confidential information - Appraisers Blogs

DEAR HUD… What’s Your End Game?

Mark Skapinetz — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 12:30:25 +0000

Dear HUD, recently, within the past year or so, you have been on a crusade to prove discrimination and racism in the appraisal process. Your actions haven’t gone unnoticed by many within the appraisal profession as well as outside it. It’s become clear that you are the go to organization for complaints. Ok. Please read this in its entirety and see my thoughts at the end before making a judgement. The reason I am writing you this letter is for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I am writing this letter to ask you what your TRUE intentions are...

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Game Over ServiceLink

VaCAP Board — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 12:30:27 +0000

Now that ServiceLink fee schedule, indicating fees paid to appraisers and fees charged to the lenders, has been released to the public, there is absolutely no reason for in camera review… We are sure you have heard the old saying what goes around comes around, right. Well, here we are again; The FTC vs Louisiana Real Estate Appraisal Board case has been brought back into the spot-light. As you may recall, the LREAB filed a civil case against the FTC in attempt to stop the case against them. That case was denied due to lack of jurisdiction. Then the LREAB...

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Is SmartExchange Not USPAP-Compliant?

Guest Author — Wed, 30 Jan 2019 13:30:58 +0000

Is Smartexchange Resulting in USPAP Non-Compliance? This blog is likely going to stir up controversy. It is likely going to have a few folks calling me a loyalist to a la mode, or other similar things. Am I a loyalist? I do not see myself as such, but a la mode has been the only software that I have used in my career for residential form reporting. I do use ACI in the corporate setting as a reviewer and manager in my firm. I like and consider many of the staff at a la mode to be my friends, and I have had long relationships...

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USPAP & Questions on Confidentiality

Dustin Harris — Fri, 18 Jan 2019 13:30:11 +0000

How can using such a contractor not be a violation? In the context of a real estate appraisal, especially a residential real estate appraisal for a lender thru an AMC, what is confidential? First, look at USPAP’s definition of confidential information (lines 105 – 108 in the 2018-2019 edition). It says “confidential information [is] information that is either…identified by the client as confidential when providing it to an appraiser and that is not available from any other source; or…classified as confidential or private by applicable law or regulation” (ibid; emphasis added). Notice confidentiality flows to the client, not to any...

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Appraiser’s Response to MyAMC

Michael Ford — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 12:30:36 +0000

Thank you for your invitation to join your panel. I read all your details. They are addressed in the following: I find it unlikely you retain top appraisers nationwide if you think $350 is a reasonable fee in my area. Did you arrive at that by buying Corelogic’s purported ‘independent survey’? I don’t accept 30 day billing from any unproven clients with unspecified volume. Provide a copy of your current Dunn and Bradstreet rating along with a guarantee of a minimum of 25 orders per month, and I will consider deferred billing. Otherwise you would have to pay me by...

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You Can Argue With Stupid, But You Will Never Win

Guest Author — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 12:30:46 +0000

Please introduce me to "undisclosed-recipients." I would like to pick his or her brain to find out how he or she is getting all these orders. Now I don’t consider myself to be the most intelligent person out there, but do consider myself a fairly intelligent individual. Periodically I receive an email with an order request from different AMCs. These are unsolicited emails from amcs I do not do business with. Why I am receiving these requests is a concern and a question for another day. The emails I receive are addressed to the person who sent the email, undisclosed-recipients;...

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What Goes On Behind The Scenes…

AppraisersBlogs — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 13:30:52 +0000

This year it appears many AMCs have turned to blast requests of fee and turn time. We get them constantly and simply delete them. Last week we received a blast email from an AMC that sends out blast requests for bids. We have never worked with Appraisal Nation before and don’t know how we ended up on their panel. In their rush shopping for the cheapest and fastest appraisers, they forgot to BCC the appraisers they blasted. It appears that this AMC is not only incapable of maintaining quality control and assuring competency for specific assignments but by disclosing appraisers’...

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Think It Through Before You Post!

VaCAP Board — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 12:30:49 +0000

Appraisers are Professionals, Social media is a fact of life. There are many appraisal industry social media outlets for appraisers to connect. These forums provide a great resource for appraisers to seek advice from other appraisers, voice their opinions on industry related issues, and sometimes just to vent a bit after a rough day. This is where we need to be careful….. We have all read comments on social media outlets that you just have to stop and think to yourself, “I can’t believe someone actually posted this”. Confidentiality is a requirement of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice....

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Is Your Facebook Brag Violating USPAP?

Guest Author — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 12:30:14 +0000

Appraising celebrity homes and naming the names of said celebrities When is it acceptable to tell others about your assignments? Is it okay to tell someone that you just appraised a famous movie star’s home? It is human nature to share the weird, unique and exceptional with others. Recently there was a debate on a social media site about appraising celebrity homes and naming the names of said celebrities. We have all done something similar, sometimes in an open forum, sometimes between close colleagues. We are all human and it is within our nature to share the oddities and unusual stuff we have the opportunity...

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USPAP 2016-17 Summary of Changes

Dave Towne — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 13:30:46 +0000

2016 – 17 USPAP Updates & Revisions Appraisers, On Feb 6, the Appraisal Standards Board finalized the upcoming changes to the next issue of USPAP. See the PDF for the actual document. The highlights are: Revisions adopted for 2016 – 17 USPAP The following changes were adopted by the Board in a public meeting on February 6, 2015, and will be incorporated in the 2016 – 17 edition of USPAP and associated guidance material with an effective date of January 1, 2016: Revisions to the RECORD KEEPING RULE Revisions to STANDARD 3 Revisions to the Definition of Assignment Results and Confidential Information and...

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

IDFPR Board — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 13:30:12 +0000

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...

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Appraiser Confidentiality: USPAP Absurdity

Peter Christensen — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 12:30:37 +0000

Appraiser Confidentiality: Loose Lips, Big Claims, USPAP Absurdity, and Subpoenas Allegedly “Loose Lips” Cause a Big Claim. A recent and relatively big appraiser liability claim involved a commercial appraiser’s alleged breach of confidentiality. The damages paid to the plaintiff were significant. According to the plaintiff’s complaint (my recounting of the facts here is simplified), a lender had engaged the appraiser to perform an appraisal for a construction loan to the developer of a shopping center. Some of the information received by the appraiser included lease commitments from prospective tenants. The anchor tenant was a well-known retailer. The appraiser completed the assignment, but...

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