Tagged: Errors & Omissions

May 22, 2015

Protect Yourself with a Limitation of Liability Clause

Set Your Limits and Protect Yourself with a Limitation of Liability Clause In a recent case on the West Coast, a certified general appraiser was sued for professional negligence by a commercial lender. The lender had made a high-interest, short-term loan to an investor/developer for the purchase of a large parcel of land that the borrower planned to subdivide and sell as mini-ranches. The property was appraised for approximately $5 million in 2007, and the lender had loaned $3.2 million. Within months after closing, the borrower’s project began sputtering because of the financial crisis, and by early 2009, the borrower was in default. The property sold at...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O / Errors & Omissions

May 14, 2015

What Should an Appraiser Do?

Burdensome indemnity language required by a lender or AMC Appraisers are often required to sign lengthy contracts to obtain assignments from lenders or Appraisal Management Companies. These contracts outline the scope of work, when the assignment is due, how to transmit reports and other items that require review and understanding. Once the contract is formalized, the appraiser is then legally required to comply with its’ provisions. One important and often troublesome requirement is the Indemnity Provision. The concept of indemnity means “security against hurt, loss or damage”. Through indemnity, one party can shift the responsibility of loss to another party...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O

May 1, 2015

LenderVend Requirement For Appraisers to Upload Copies of Appraisal Workfiles

Many residential appraisers we insure and several appraiser organizations have contacted us in the last few days about an appraisal management company’s new requirement that their panel appraisers upload a PDF copy of their appraisal workfile for each assignment they perform. The AMC is LenderVend, LLC and, according to its website, it is affiliated with mortgage lender Provident Funding. We understand that LenderVend’s requirement imposes an additional burden on appraisers. We’ve also heard firsthand from appraisers about the anxiety the policy is creating because of the unknown uses to which the workfile may be put by the AMC. As is the case with any peculiar...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O

April 16, 2015

Thank You Wall Street for Killing off my Hallmark Moments

Thank you Wall Street, your mothers must be very proud of you! I’m not sure when it happened, but sometime in my lifetime the family home stopped being where you chose to live to raise your family and put down roots and became an investment asset. It seems this transformation began when investment bankers on Wall Street first realized residential mortgage lending represented a potential source of huge profits. Prior to the Great Depression, a typical mortgage loan was for 50% of the cost of a home, was interest only, was for 5 years with a balloon payment due at...

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

February 24, 2015

Mortgage Lending a Lot Like Musical Chairs

Mortgage Lending – Déjà Vu…All Over Again Philosopher George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. In light of recent actions in the mortgage lending industry, we all may be able to experience the thrill ride of 2007-2009 all over again…soon. You may wonder what actions I am referring to so let me share a brief list of what I will call the top ten contributing factors to the downturn I see happening by July of 2017. By 2017 it will have been 10 years since the start of the last collapse in the...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O / Errors & Omissions

November 5, 2014

Appraisal Management Company Sued in Consumer Class Action Complaint

A consumer class action complaint has been filed against a lender and its AMC relating to the subject matter of a prior CFPB investigation and settlement. Last August, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had taken action against Amerisave Mortgage Corporation, its affiliated AMC Novo Appraisal Management Company, and one of the owners of both companies Patrick Markert. Part of the CFPB’s action concerned alleged overcharging for appraisal services by the AMC and failure to disclose the AMC’s affiliation with the lender. Under a consent order, Amerisave and Novo agreed to pay $14.8 million in refunds to consumers and a $4.5 million...

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

October 30, 2014

Down the Rabbit Hole with the Form 1004MC

OK, I admit it. I am old school. I still think you need to understand how to do something manually before you throw caution to the wind and buy into new technology to replace a good, old-fashioned, hands-on process that has worked fine for years. I honestly believe the use of technology without a complete understanding of how to do the basic process manually just lets us make more frequent and more complicated mistakes faster. In other words, if you can’t drive a Chevy Nova very well, don’t buy a Maserati Ghibli and expect it to fix your driving problems....

1004MC / Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O / Errors & Omissions

September 19, 2014

Are the Inmates in Charge of this Asylum?

What really caused the real estate market to collapse? While much has been written about the multitude of complex reasons behind the collapse of the real estate market in 2007, it is the opinion of this writer that there is one primary reason for the collapse. Simply stated, banks loaned money to borrowers who lacked the ability to pay back the loan. That’s it, pure and simple. If you loan money to someone who has no resources to pay back your loan, you will lose money almost every time and it matters very little if you have any collateral for...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O / Errors & Omissions

September 2, 2014

Who are Mutual First, LLC and Savant Claims Management? Why is Mutual First Suing Appraisers?

Some appraisers are now being targeted in lawsuits by an entity named “Mutual First, LLC.” It has filed at least 35 lawsuits since May. Mutual First is not a bank, credit union or any kind of regular financial institution. It’s an entity aiming to make money for investors by suing appraisers. Based in Texas, it acquires foreclosed loans for small fractions of the original principal amounts. It then files lawsuits against the appraisers who performed appraisals years ago for the original lenders who made the loans. In its lawsuits, Mutual First claims that the appraisers are liable to Mutual First...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O

August 8, 2014

E&O Coverage at No Additional Cost

Alliance Allows San Diego-Based Property Data Service to Offer E&O Coverage at No Additional Cost to Qualified Residential Appraisers SAN DIEGO, CALIF. (July 28, 2014) – National Data Collective (NDC), a San Diego-based property data company serving real estate professionals, announced today that it has formed a strategic alliance with CRES Insurance, LLC, a leader in protecting the real estate industry with risk management services and insurance solutions. NDC offers a subscription-based data service to appraisers, providing access to a database of full property profiles, assessor records, deed history and comp reports for more than 130 million properties nationwide. NDC has joined...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / E&O / Errors & Omissions