Tagged: FHA

April 28, 2021

FHA Temporary Partial Waiver

FHA Appraisers, on April 26, 2021, FHA issued this Temporary Partial Waiver, which is active for one year. This temporary partial waiver is effective for the 12-month period between April 26, 2021, and April 26, 2022. It is found in FHA INFO #21-25 April 27, 2021: Temporary Partial Waiver of the requirements of the single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 Section II.D.4.c.iii.(F)(2) Required Analysis and Reporting that the Appraiser must include, analyze and report a minimum of two active listings or pending sales on the appraisal grid (in addition to at least three recently settled sales) in an Increasing Market...

1004MC / Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / Federal Housing Administration

November 16, 2020

Bill Prohibiting Discrimination in Appraisals…

A bill to amend Illinois’ appraiser and real estate licensing acts to address discrimination. With increased public attention on the issue, complaints alleging unlawful discrimination are emerging in the courts and before regulators in relation to appraisals. In Illinois, a bill (HB 5862) has been introduced to amend the Illinois Real Estate Appraiser Licensing Act and the Real Estate License Act to expressly prohibit discrimination in appraisals, broker price opinions (BPOs) and comparative market analyses (CMAs) for residential real estate. The bill would amend each licensing act to state that an appraiser or real estate licensee engages in prohibited discrimination...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Political Action

June 22, 2020

Appraisal Report Corrections Protocol

For some time, appraisers have written or called me, asking about how to do report corrections, or respond to client requests – after an original report has been sent in. I decided to distribute these suggestions to encourage a uniform procedure across the appraiser universe. I don’t recall ever seeing anything published about this topic. Disclose, don’t bury – modifications, corrections or responses to the original report, or even subsequent changes. I have seen too many reports where the appraiser hides changes within the body of the report as if those were part of the original, when in fact they...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

April 10, 2020

The Greatest Recession

The Greatest Recession is now spreading across the US. The investor’s hesitance to accept modified appraisals without interior inspections will prevent the real estate market from leading this country out of “The Greatest Recession” now spreading across the US… Appraisers provide an essential financial service according to the verbiage I’ve read from The Department of Homeland Security and various sources. We are exempt from “stay at home” orders. The State of Colorado has defined appraisal services and appraisers as providing an essential financial and professional service. Colorado says that appraisers are exempt from stay at home orders. An abundance of...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / Federal Housing Administration / Federal Housing Finance Agency

Exterior Appraisals & Temporary Appraisal Guidelines During COVID-19

March 29, 2020

COVID-19 Temporary Appraisal Guidelines

Fannie and Freddie are giving preference to desktop appraisals over exterior appraisals, which quite frankly, is completely backwards from what most appraisers believe to be a more reliable appraisal. HUD and the Veterans Administration, on the other hand prefer exterior appraisals…

AI / American Society of Appraisers / American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal News

March 9, 2020

Appraisal Inspection Procedures & Protocols

The industry needs to discuss the coronavirus issue and how to conduct inspections. I set up an inspection a few days ago using the Procedures & Protocols form below and this is how I handled it. I called the listing agent and tactfully told him that we had to discuss this Coronavirus issue … that I had a family member with a compromised health situation and that we had to presume the virus was already within our community. Then I explained to him that I inspect a lot of homes every week and that normally involves touching a lot of...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Federal Housing Administration / FHA / Trending

Final Inspection When Not the Original Appraiser - Appraisers Blogs

February 28, 2020

Final When You’re Not the Original Appraiser

When You Complete a Final and Were Not the Original Appraiser First of all, let’s clear the air of any initial confusion that could be potentially floating around out there. It is absolutely okay for an appraiser to complete a final for a property when they were not the original appraiser on the original report. It is perhaps slightly more unusual, but completely ethical. However, there are a few issues that an appraiser could potentially run into if they are completing a final for a report where they were not the original appraiser. I am going to talk about one...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Federal Housing Administration / FHA / Trending

Loans Affected by the $400,000 Appraisal Threshold Increase

October 11, 2019

Loans Affected by the De Minimus Increase

NCUA is advocating for an increase in the de minimus to $400K for loans provided by Credit Unions… The $400,000 de minimus is now ‘official’ but it doesn’t apply to most appraisals. Here’s an article from HousingWire, published on 10/8/2019, which correctly states when this change took effect, which you should read. From the article: Now, it’s important to note that the new rules do not apply to loans wholly or partially insured or guaranteed by, or eligible for sale to, a government agency or government-sponsored agency. What that means is that loans sold to or guaranteed by the Federal...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / Federal Housing Administration / FHA

Failure to Inspect & Photograph Comps Backfires on Appraisers

September 30, 2019

Appraisers, did you Shoot yourself in the Foot?

When I explain the rules many of the appraisers start complaining: “An MLS photograph depicts the house at the time it sold so it’s more accurate than my photograph would be”… There’s a lot of yelling and screaming about bifurcated appraisals. Unfortunately, appraisers may have shot themselves in the foot when it comes to this issue. Allow me to provide an analogy to help explain the issue. I’m not sure if this happens in other areas of the country but in Seattle there is a strange “left leaning” way they do things: State and Federal governments perform numerous traffic studies, to...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Collateral Underwriter / CU / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac

September 18, 2019

AMC Incompetence in Appraisal Management

I’m told USRES routinely sends orders to out of state appraisers for orders in areas they don’t work in. Is this indicative of the Home Point Financial “We care” motto? ATTN: Executive Leadership Gentlemen, see attached copy of an Alabama appraisal order placed by your AMC, USRES. Among our many other efforts on behalf of appraisers and promoting appraisal quality, we periodically communicate directly with lenders that use AMCs. We do this to make sure they are aware of any substandard practices or services that may be offered in their name. This particular issue is not an isolated instance. Though...

AGA / AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations