Errors & Omissions - Appraisers Blogs

Shane Lanham Countersuing Black Homeowners for Defamation

AppraisersBlogs — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 13:30:29 +0000

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....

Seller Filed a Racial Bias Complaint Against Me So what’s caused the sudden loss of income? Could it be because of the racial bias complaint filed against me…
False Claims of Racism Against Appraiser ...my career, business, and health at risk due to false claims made by a homeowner. As a professional real estate…
Fannie Mae Filed a Complaint Against Me An appraiser shared the following with us which was posted on one of the appraisers’ groups. Fannie Mae filed a…

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The New & Improved Fannie Mae “FRAUDULATOR 2.0”

Michael Ford — Mon, 15 May 2023 12:30:53 +0000

Originally known as Fannie Mae’s Collateral Underwriter (CU), and subsequently Collateral Underwriter 2.0 (CU-2)i this always dubious product of Fannie Mae is increasingly being referred to by some, if not many American Appraisers as The Fraudulator / Underwriter 2.0 (FU-2). To be clear it is not limited to the Collateral Underwriter (CU & CU-2) software. The new Fraudulator (FU-2) combines the CU products with their numerous improper uses. The end result of which includes OUTRIGHT FRAUD being perpetrated against banks via the repurchase letters Fannie Mae now issues on a quota based system rather than because of legitimate appraisal defects....

How U.S. Home Valuations Are Being Subverted At the crossroads of it all is a campaign to weaken or eliminate valuations... The nonprofit is now exploring ways…
AVMs... Garbage In, Garbage Out Garbage data in means garbage results out every time! It's no secret that AVMs have been a thorn in the…
Dear Representative, FNMA Has Gone Rogue! Dear representative, waiving/eliminating property appraisal for lending purposes is wanton recklessness. Fannie Mae’s decision to waive/eliminate property appraisal for lending…

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Lender Liability for a Negligent Appraisal?

Peter Christensen — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 12:30:36 +0000

Does a mortgage lender have liability to the borrower for a negligent appraisal? As residential property prices plateau or decline in various markets and as borrowers have financial problems with fewer financing options, there are more legal claims being filed by borrowers against appraisers and lenders in relation to appraisals for loans made in recent years. Essentially, the cases are situations of “buyer-borrower remorse.” Leaving aside the appraiser’s potential liability, does a mortgage lender have liability to the borrower for a negligent appraisal? An Ohio appellate court recently said “no.” It ruled that the lender did not owe the borrower...

New Suspicious Law in CA ...any suspicion of a discriminatory appraisal by the holder of a real estate appraiser license... Folks in the Golden State,…
AMC Liability for Deficient Appraisals ...may AMCs be liable for the deficient work of contractor appraisers? Can AMCs be sued for negligence? Can they be…
HUD Investigation Leads to Illegal Break-In &… Over the past four years, I have been subjected to a relentless, unjust investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing…

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Protect Yourself Against Racial Bias Claims

AppraisersBlogs — Thu, 23 Jun 2022 12:00:47 +0000

Free webinar on how to protect yourself against discrimination claims on 6/30/22, and today there will be a forum on “Racial Bias in the Home Appraisal Process”… OREP is sponsoring a free webinar on how to protect yourself and your business against discrimination claims. Leading trial attorney Craig Capilla has handled nearly 1,000 appraiser cases in his career and has been on the frontlines defending appraisers from lawsuits, state board complaints, and now, HUD Fair Housing (Discrimination) complaints. Capilla began his legal career working for Illinois’ professional regulation agency as a real estate prosecutor and since then has become one...

Reality of Today's Appraisal Environment Proving discriminatory activity is hard, which is probably one reason HUD is dragging their collective feet in resolving the filed…
HUD Investigation Leads to Illegal Break-In &… Over the past four years, I have been subjected to a relentless, unjust investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing…
HUD's Use of Convicted Felons to Ramp Up… It wants to bootstrap released felons by allowing them to work as so-called “fair-housing testers” for the many nonprofits HUD…

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States Want Appraisers to Play Ball

Jeremy Bagott — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 13:30:47 +0000

“[The builder] filed a grievance against me… and threatened to file a grievance every time I or others appraised below purchase price.” California and Nebraska couldn’t be more different, but both clearly want their states to be more like the fictional town of Lake Wobegon – a place where all the men are good-looking, all the children are above average and all properties appraise at or above their sale price. Parts of California Assembly Bill 948, which was signed into law in September, read like something from the satirical news site The Onion. The statute requires the state’s appraiser enforcement...

