Tagged: finance

HUD Hands $54 Million to Nonprofits in Quest to Cow Appraisers 17

HUD’s Private Inquisitors Will Chill Protected Speech of Appraisers

HUD awarded $54 million to 182 nonprofits to serve as posses in a a Spanish Inquisition-style drive. The deep pockets of the federal government will be used to help the nonprofits chill the protected First Amendment rights of appraisers to develop disinterested opinions of value of the properties they appraise.  In the early 1990s, the Texas Legislature established an unusual nonprofit known as the Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation. The times were dire. A near-biblical plague of weevils had descended on the state’s cotton crop. So, state lawmakers granted the private organization the powers of government to combat the malevolent creatures....

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / HUD / The US Department of Housing and Urban Development

Dear Representative, FNMA Has Gone Rogue! 87

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 purposes is nothing more than wanton recklessness that could have serious repercussions in the future. The truth of the matter is that appraisals are an essential part of any mortgage transaction and should not be taken lightly or eliminated without due consideration. Without them, there can be no assurance as to whether a homebuyer will get what they pay for or if lenders will make bad investments with their money. In short, waiving/eliminating property appraisal requirements puts everyone at risk...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Dodd-Frank Act / C&R Fees / Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac / Political Action

How U.S. Home Valuations Are Being Subverted 21

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 it can set standards for automated valuations… Expect greater distortions from Freddie and Fannie’s plodding and committee-driven foray into automated valuations.  Sometimes when the hair on the back of your neck stands up, there’s a reason for it. The nation’s $11 trillion mortgage market has been nationalized. This coup occurred in broad daylight and gradually. With Freddie and Fannie now in their second decade in federal conservatorship, the prospect that they will ever again be subjected to the watchful eye...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisal Subcommittee / Appraisers News / ASC

Freddie's Study, NPR Story Recall Notable Academic Hoax 10

Freddie’s Study, NPR Story Recall Notable Academic Hoax

NPR topped the online edition of its article with the headline, “Black and Latino Homeowners are About Twice as Likely as Whites To Get Low Appraisals.” The problem? Freddie never called the appraisals “low.” While the Freddie Mac study finds no evidence of undervaluation, the NPR story about the study somehow does. Almost 30 years ago, Alan Sokal, now a professor of mathematics at University College London, perpetrated a memorable hoax. He submitted a pseudoscientific article to a cultural studies journal called Social Text. By design, his paper was strewn with nonsense. Titled “Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics...

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

Look in the Mirror 15

Look in the Mirror

The phrase “take a look in the mirror” is a common idiom used to encourage self-reflection and introspection. It is a powerful statement that can evoke a range of emotions and reactions from individuals, from contemplation to defensiveness. At its core, the phrase is a call to examine oneself honestly and objectively. It asks us to step back from our assumptions, biases, and preconceptions and consider our behavior, choices, and beliefs in a critical light. When we take a look in the mirror, we are forced to confront our flaws and shortcomings, but also to recognize our strengths and achievements....

AI / AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News

Under-Valuations Unrelated to Racial Bias 11

Under-Valuations Unrelated to Racial Bias

Under-valuations that more accurately reflect the homes’ “true” value as opposed to the contract price will also alert the buyer, not just the lender, that he or she may be over-paying, which often triggers a renegotiation… when the seller and buyer settle on a new price after the appraisal, the new lower price reduces credit risk, costs to the borrower, and ultimately results in greater wealth for the buyer. The AEI Housing Center recently released an analysis revealing that reports by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and by Brookings, attributing the greater prevalence of under-valuations in home purchase appraisals...

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

Bringing More People Into a Dying Profession! 84

Bringing More People Into a Dying Profession!

Some people want to bring more people (primarily of color, which is great) into a dying profession. But the profession is being killed off by (mostly white!) people who think technology is the golden spoon to accurate valuations.  Appraisers, I’ve been studying, and writing about since 2006, all kind of issues surrounding our profession, and frankly some currently does not make sense. As many know, ‘we’ have been accused of not having “enough black people” in appraiser ranks. The claim is that blacks only represent 3% or so of the total population of appraisers. The people engaged in blaming appraisers...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Technology / Appraisers News / Automated Valuation Models / AVM

HUD Dismisses Claims Alleging Racism Against Black & Minority People 72

HUD Dismisses Claims Alleging Racism

…white America (government) keeps trying to ‘fix’ Black People who are not broken in the first place! We’ve all heard of redlining. No one doubts it existed and MAY still exist, among private lenders. It’s hard to accept major national banking corps would risk it but it IS possible. Having said that, there is ZERO percentage or benefit for any appraiser to engage in it. None. Another appraiser in Los Angeles, who is a great researcher, posted addresses of the properties involved in half a dozen complaints alleging racism by appraisers and so-called ‘white washing’ of the houses producing subsequent...

AGA / Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / Federal Housing Administration

Being Liberal with Values Hurts the Homeowner 7

Being Liberal with Values Hurts Homeowners

Why can’t it just be accurate instead of “conservative” or “liberal?” Just be precise in the way you do your job… Some people might say a public forum isn’t the place to air this dirty laundry, but this is not really a public forum. Of my thousands of readers, very few of them are not in real estate appraisal. Right now, I’m talking to the bad apples. Maybe you’re in a situation where you want a lot of volume and want to be the go-to person for the local mortgage company or local bank, and you want to keep them...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisers News

Incenter Appraisal Management to Pay Appraisers Within One day 59

IAM AMC 24-Hour Fast Pay for Appraisers

Last week we received an email from an AMC PR company. The email stated that Incenter Appraisal Management (IAM) has implemented a new 24-hour fast pay model and is paying their appraisers within one day of completing the appraisal report. Has anyone heard of or done business with Incenter Appraisal Management? Do they pay C&R fees or do they blast orders to find fast and cheap appraisers? Do they have a scoring system, tech upload fees, background check fees, etc.? The email stated they do not bid or charge tech fees. Back in November, VaCAP published their email solicitation where...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Customary & Reasonable Fees

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