The Appraisal Fee Lawsuit AMCs Can’t Outrun
The class action lawsuit filed against CrossCountry Mortgage and Class Valuation arrives at a moment when many in the appraisal profession have grown tired of watching Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs) drain the industry from the inside. Appraisers have described AMCs as unnecessary middlemen who inflate fees, hide their cuts, interfere with the work, and contribute nothing of substance. This case finally puts those practices into the record with a level of clarity that appraisers have been waiting for.
The complaint describes how borrowers are charged appraisal fees that often exceed one thousand dollars, yet the appraiser receives only a fraction of that amount. One line in the filing captures the problem directly: “Borrowers like Plaintiff pay appraisal fees that range from $450 to over $1,000… the AMCs pay the appraiser only a fraction of this fee, deceptively keeping the remainder for themselves.” The plaintiff paid seven hundred dollars for an appraisal, and according to the allegations, Class Valuation retained a significant portion of that fee while paying the appraiser far less. Borrowers were never told that most of the money was going to an AMC rather than the person who actually performed the appraisal.
The Appraisal Regulation Compliance Council (ARCC) findings released last year confirmed exactly how widespread this practice is. The fee breakdown chart that circulated across the appraisal community showed AMCs routinely keeping more than sixty percent of the borrower’s fee. Many of the entries in that chart were from Class Valuation, and appraisers recognized the pattern immediately. The appraiser’s portion was often the smallest slice, while the AMC’s portion was the largest. The chart made it impossible to ignore what appraisers had been saying for years. The borrower pays a premium, the AMC keeps the bulk of it, and the appraiser is left with whatever remains.
The lawsuit explains that borrowers are led to believe they are paying for an appraisal and nothing more. CrossCountry Mortgage told the plaintiff, “We may order an appraisal to determine the property’s value and charge you for this appraisal.” The filing states that this representation was false because the fee included an undisclosed management charge for Class Valuation. Borrowers are not informed of the AMC’s involvement until after the appraisal is completed, and even then they are not told how much of their money the AMC kept. By the time the closing disclosure appears, the borrower has already paid the fee and has no practical ability to choose another lender or negotiate anything.
The complaint also highlights the fundamental issue appraisers have raised for years. AMCs do not perform the appraisal. They do not inspect the property, research comparable sales, analyze the market, or write the report. The filing states, “It is the appraisers not AMCs or any of their employees who contact borrowers, schedule appraisals, conduct appraisals, and prepare appraisal reports.” The AMC’s role is limited to forwarding the report to the lender, yet it retains more than sixty percent of the fee in many cases. This aligns with the experiences appraisers have shared about Class Valuation’s fee retention, including situations where the AMC kept hundreds of dollars while the appraiser received a fraction of the borrower’s payment.
The suit argues that AMCs provide no benefit to borrowers and only a limited benefit to lenders. Their existence is tied to lender convenience rather than consumer protection. The complaint notes that lenders often create their own AMCs as subsidiaries because the profit margins are so high. Borrowers cannot shop for an AMC, cannot negotiate the fee, and cannot avoid the charge unless they buy the home in cash. The market forces that normally keep prices in check do not exist here, and AMCs take full advantage of that imbalance.
The legal claims include violations of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, unjust enrichment, and breach of contract. The FDUTPA claim focuses on the AMC’s concealment of its fees and its misrepresentation of the nature of the services provided. The unjust enrichment claim argues that Class Valuation accepted and retained money that bore no relationship to the value of its services. The breach of contract claim targets CrossCountry Mortgage for charging a fee that was not permitted under the loan agreement. The plaintiff seeks damages equal to the portion of the fee retained above the actual cost of the appraisal, along with injunctive relief to stop these practices.
This case resonates strongly with appraisers because it validates what they have been saying for more than a decade. AMCs have inserted themselves into the appraisal process without adding value, and they have done so while siphoning off large portions of the fees. Borrowers are misled, appraisers are underpaid, and the industry suffers from a system that rewards the middleman at the expense of everyone else. Class Valuation has been at the center of many of these complaints, from fee skimming to inexperienced staff making demands on seasoned appraisers to automated review systems that generate unnecessary revision requests. The lawsuit places these issues into the public record in a way that is difficult to ignore.
