Dr. Mott, both university professors – filed suit in August 2022 alleging racial discrimination against loanDepot.com and the appraiser it engaged to appraise their home for a refinance. They alleged that the appraiser had taken into account their race in his valuation of their home in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act and other laws prohibiting...

Marcia Fudge Leaving HUD Is Good News for Appraisers 38

Marcia Fudge leaving HUD!

Marcia Fudge is also the current co-chairperson of the PAVE Task Force Committee, so that group’s philosophy may also be modified with her resignation.  I read a number of web provided publications oriented to our appraisal work, and lending. This popped into my email yesterday from Inside Mortgage Finance Publications: “As IMFnews went to press Monday, Marcia Fudge announced that she will step down as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, effective March 22. A Biden appointee, Fudge, 71, did not provide a specific reason…” USA Today: “Fudge vows not to run again “Don’t look for me...

Shane Lanham Countersuing Black Homeowners for Defamation 28

Shane Lanham Countersuing Black Homeowners for Defamation

Shane Lanham, a Maryland appraiser, has found himself in a difficult situation as he is being sued in The United States District Court of Maryland. However, he is not backing down and fully intends to fight these allegations through trial. In addition, he is countersuing the accusers for defamation and seeking $500,000 in damages. Lanham firmly believes that the accusations of racism against him are baseless and he has engaged a consultant with significant experience in handling such cases. To ensure he has the best chance of success, Mr. Lanham has engaged a consultant with extensive experience in similar cases....

HUD Mulls Use of Convicted Felons to Ramp Up 'Discrimination Testing' 29

HUD’s Use of Convicted Felons to Ramp Up ‘Discrimination Testing’

It wants to bootstrap released felons by allowing them to work as so-called “fair-housing testers” for the many nonprofits HUD provides grants to… If the rule is changed, the HUD-subsidized nonprofits could hire felons to ramp up sting operations against real estate brokers, leasing agents, mortgage loan officers, escrow officers, title officers, appraisers, property managers and others.  Few would argue that society doesn’t benefit when convicted felons are rehabilitated and re-integrated. But according to a frequently cited study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about two-thirds of released prisoners are arrested for a new crime within 3 years, and three-quarters...

Foreclosures in Black Communities Due to Overvaluation 13

Foreclosures in Black Communities Due to Overvaluation

What were the results? Most had foreclosures. They bought a house worth much less than they paid for it and never planned or budgeted to make a mortgage payment in the first place.  About 2 years before the crash of ‘08, I ran across a company out of DC called “Metro Grapevine” and “Metro Dream Homes.” It was a Ponzi scheme marketed by a black to blacks only. It was by invitation only. They promised if you bought your home through their program, they’d pay it off in seven years and you never had to make a payment. The requirement...

Biden's Remark on Home Values Sparks Backlash 41

Biden’s Remark on Home Values Sparks Backlash

President Biden’s recent comment about the discrepancy in home values between Black and white families has sparked backlash on social media, with many accusing him of being a “divider”. During a campaign speech at Charleston Church in South Carolina, Biden stated that homes owned by Black families are often valued at less than those owned by white families, even if they are built by the same builder. “Today, a home owned by a Black family on one side of a highway, built by the same builder on the other side of the highway & a white guy living in it,...

The New Appraisal Profession – Why bother! 26

The New Appraisal Profession – Why bother!

As long as the new normal is reporting the appraiser when you don’t like the value continues, why bother?  In today’s new and unimproved appraisal atmosphere, any appraiser that does not “hit the number” is open to detrimental consequences. Buyers, Sellers, & Refinancers – The U.S. Government from the top down have provided the media and the public in general with so much toxic misinformation and encouragement that any appraiser doing their job, a job that can lead to lower values than expected, can now be turned to HUD itself, or a state appraisal board for racial bias. So, why...

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