Phony Complaint Against Appraiser ...a laundry list of 'pile on' purported USPAP "violations" were fabricated deriving for the above oversights ‘confirmed’ by the out…
Frivolous Complaints Against Appraisers TALCB noted that roughly 70% of all complaints against appraisers are unfounded... The American Guild of Appraiser recently wrote to…
Phony Low-Value Complaints ALL unintended users are specifically excluded from any right of reliance on this appraisal report... Recently, Mr. Steve Kahane, Board…

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Listening to Appraisers

David Brauner — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 13:30:07 +0000

…appraisers believe that the bifurcated model and the use of unlicensed, untrained and unaccountable contractors for key elements of collateral assessment will adversely affect the health and welfare of the housing finance system, increase their own liability and damage the public trust… It is the goal of the Federal Financing Housing Agency (FHFA) to ensure the health and welfare of the housing finance system. FHFA oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and has, for the time being, paused the testing and development of bifurcated appraisals that bypass the participation of licensed appraisers (FHFA Puts Brakes on Fannie’s Bifurcated Program). I...

GSE Pilot Programs Dead The Only Good Pilot Is A Dead Pilot? Like my father always told me about having a business partner (see…
The Town With No Bank: How Rural America Lost Its… For decades, we’ve been told that the problem is demand. That people don’t want to live in rural America anymore.…
The Illogical Reality of Mortgage Appraisal Reviews Reforming the appraisal review process is essential to maintaining the integrity of the real estate market and protecting consumers and…

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California AB 5 – Legal For Appraisers

Peter Christensen — Wed, 15 Jan 2020 13:30:44 +0000

More than 375 California appraisers registered for the AB 5 webinar – I hope you didn’t miss it. I’ll be hosting my next free webinar for appraisers on January 31, 2020 – it’s the “California Legal Update just for Appraisers!” In this free video webinar, I’ll cover: New 2020 laws relevant to California appraisers and appraisal firms (other than AB 5), including the California Consumer Privacy Act, and The very most important thing that appraisers can do in 2020 in every appraisal report of every type (whether residential, commercial, lending or non-lending) to avoid liability. The webinar will last approximately 45...

Case Helpful to Appraisers This is the only way that the opinion would ever help other appraisers, especially residential, in future cases filed by…
AB5 - Employee or Independent Contractor? Most independent appraisers are paid ‘by the job’ and are issued 1099’s for the payments made. Appraisers who are ‘staff appraisers’…
CA Appraisers 50% Decline & Fees Up 76% The Number of CA appraisers drops from 20,120 to 9,987. Renewal fees up 76% for 2020. Excerpt: It’s time to…

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Fee Transparency, Pivotal Point for Appraisers

Isaac Peck — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 12:30:10 +0000

…appraisers may finally have a chance at making the goal of fee transparency a reality… Keep your eyes open, events are happening fast. Ever since the passage of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) in 2010 and the monumental rise of Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs), one of the main issues appraisers have pressed for is transparency for consumers in terms of the fee split between appraisers and AMCs. Specifically, how much of the actual “Appraisal Fee” being paid by the consumer goes to the licensed real estate professional and how much is withheld by the AMC “manager.” Now, over...

How to Destroy the Appraisal Profession Anytime the government gets involved in an issue, it tends to have more adverse effects than positive ones. It makes…
It’s Time to Take Out the Junk: AMC Practices Exposed Appraisers have spent years carrying the weight of broken AMC practices, and this article pulls every one of those practices…
Fannie Mae Filed a Complaint Against Me An appraiser shared the following with us which was posted on one of the appraisers’ groups. Fannie Mae filed a…

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ACI Software Users

John Pratt — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 12:30:53 +0000

I just received a message from another appraiser that I believe uses ACI software. He received a request from ACI to sign a “Digital Signature Application” along with a few other forms. This appears to me to be in connection with a new form of an appraisal product which they have developed. The first paragraph of this “Digital Signature Application” read as follows 1.1 Signature Using BLACK INK, sign within the box below. Signature must remain within the confines of the box (see sample). All signature cards are destroyed after they are scanned, tested, and delivered. Passwords are not kept...

