Tagged: lawsuit

Price-Fixing, Who's Shocked? CoesterVMS Wrap-Up, Free FNMA/Freddie 9

Price-Fixing, Who’s Shocked?

…criminal investigation into price-fixing… The State of Pennsylvania has filed a class action law suit against some of the biggest banks and financial institutions in the country. The claim is these companies conspired to fix the prices on almost $500 billion in bonds issued by Fannie and Freddie over a mere 5 year period from 2009-2014. The named defendants are: Bank of America – Barclays Capital – BNP Paribas – Citigroup – Credit Suisse – Deutsche Bank & Deutsche Bank Securities – First Tennessee Bank & FTN Financial Securities – Goldman Sachs – JP  Morgan Chase – Merrill Lynch –...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Coester VMS

Cyber Threats Are Real Risks to Appraisal Firms. Corelogic's Data Hacked 17

Cyber Attacks on Corelogic

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...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / CoreLogic Valuation Services

Ulterior Motive in Raising De Minimus 20

Ulterior Motive in Raising De Minimus

…raising de minimus shenanigans being promoted… Appraisers, a couple of weeks ago, I sent out a message about a Fee/TT quote conversation I had with an AMC clerk. I received a number of responses from appraisers across this fruited plain who said often they will receive Fee/TT quote requests for the SAME property from MULTIPLE AMC’s. That corroborates stories I hear from appraisers I talk with at conferences. The entire AMC situation is a giant time-wasting game that really doesn’t benefit the borrower at all, and least of all, appraisers. Lenders are the coaches in this game. Another message I received...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Trending

AMCs Property Inspectors Denied Minimum Wage - Class Action Cases 11

Class Action Against AMCs on the Horizon

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...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

Commercial Appraisers Against National Firm - Overtime Class Action 3

Appraiser Overtime Lawsuits Continue

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....

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / CoreLogic Valuation Services

Solidifi Agreement... All Indemnity Clauses Are Not Created Equal... 5

Indemnity Agreements

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...

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

Liability Risks of Hybrids to Appraisers and Others 12

Liability Risks of Hybrid Appraisals

“Hybrid Appraisals” – Speaking about the Liability Risks to Appraisers and Others at The Appraisal Foundation’s Joint Council Meeting “Hybrid appraisal” liability? I am looking forward to speaking about the subject at a joint meeting of The Appraisal Foundation’s two advisory councils — The Appraisal Foundation Advisory Council (composed of 60 non-profits and government agencies) and the Industry Advisory Council (composed of 35 business entities with interests in valuation). “Hybrid appraisals” (which provide a desktop value opinion from a licensed/certified appraiser relying on a physical inspection of the property by a third party) are being marketed by AMCs and technology companies...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

Trade Secrets Battles of AMCs & Lenders Relating to Valuation Technology 16

AMCs & Lenders Fighting…

…Battles over alleged misappropriation of trade secrets relating to residential valuation technology and services… AMCs and Lenders Fighting Over Next Generation Valuation Products and Technology The residential valuation business for mortgage lenders has been taking big steps lately toward wide scale replacement of the historical Uniform Residential Appraisal Report (URAR or 1004) form used in mortgage lending. As this movement happens, some would-be providers of replacement valuation products (such as “hybrid” appraisals) and automated valuation models (AVMs) are fighting over technology turf and trade secrets. There are currently three big legal battles over alleged misappropriation of trade secrets relating to...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / CoreLogic Valuation Services

Amrock aka TSI Appraisal Guilty of Fraud; Update on FTC vs. LREAB 23

TSI Fraud & FTC vs. LREAB

Amrock, Inc, formerly Title Source (TSI Appraisal) was ordered to pay House Canary $706 MILLION in damages for theft of intellectual property and fraud.  Bottom line, there was a 7 week trial with a 12 person jury. Amrock (Title Source) was found guilty of theft and fraud unanimously! Amrock (Title Source) plans on appealing the verdict. Housing Wire has an in-depth article with lots of details. See it here. Things to ponder on: Should Amrock’s amc license be revoked due to this guilty verdict? Should appraisers and the public trust a company guilty of fraud and theft? Could appraisers win a law...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News

Fraudulent Appraisals Class Action Lawsuit, LREAB Oral Argument... 7

Better Than Your Favorite Band’s Concert!

This will be better than your favorite band’s concert! Watch the oral arguments in the FTC vs LREAB case live in Washington DC on Thursday February 22, 2018! “The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or "Commission") will meet on Thursday, February 22, 2018, in Room 532 of the FTC Building for an Oral Argument In the Matter of Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board. The public is invited to attend and observe the open portion of the meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. The remainder of the meeting will be closed to the public ” VaCAP will be there...

Appraisal / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations / Appraisers News / LandSafe / Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board

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