If the plaintiffs succeed, the outcome could force lenders to disclose AMC fees separately, reduce fee skimming, and restore transparency to appraisal billing. It may also encourage similar suits in other states and prompt regulators to revisit AMC rules. For appraisers who have watched AMCs erode the profession, this case represents a long overdue challenge to a system that has operated without accountability for far too long. Many appraisers will see this lawsuit as the first meaningful step toward exposing the practices that have damaged the profession and burdened borrowers, and they will be watching closely as the case moves forward.
- Property Valuation and the Future of Data Collection - July 29, 2026
- The Appraisal Fee Lawsuit AMCs Can’t Outrun - July 24, 2026
- The Board Has Spoken, and AMCs Should Pay Attention - July 6, 2026
The high costs of cheap appraisals.
https://appraisersblogs.com/systemic-failures-in-fha-appraisal-n-loan-review/
Ohh, and one MUST NOT forget that these AMC’s are also hiring STAFF APPRAISERS to do appriasals now and keeping ALL of the borrowers fee. They have circumvented laws that were not crafted stiff enough to take advantage of loopholes that allow them to hire so called “staff appraisers” up to a certain amount in each state in order to suck of all the fee the borrowers pay. Its high time for an overhaul of the AMC system or complete elimination of the whole SCAM! AMC’s were not created to work in the capacity that they are operating in.
Separation from loan production rule is a dismal failure.
Borrowers should be able to source or have a say in their own appraiser choice.
Mortgage brokers should be allowed to speak with appraisers directly again and follow one simple rule of not pressuring appraisers for value.
Appraisers should be able to market themselves to companies whom prioritize quality rather than amc’s whom prioritize speed and low fee.
Lenders should be required to maintain a panel of appraisers, and use them in a fairly balanced rotational assignment pattern as was the industry standard before amc’s gained market dominance.
I’ll be writing an article for the blogs which details how the previous rational and process worked for determining a stable fee for any given lender in any given locale. The point of asking appraisers what their fees were was not to make appraisers race to the bottom and get put out of business unless they were the lowest fee. The point of fee surveys was to identify a reasonable fee range that the majority of appraisers were willing to accept. Amc’s cheat the system by funneling proprietary work to the lowest fee appraisers. They drive consumers fees up, drive appraisers fees down, then pocket the difference.
Asking appraisers what their fees were during an annual review of fees was never before used as a master list to select the bottom dollar appraisers whom cut the most corners then feed them the lions share of work. Amc appraisers are paying constant gratuity fees and are incentivized with unreasonable work volume which drives quality down, promotes outsourcing, and has basically ruined half the industry, drove fifty thousand independent small business appraisers under.
Fee bidding is the bane of the industry. Fee bidding should only be utilized for difficult to place orders that every available appraiser on an approval panel has rejected at the straight forward C&R flat rate fee with direct assignment protocols. Fee bidding and prioritizing the lowest fee assignment is a violation of regulatory guidelines on acceptable appraiser engagement.
Missing the IVPI Proposal yet?
https://www.workingre.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/IVPI-Proposalfinal.pdf
Borrowers should not be able to hire their “brother in law”, or friend, to appraise their property. An objective third party appraiser is necessary.
Too much to hope for
Hey Lawyers!!! $12Billion in reparations out there since 2012… just sayin 👊😇
In NYC it’s already a law. I see amcs charging 200-700 over the appraisers fee. It’s on the invoice and it does nothing.
Richard Hahn It should be a law everywhere. There is no reason AMC’s should be allowed to keep their fees hidden from the consumer and appraisers. It should be cost plus if banks insist on using AMC’s they should pay them separately and not out of the appraiser’s fee.
Richard Hahn and are you sending the excessive AMC fees to ARCC and the state? Same with lowball appraiser fees.
Donna Halfpenny is arcc or any of the states doing anything to the appraisal management companies that charge the excessive fees
Chris Jackson they are working on it. If they do not have the data, they cannot do anything-see the problem? Problem that most appraiser are NOT filing state complaints, and ARCC can only do so much without all of the data. Did you see that ARCC is quoted in all of the AMC lawsuits? So yes, they are helping.
Donna Halfpenny Good. I have always thought it was shady that the AMCs tell us not to discuss fees with anyone. I think we should know the total fee the borrower was charged. Because they likely think that we get $800 to do the appraisal when we don’t get anywhere near that.