Fannie Mae Filed a Complaint Against Me An appraiser shared the following with us which was posted on one of the appraisers’ groups. Fannie Mae filed a…
The Great Debate on Appraisal Fees She included several different fee split examples indicating AMCs retained as much as 70 percent of the total appraisal fee…
USPAP’s Typical Buyer Standard in the Fair Housing Era The Irreconcilable Conflict Between USPAP's Typical Buyer Standard and the Current Fair Housing Compliance Regime. Retain this document as a…

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Phony Complaint Against Appraiser

Michael Ford — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 12:30:22 +0000

…a laundry list of ‘pile on’ purported USPAP “violations” were fabricated deriving for the above oversights ‘confirmed’ by the out of area review appraiser… In fighting or appealing a false complaint filed against you as an appraiser, truth, factual evidence and professional competency is no longer enough! More important than all these things, is conformity to the detailed technical rules of a state’s administrative law procedures. In short, in many if not most cases, appraisers MUST HIRE AN ATTORNEY to represent them before any administrative board. Anything less, is playing with fire and your professional career. Worse, E&O won’t cover...

Phony Low-Value Complaints ALL unintended users are specifically excluded from any right of reliance on this appraisal report... Recently, Mr. Steve Kahane, Board…
Frivolous Complaints Against Appraisers TALCB noted that roughly 70% of all complaints against appraisers are unfounded... The American Guild of Appraiser recently wrote to…
Advance Property Research is Vital ‘Subject to’ obtaining a correct legal description... Appraisers, an unusual situation occurred with an appraiser buddy, who asked for advice.…

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Hybrid Inspectors Offering Appraisal Opinions

Mark Skapinetz — Mon, 17 Jun 2019 12:30:03 +0000

Clear Capital admission: This is an admission that inspector were previously offering appraisal opinions re Q&C. There remain many other areas in hybrids that also are appraisal opinion being provided by non appraisers. I have written many blog posts here, mainly for the consumer to read and understand what is actually happening in the world of Real Estate Valuations. My blogs range from being overcharged for appraisals so the middle man (the appraisal management company or AMC) can make money, lenders still pressuring appraisers to hit a value, and now having untrained and unlicensed people perform inspections (see my last...

First Impressions of Clear Capital’s AVM An Appraiser’s First Impressions of Clear Capital’s AVM... It’s no secret the lending industry is aggressively pursuing alternatives to traditional…
What IS a “ClearVal Appraisal”? Clear Capital ClearVal... Value Not So ClearCut... I’ve finally had an opportunity to read a hybrid ‘appraisal’ start to finish.…
Appraiser Imposters! AMC sends a "non-appraiser" to photograph, measure, sketch, and observe a property, it’s quality, condition, and surroundings instead of using…

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Frivolous & Retaliatory 3rd Party Lawsuits

Michael Ford — Tue, 14 May 2019 12:30:47 +0000

Appraisers are routinely coerced & intimidated by third parties to violate their independence and integrity… Honorable Committee Members: We are writing to add our voice to that of the Massachusetts Board of Real Estate Appraisers (MBREA is a State Coalition of professional real estate appraisers) in support of each of the above bills. The American Guild of Appraisers is a Guild within the Office Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) of the AFL-CIO, representing the appraisal and real estate related financial consumer / taxpayer interests of over twelve and a half million AFL-CIO Family Union & Guild Members; their families, retirees...

The New & Improved Fannie Mae “FRAUDULATOR 2.0” Originally known as Fannie Mae’s Collateral Underwriter (CU), and subsequently Collateral Underwriter 2.0 (CU-2)i this always dubious product of Fannie…
Top DEI Bosses Have a Problem - Diversity The ranks of the new DEI bosses at the financial institutions are no more diverse than the appraisers their institutions…
Appraiser Independence: What Does it Mean & Who Does… Why It Matters Appraiser independence is mandated by state and federal laws - not a professional courtesy. Every agent, broker,…

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Cyber Attacks on Corelogic

Peter Christensen — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 13:30:16 +0000

Recent Cyber Attacks on CoreLogic and a Large Appraisal Firm Expose a Real Business Risk to Valuation Firms and Companies. As two recent attacks show, cyber crimes pose a real risk – legally and economically – to appraisal firms, management companies and other businesses involved in property analytics. If an operation like CoreLogic can be victimized by criminal hackers seeking property information, as it was in an attack earlier this month, any valuation firm or property analytics company is at risk. And, more seriously, the losses suffered by an appraisal firm in the separate cyber attack discussed below demonstrate how...