Donna Halfpenny this is the problem … ARCC doesn’t represent Appraisers and they have no teeth. Collective Bargaining defines everything for an appraiser, everyone stays on the agreement and appraisers don’t worry about AMC fees because the bank and borrower have to pay them. Please push for the organization of Appraisers. They deserve to be in control of their own future!
David Riedel, as an academic research our job isn’t to advocate. It’s to gather data and inform which is why three lawsuits now exist. There is another project in process though that will be able to advocate, DM for more info.
David Riedel clearly you have no idea what ARCC is or does. Josh explained. Organize appraisers? Herding squirrels on crack is easier. The mere fact that others are recognizing and are utilizing their work and data is important in in turn does help the profession. Their work is helping to support these lawsuits. So your claim of “no teeth” is void.
Time for Appraisers to get serious about their profession. The unions protect the janitors because they are vulnerable … appraisers have NO REPRESENTATION. I have encouraged unionization for more than a decade … now you get what the AMC gives you for the only paid work contributing to the transaction and still have to answer to the secondary market’s 12-page report. Unionize or continue being compromised! They say to live better, live union! Anything is better than letting Realtors, Lenders, Regulators, and AMC’s dictate your life! Who knows, maybe they give you good health insurance and a pension! It would be long overdue!
David Riedel, there is another way which is better. Cooperative
Josh Tucker Appraiser NEED to organize … either way needs to happen in 2027 or it will go from being under NAR’s finger to be back in the fist of finance/AMC’s.
Collective Bargaining would probably push the AMC to the bank, open up AMC’s to ONE Approval process for licensed, certified, and general appraisers and open bidding process – no more “you take the Pennie’s from the fee we established”. Somebody has to stand up for appraisers …
David Riedel, such a thing is being worked on
Mr Tucker, In the early days of HVCC there was an emerging appraiser co op. I still have the files. The NVS Co Op. Was appraiser ran and marketed itself as a non profit business. Started out on one of those alamode instant appraiser make yourself websites. I forget exactly what happened but they went to the dark side or were bought out in short order. This was not the business model the lenders expected out of hvcc, was too empowering to appraisers. 2009. I’m not sure I ever actually worked with them, I bailed when they dropped the non profit which happened rather swiftly. I would seriously doubt this amc is now any different from the rest. They dropped the coop from their branding and web address, that’s all anyone needs to know.
This is what we could have had and the industry was lining up for in the brief period of time where the HVCC had promised the near future establishment of the IVPI. Instead we get never ending exploitation and roiled housing markets nationwide. Forever.
Remember why HVCC was abandoned in favor of DF AIR. The HVCC required lenders and amc’s to inform appraisers why they were taken off of rotational assignment, as fair rotational assignment used to be the industry standard. It had a blacklisting prevention clause. Activity that is now common place. Blacklisting is automated built into the systems now. They call it performance grading and tiered ranking. This is the most glaringly absent part of the replacement regulation, it did not have a blacklisting prevention clause of informing an appraiser in writing via bonafied provable documented reason why a lender stopped using their services.
Additionally the HVCC required the formation of the IVPI Independent Valuation Protection Institute. Basically forcing the VA model on the other GSE’s to prevent predatory lending activity in the future. Everything this industry has always needed for correction and growth has been right there, waiting for someone to blow the dust off and actually take the proposals seriously again. Instead this industry has become blinded by greed and hardly anyone cares about consumer protection anymore. As a consumer, I can tell you I don’t trust appraisers either. Rightfully so I know all about the inner workings of this now corrupted industry.
https://web.archive.org/web/20121005091223/http://www.nvs.coop/
https://web.archive.org/web/20090000000000*/http://www.nvs.coop/
https://web.archive.org/web/20090620113122/http://nvs.coop/
https://web.archive.org/web/20091124030540/http://www.nvs.coop/apprregistration.asp
The Appraiser Cooperative is comprised of thousands of fully vetted Independent Appraisers and Business Owners who provide the full range of third-party, unbiased traditional collateral valuation products and consulting services for Clients. Our fair compensation for Appraisers bring a high level of integrity and reliability to the lending Industry.
The Appraiser Co-operative is an uncommon phenomenon – not an orthodox AMC. We are a not for profit business structure; organizational member of the NCBA (National Cooperative Business Association) in Washington, DC. and chartered under established Cooperative business model principles.
(Not anymore.)
David Riedel appraisers are not, in any way, under NAR’s finger.
Correct. The issue is the lack of free market choice. If consumers could only hire appraisers directly they could choose the discount appraiser to save a dollar, or they could pay as much as lenders paid, for a higher quality appraiser than the lender can source through an amc. This is why fifty thousand independent appraiser businesses went under; restriction of trade practice. Separation from loan production rule is a tried and tested market failure of epic proportions.
It’s about time. AMC’s have been stealing from borrowers and appraisers for far too long.
That’s all I have to say about this.
I had an amc offer an appraisal pay of $500 for me to travel 126 miles on way and they wanted to charge $150 for me accepting. No thanks
Lara Baker did you send the info to ARCC and your state?
Donna Halfpenny naw I just declined and kept moving I did give a little laugh
AMC’s put me out of business after 25 years.
I’ve never accepted work from AMC’s. Never have, never will. I don’t understand why others do. Deeply flawed business model, in essence letting the tail wag the dog. Woof!!
In part, you have appraisers who long ago decided to join with AMC’s and fight against the profession from the inside. Hell, for only a few thousand dollars (payable to them) these people would make you an all-star and give you insight on how to form your business around working with the enemy. Not sure if he’s still selling VHS tapes on how to appraise, snake oil on the corner, or focusing on rental properties, but does Smustin Smarris ring a bell.
For those interested in the CA case see below for the link and enter CV-24-008809 in the case number search. To read the filings, click on Events and double click on a document.
https://stanportal.stanct.org/search
Seek the truth.
Correct. Half the top members of the appraisal trade groups have ownership or some notable investment in amc’s and their now well oiled proprietary technology. How about an appraisal certified bpo? Or an appraiser certified AI product output. They’re all shilling for the amc’s and the forsaken tech that followed them. Appraisers have no representation because our representatives are the ones whom sold us out.
Consumer protection, as usual, is a long forgotten side note. ‘Appraisal modernization’. In this industry you pay to play and play ball or you ride the bench. Amc performance grading is the cover for ready blacklisting that is now built into every assignment platform out there. If you call the platform and ask for appraiser friendly features like a simple will work for amc’s y/no option, or something like a transparent indicator to show borrowers fee, or something to show how many other appraisers a bid was sent to, they stone wall you and as even happened to me, changed my email to a dead email and successfully hid that for years, I never got an order from their platform ever again. The amc’s bought the appraisal assignment platforms and own them now. They bought every related appraisal company possible and the amc’s own them now.
An amc representative sits on the appraisal board in every state in this country. The amc rep runs protective cover to make sure penalties never flow to amc’s and always flow to the amc appraiser. This notion that if only appraisers would complain to the state boards, someone could finally do something. Total fiction. The state appraisal boards do not have jurisdictional authority to provide oversight of corporate scale agents of lenders, which is what amc companies have become. The boards only have ability to review ‘appraisals’, which is why amc’s for a very long time now have specialized in redirecting all possible work to non appraisers. All those pir’s, drive by’s, construction completion certs, the easy work, that all flows to realty agents now via amc’s, and the state appraisal board is powerless to provide oversight even if they wanted to. You know what never happens? the state appraisal board dragging in the licensed mortgage lenders and forwarding complaints to those other state board departments instead. The entire thing is industry cover for predatory lending and their predatory amc agents. That’s the way things are now. Drew up a meme to illustrate this concept some time ago.
Simple solution is have the homeowner/borrower pay the appraiser directly like it use to be!!!!
I have never done work for any AMC and never will. I will also never join a union. Not a fan. As long as you accept this work from AMCs, they will keep doing what they do. Don’t take it, don’t do it… If nobody accepts it, where will that leave the AMCs? In the trash heap of history. Wake up people.
If AMC’s are found guilty and forced to pay restitution, they will be bankrupt overnight. One by one AMC’s will cave. I’ve also been told that not dislosing their fees in settlement statements can be a $10,000 fine per incident/closing. That’s a lot of doll hairs.