My Day as an Appraiser Big Corporations like CoreLogic are like sharks... This morning, as I do every morning, I made some coffee and began…
Theft of Appraisers' Data ...they charge appraisers an upload fee for the privilege of having their data stolen... I would never allow my data…
Fannie and Freddie, Still Stealing Data No matter how you sugar coat it, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been stealing data from independent appraisers for…

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AMC Asking Appraisers to Violate State Law

VaCAP Board — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 13:30:54 +0000

…inducing another to violate… Appraisers Beware! VaCAP has been informed an email has been sent to Virginia Appraisers from Xome Vender Manager, Adam Burg. The email, addressed to “undisclosed recipients,” starts with “Dear Virginia Appraisers.” The body of the email announces that SunTrust Bank has begun ordering a bifurcated valuation product with an interior inspection. The appraiser is to use information from a third party property inspection for subject property data. VaCAP cautions appraisers on this product. Virginia Statutes and Regulations are very clear the appraiser who signs the appraisal report must have complete direction and control over the appraisal. The Virginia Real Estate Appraisal...

The Town With No Bank: How Rural America Lost Its… For decades, we’ve been told that the problem is demand. That people don’t want to live in rural America anymore.…
It’s Time to Take Out the Junk: AMC Practices Exposed Appraisers have spent years carrying the weight of broken AMC practices, and this article pulls every one of those practices…
The New & Improved Fannie Mae “FRAUDULATOR 2.0” Originally known as Fannie Mae’s Collateral Underwriter (CU), and subsequently Collateral Underwriter 2.0 (CU-2)i this always dubious product of Fannie…

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Class Action Against AMCs on the Horizon

VaCAP Board — Thu, 04 Oct 2018 12:30:10 +0000

Property inspectors suing ServiceLink to obtain minimum wage… Peter Christensen wrote another article on LinkedIn about wages being paid by lenders and AMCs. This one should get your attention as it is from Independent Contractors suing an AMC. This will set a precedent and start a chain reaction. In a nut shell, property inspectors are suing ServiceLink for work performed to obtain minimum wage. Yes, you read that correctly, minimum wage. According to the article, property inspectors receive between $3 and $5 for each assignment. The article does not specify the specific service the property inspectors perform, but think bifurcated or...

Desktop Appraisals: Has The Devil Infiltrated The… Are desktop appraisals with third-party inspectors protecting the public, or are these products about to destroy the very profession I…
It’s Time to Take Out the Junk: AMC Practices Exposed Appraisers have spent years carrying the weight of broken AMC practices, and this article pulls every one of those practices…
Uncovering Flaws in FHA Appraisal & Loan Review Process The story of this single mother's harrowing experience with a defective home purchase and HUD's negligent oversight exposes deep flaws…

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Is Smart Exchange Really a Smart Idea?

Guest Author — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 12:30:30 +0000

Alamode recently launched Smart Exchange to its users. The idea is appraisers can see what others have stated as property characteristics and transfer that information directly into your report. The system is based on mutual sharing, so if you participate, you will share all your comparable data with everyone else that is using Smart Exchange and you can see their data. The last update from alamode installed the programming and changed the way the side by side screen looks. Now I must make a disclaimer here, I am in the over 50 category and my kids are all grown. It...

Appraisers Ditch a la mode In 2015, Dave Biggers of a la mode stated: I'll wrap up by wishing you a happy new year, in…
Bias and Discrimination in Reports, Yes or No? Appraisers, should we include discussion of B&D in our reports? Wait, What?? Bondage and Discipline? No, not that. Bias and Discrimination.…
Uncovering Flaws in FHA Appraisal & Loan Review Process The story of this single mother's harrowing experience with a defective home purchase and HUD's negligent oversight exposes deep flaws…

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Appraiser Overtime Lawsuits Continue

Peter Christensen — Tue, 25 Sep 2018 12:30:57 +0000

Appraiser Overtime Lawsuits Continue to Hit Banks and AMCs – and Now Commercial Appraisers Against a National Commercial Appraisal Firm In May, I wrote a short piece (posted here) about the legal threat posed to AMCs, appraisal firms and other employers of appraisers in relation to classification of appraisers as exempt from overtime. I included a warning that the threat was spreading to commercial firms. It’s time for an update. In August, another bank – U.S. Bank – was sued for unpaid overtime by a potential class of appraisers. Also named as a defendant to the class action is U.S....