Why This AMC Lawsuit Matters
This lawsuit against CrossCountry Mortgage and Class Valuation puts a long-standing appraisal-industry problem into the public record: Borrowers may pay $700 to more than $1,000 for an “appraisal fee,” while the appraiser performing the inspection, analysis, and report receives only a fraction of it. The borrower is rarely told how much the AMC keeps.
That is the heart of this case. If the borrower is paying for both an appraisal and appraisal-management services, the two charges should be disclosed separately. Calling the entire amount an appraisal fee gives borrowers the impression that the money is going to the appraiser.
AMCs perform certain administrative functions, but they do not inspect the property, select and analyze comparable sales, develop the value opinion, sign the report, or accept the appraiser’s professional liability. When an AMC retains the largest portion of the fee, borrowers deserve to know it.
This is especially relevant today as appraisers prepare for UAD 3.6, invest in new software and training, collect more property data, and face greater reporting demands. Appraisers are being required to do more while many AMCs continue searching for the lowest fee and fastest turnaround time.
The lawsuit is still in its early stages, and its allegations have not been proven. However, it could finally force lenders and AMCs to disclose how the borrower’s appraisal payment is divided.
The solution is simple: Show the appraiser’s professional fee and the AMC’s management fee as two separate charges. Appraisers deserve reasonable compensation, and borrowers deserve to know where their money is going.
Although I was told to not disclose my fees, I did anyway after a couple of years of not doing so. So many borrowers were so angry having to pay that $700 to $1,000 appraisal fee and typically took it out on me. So, I finally said F’ it and started telling the borrowers that I typically only got 1/3 to 1/2 of what they paid. Borrowers thought I was getting rich, some mouthing off that I must have been making $2,000 a day. Appraisers brought some of this on themselves, always bragging about how many appraisals they did a day to the lenders, AMC’s, brokers, borrowers, etc. People, DON’T EVER tell other people how much money you make or how many appraisals you do a day, especially those involved in the transaction. You’re lying anyway.
This Lawsuit Could Finally Force Transparency on AMC Fees
The article about the proposed class action against CrossCountry Mortgage and Class Valuation should get the attention of every residential appraiser in the country.
For years, appraisers have watched borrowers pay $700, $800, or even more for an “appraisal fee,” only to learn that the appraiser who performed the inspection, researched the market, selected and analyzed the comparable sales, wrote the report, and accepted the liability received only a fraction of that amount.
The rest was retained by the Appraisal Management Company.
That is the real importance of this lawsuit. It takes an issue appraisers have complained about for years and presents it as a consumer-transparency problem.
Borrowers Deserve to Know Where Their Money Goes
Most borrowers reasonably believe the appraisal fee shown on their loan documents is being paid to the appraiser. They are rarely told how much the appraiser actually receives or how much the AMC retains.
The plaintiff in this case reportedly paid $700. The lawsuit alleges that Class Valuation kept a significant portion of that payment while paying the appraiser substantially less. The borrower was not told in advance how the money would be divided.
If the borrower is paying for both an appraisal and appraisal-management services, those charges should be disclosed separately.
There is nothing complicated about that. The borrower should see:
The fee paid to the appraiser.
The fee paid to the AMC.
Bundling both charges under the label “appraisal fee” prevents the borrower from understanding what is actually being purchased. It also hides the financial relationship between the lender, the AMC, and the appraiser.
The Person Doing the Work Often Receives the Smallest Share
The appraiser performs the professional valuation assignment. The appraiser inspects the property, verifies the data, analyzes the market, develops the value opinion, signs the certification, and remains responsible for the report.
The AMC does perform administrative and compliance functions, but that does not justify keeping an unlimited or undisclosed percentage of the borrower’s payment.
Research submitted by the Appraisal Regulation Compliance Council to the CFPB included examples in which AMCs allegedly retained more than 60% of the total fee. Those examples were not a formal CFPB finding covering every AMC, but they showed why this issue deserves investigation.
When the middleman receives more than the licensed professional doing the work, something is wrong—especially when the borrower is never shown the fee breakdown.
The Timing Could Not Be More Important
This case arrives while appraisers are being required to adapt to UAD 3.6 and the redesigned appraisal-reporting system.
Appraisers must invest in new software, training, expanded data collection, revised inspection procedures, and more detailed reporting. They must also satisfy automated review systems and respond to increasing numbers of revision requests.
Meanwhile, many AMCs continue broadcasting assignments to multiple appraisers and awarding the work based largely on the lowest fee and fastest turnaround time.
That system does not reward experience, competency, or geographic knowledge. It rewards whoever is willing to accept the least money and complete the assignment the fastest.
This is not good for the appraisal profession, but it is also not good for borrowers or lenders. A credible appraisal should be completed by the most qualified appraiser—not simply the cheapest available appraiser.
What This Lawsuit Could Accomplish
This lawsuit will not automatically eliminate AMCs or guarantee higher appraiser fees. It is also still at an early stage, and none of its allegations has been proven.
However, it could force lenders and AMCs to disclose their fees separately. That alone would be a major improvement.
Once borrowers can see that the appraiser received only part of the amount listed as the appraisal fee, they may begin asking why the AMC retained the rest. Lenders may then have to negotiate AMC charges instead of simply passing them on to borrowers.
Transparency would also make it harder for an AMC to increase its earnings by reducing the amount paid to the appraiser while leaving the borrower’s fee unchanged.
The Bottom Line
Appraisers have been warning about AMC fee practices for more than a decade. Until now, those warnings have largely been treated as complaints from appraisers who simply wanted to be paid more.
This lawsuit changes the argument.
The issue is no longer just what the appraiser was paid. The issue is whether the borrower was misled about where the appraisal fee went.
AMCs are entitled to be paid for legitimate services. Appraisers are entitled to customary and reasonable compensation for their professional work. Most importantly, borrowers are entitled to know how their money is being divided.
If the industry has nothing to hide, there should be no objection to separately disclosing the appraiser’s fee and the AMC’s fee.
That simple change would bring long-overdue accountability to a system that has operated in the dark for far too long.
And let us not forget barney frank and another dumb ass came up with the law to PROTECT borrowers from high fee’s etc, So that the lender did not deal directly with the appraiser, again, to protect the borrower. Of course, those of us in the appraisal business saw immediately that if they put another layer in, somebody else had to get paid for their part. So, of course, as usual guvco interference immediately caused a problem for all involved along with a higher price for “appraisal fee’s.”Guvcco “fixed it” by causing prices to go higher and the appraisal process took longer. Yep, guvco at its best.
Half that fee should be going to the appraiser and they other half back to the borrower. They’ve been stealing our fees all these years. Borrowers have been paying more and we could have a wage increase on par with cost of living and inflation …. But the AMC has stolen that… and charged a tech fee to use their platform.
Sure, but let’s also be honest about the other side of the coin.
Appraisers whom continued to work with amc’s and capture the lions share of work orders are complicit in the entire thing.
They like the situation because the amc functions to keep the competition out. There is no free market for appraisers in mortgage lending any more. There is only those whom pay to play (the low fee bribe knowing full well they are preferred above others because they increase the amc’s profits).
Code of silence; Borrowers will not be informed of what the appraisers fee was.
Now we have unlicensed inspection runners, overseas typing service, all manner of corner cutting and discount. FNMA even turned off the most vital capabilities of the FNMA CU Collateral Underwriter system to detect patterns in appraisals and faulty work, because they knew if they left those on the secret would come out that a disproportionately small amount of appraisers were completing unreasonably high appraisal volume which put all the other independent small business appraisers out of work. Fifty thousand gone and counting.
Appraisers whom assisted in defrauding the borrowers which led to these class action lawsuits should all be stripped of their licenses and included in the lawsuit as having benefited from the fraud. It’s like for real amc mafia these days. They have enough power to fire a CEO from an appraisal trade group during literal documented midnight closed door meetings. Everyone whom posts critical of amc’s on this site and several others gets blacklisted eventually. Appraisal modernization.
When do the lenders whom were supposed to provide oversight for the amc’s ever get in trouble? The amc’s are legally defined as the lenders representative agent. Meaning any action the amc took, is attributable to the lender, as if the lender was standing in the room committing the same action themselves. That’s what agency means legally. Not a single mortgage person ever gets in trouble anymore because not only is the checks and balances system stripped away by the amc model, there is no longer two way accountability between an individual licensed mortgage broker and an individual licensed appraiser.