West Virginia Appraisal Board Scheme The Doomed Quest to Reform a corrupt West Virginia Licensing Board “Board members earn money working for a law firm…
It’s Time to Take Out the Junk: AMC Practices Exposed Appraisers have spent years carrying the weight of broken AMC practices, and this article pulls every one of those practices…
Fastapp AMC Alleged Violations of AIR The following court documents in the case Naftali Horowitz v. [xxx], Fastapp AMC founder v. Fastapp AMC president, confirm what…

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Indemnity Agreements

John Pratt — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 12:30:19 +0000

Solidifi User Agreement… all Indemnity Clauses are not created equal… This is a response to the article that Dave Towne wrote regarding Indemnity Clauses and that they are common in today’s world and appraisers better get used to it. It is also true that all Indemnity Clauses are not created equal and the devil is in the details. This topic came up because of the agreement that Solidifi requires that all appraisers that receive assignments from them must agree to. Let’s delve into the Indemnity Clause which is in that agreement. First the agreement is between Solidifi and the appraiser...

The Town With No Bank: How Rural America Lost Its… For decades, we’ve been told that the problem is demand. That people don’t want to live in rural America anymore.…
Uncovering Flaws in FHA Appraisal & Loan Review Process The story of this single mother's harrowing experience with a defective home purchase and HUD's negligent oversight exposes deep flaws…
Promoting False "Racist Appraiser" Narrative Some Lenders promoting false "racist appraiser" narrative to optimize profits via AVMs Like most businesses lenders want to optimize their…

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Indemnity Clauses – Redux

Dave Towne — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 12:30:02 +0000

It’s been an interesting ride down the fearfulness side of many appraisers since last week’s essay I wrote about Indemnity Clauses. But I’ve also received praise from some of the best well-known people in this industry who understood the position I took, and complemented me for presenting the info. That means far more than the diatribes I get from folks who shake in their boots and don’t bother to fully read what is presented. As I wrote to someone last week, what I should have included in my essay, and will do so now is that if you can’t (or...

The New & Improved Fannie Mae “FRAUDULATOR 2.0” Originally known as Fannie Mae’s Collateral Underwriter (CU), and subsequently Collateral Underwriter 2.0 (CU-2)i this always dubious product of Fannie…
Diatribes Against Appraisers What’s even more frustrating to me is none of the well-known appraiser organizations have offered any public rebuttal to any…
Promoting False "Racist Appraiser" Narrative Some Lenders promoting false "racist appraiser" narrative to optimize profits via AVMs Like most businesses lenders want to optimize their…

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Don’t Fear

Dave Towne — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 12:30:02 +0000

…appraiser who claims to NOT SIGN any kind of appraiser employment agreement with an Indemnity Clause in it… This essay is not positioned as a promotion of AMC’s, which after writing to the end I realized some may believe. I don’t like the AMC business model. But for the time being, we are stuck with AMC’s if one desires to work in the mortgage lending arena. However, some lenders are beginning to realize the AMC business model is proving unworkable and unwieldy, and are moving back to direct assignment placement, or use one of the available ‘portals’ to distribute and accept assignments...

Uncovering Flaws in FHA Appraisal & Loan Review Process The story of this single mother's harrowing experience with a defective home purchase and HUD's negligent oversight exposes deep flaws…
Fannie Mae Filed a Complaint Against Me An appraiser shared the following with us which was posted on one of the appraisers’ groups. Fannie Mae filed a…
The Town With No Bank: How Rural America Lost Its… For decades, we’ve been told that the problem is demand. That people don’t want to live in rural America anymore.…

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Errors & Omissions - Appraisers Blogs

Shane Lanham Countersuing Black Homeowners for Defamation

Related Posts:

The New & Improved Fannie Mae “FRAUDULATOR 2.0”

Related Posts:

Lender Liability for a Negligent Appraisal?

Related Posts:

Protect Yourself Against Racial Bias Claims

Related Posts:

States Want Appraisers to Play Ball

Related Posts:

Listening to Appraisers

Related Posts:

California AB 5 – Legal For Appraisers

Related Posts:

Fee Transparency, Pivotal Point for Appraisers

Related Posts:

ACI Software Users

Related Posts:

Phony Complaint Against Appraiser

Related Posts:

Hybrid Inspectors Offering Appraisal Opinions

Related Posts:

Frivolous & Retaliatory 3rd Party Lawsuits

Related Posts:

Cyber Attacks on Corelogic

Related Posts:

AMC Asking Appraisers to Violate State Law

Related Posts:

Class Action Against AMCs on the Horizon

Related Posts:

Is Smart Exchange Really a Smart Idea?

Related Posts:

Appraiser Overtime Lawsuits Continue

Related Posts:

Indemnity Agreements

Related Posts:

Indemnity Clauses – Redux

Related Posts:

Don’t Fear

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