First it was to reduce valuation pressure. Instill an amc industry that scaled up blacklisting to unimaginable levels and automated that with assignment platforms. Then it was to reduce valuation bias which encoded the AVM final rule into federal regulation and allowed lenders to rubber stamp as many valuation figures they needed where they needed when they needed via black box avm utility that can not be audited and has no oversight. In turn to this day promotes bifurcated markets and encourages even more predatory agency, data cancer everywhere. It never ends in this god forsaken dishonest industry. Consumers as usual, are the most harmed.
Refunds to borrowers? What about refunds to appraisers? It was our fee they took
Tammy Whaley no it wasn’t..
Tammy Whaley it should have been our fee, however, Appraisers who accept the garbage fees, get what they deserve.
Tammy Whaley lol nope. You took their low fee of your own free will.
No. If appraisers worked with an amc they participated in the fraud. The amc appraisers look the other way knowing full well how unethical the companies were behaving. They purposefully or unwittingly held to an illusionary standard of silence on such a basic matter as what should always be a transparent fee. Client confidentiality regarding federally regulated transparent fee disclosure in mortgage lending does not apply in a little three way circle between an appraiser, a lender, and the borrowers. Yet it somehow mysteriously becomes important to conceal the fees from the borrower, when the fourth party amc junk rakes 12 billion dollars or more in consumers fee. Anyone buying this is due to confidentiality rules should be committed.
Amc appraisers continue to participate in the fraud and brag about their record setting income. They have recently created new companies with new tech that automates the process even further. Now there are tech startups servicing amc appraisers whom are pirating other tech startups whom service amc appraisers, and they are battling each other in court. We’ve got tech startups like true tract operating as an amc, functioning as an amc, distributing orders like an amc, and they’re not even bothering to register as amc’s. Meanwhile the amc’s send more work to non appraisers then they do appraisers, and seek to automate even more at every turn. Appraisal management companies specializes in enticing fraud and putting honest independent small businesses appraisers out of work. They like to make the rounds with the big publications and make suggestive statements like; rethink independence, consider a franchise business model instead. The entire industry went south as the only people left in the amc world were those whom did not understand basic legal and ethical principals, or simply purposefully overlooked them in order to rake more for themselves. Consumer protection regarding valuation service no longer resists in the real world, the last line of protection is the peoples personal real estate agent. Appraisers whom kill deals get blacklisted and everyone knows it’s true.
Appraisers are tasked with being ethical specialists. The only impartial party to the transaction. What does it say about an appraisers ethic for them to accuse their own clients they purposefully work with of stealing, and continue to work with them? People should go to prison, this is racketeering, corruption, restriction of trade, bribery, concealment, interstate wire fraud, the list goes on. No attention to consumer protection just keep taking amc orders and letting them get ripped off. Appraisers got to eat right? When is enough enough?
This argument about saving the building comes a day late after the building already burned down. Next up; The one hour fully automated AI appraisal. Tech companies are currently making rounds selling this to the local appraisal groups right now.
Seriously, how many people even bothered to read the IVPI proposal? Could have saved this entire thing.
https://www.workingre.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/IVPI-Proposalfinal.pdf
Owners of AMC’s living in mansions and we fight over the scraps ! Pathetic!!! Hope something happens asap
Just wait until they utilize all these new “pathways” to licensure along with the “modernization”. Their long game through REVAA is taking shape. Low wage staff “appraisers” to rubber stamp glorified AVMs on forms. Instead of “managing” and assigning appraisals to third parties, they will just hoard in house and pay employees $22/hr. Once they capture the lending arena, they’ll market to CPAs, attorneys, etc.
Eventually there will be a handful of extremely wealthy CEOs and a bunch of low wage “appraisers”.
Pretty sure most of that is already happening Mike. Appraiser certified bpo’s. Automated AI assisted evals and alternative valuation products. Agents have been getting pdc requests for years. You are correct, the now ever expanding alternative path ways to licensing will bring the low wage low skill workers flooding in. Have you ever done something like handled paperwork for a lender or processed billing for a house payment? Great! You’re an appraiser now. Entire departments within companies will immediately morph their work staff into licensed appraisers. They’re ready to do so which is why the call was made to the AQB and the new pathways proposal is being finalized. They do as they are told.
Rather than be honest about the industry, that it is the market conditions and restriction of trade imposed by amc’s that makes it impossible to train, the corrupt trade group representatives of the appraisal industry would rather keep their market share to themselves. They own those amc’s, and technology companies that built up around them, of course they will change rules to assist their own companies. The conflicts of interest in this industry are literally never ending.
You don’t get that in commercial as much, which is why certified general licensees continue to expand organically. While the attrition of residential licensees is only accelerating here soon. FNMA wants the brain drain, they bring the new 3.6 simultaneously with these expanded pathways and the AVM final rule, the FNMA whole lending direct to investors note sales. None of this is a coincidence, it’s a hostile take over of lending which puts consumer protection dead last in every consideration metric.
Debt traps for everyone, no independent protections left. See the big picture, all the pieces are long since in place and set in motion. At this point there may be no way to stop this, except perhaps winding down the GSE’s and letting a free market picture, legitimate consumer choice, open transparent negotiations return. Lenders would probably not be so risky, if they lent their own money. Thank goodness the taxpayer backs all this up. Enjoy the show. Predatory lending went next level.
We told everyone simply escaping mortgage lending was not a long term solution. Now this tech is coming for all of that work too. Going to be in competition with amc level workers before you know it.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/Nn5JJh4Mw2fq/
The beginning of the end already happened lol. Dying profession.
Two decades later, some lawyers actually did something about the out in the open fraud the entire industry of over a hundred thousand people knew about. If you count the licensed mortgage bankers and amc people, this out in the open secret reached a quarter million people or more. And nobody did anything about it. Even the lawyers are just fishing for a paycheck. If consumer protections mattered to anyone, there was ample time and people available willing to help whom could have prevented all of this.
(sneaks in last reference to IVPI proposal.) Too late to stop anything now.
cod…bye bye amc
For more than 20 years, I worked to build a professional appraisal practice and a reputation based on quality, integrity, and service.
Like many appraisers, I entered the profession because I believed independent valuation plays an essential role in protecting lenders, borrowers, and the public. I invested years developing relationships, refining my skills, and building a pipeline of business that allowed me to support myself and my family.
Due to an acquisition, I worked a Staff Appraiser position with Class Valuation. I believed it would provide stability and an opportunity to continue doing the work I loved. Over time, however, I became increasingly concerned about the realities of the position, including workload demands, compensation practices, the lack of transparency surrounding appraisal fees, and the pipeline of business I established over 20 years ago was used under a Class Valuation profile, leaving me financially and professionally affected long after my employment ended.
The work involved much more than inspecting properties. A typical week included scheduling appointments, conducting inspections, traveling to properties, researching market data, analyzing comparable sales, writing reports, responding to revision requests, handling administrative responsibilities, and meeting production expectations. The job often required significantly more than a traditional 40-hour workweek.
As I reviewed my compensation and compared it with the work being performed, I began asking questions. I wanted to understand how appraisal fees were being allocated and how appraiser compensation was being calculated. I became concerned that the information available to appraisers did not provide a complete picture of how fees paid by clients related to the compensation ultimately received by the appraiser performing the work.
Those concerns eventually led me to research industry practices more closely. What I discovered raised additional questions not only about my own situation, but about broader issues affecting appraisers throughout the profession.
Over time, I watched many experienced appraisers leave the industry. Others struggled to remain profitable despite working long hours and producing high volumes of work. Meanwhile, borrowers were often paying increasingly higher appraisal-related fees.
After years of frustration, investigation, documentation, and attempts to better understand the compensation and fee structures affecting my work. Ultimately, I concluded that formal legal and regulatory processes are the only avenues available to obtain transparency and accountability.
This is about more than one appraiser or one company.
I believe appraisers deserve fair compensation, transparency, and respect for the professional services they provide. Borrowers deserve to understand the fees they are paying. And the industry benefits when all participants operate under clear and transparent standards.
Regardless of how any lawsuit is ultimately resolved, I hope these discussions encourage meaningful examination of the systems that affect appraisers nationwide. The profession depends on qualified appraisers who can earn a sustainable living while maintaining independence and professional judgment.
For me, speaking out is not about looking backward. It is about helping ensure a stronger and more transparent future for the appraisal profession.
Thanks for posting this. I had a family member also an appraiser whom worked for class briefly. The difference between independent and employee was so extreme, they burned out after only a few months and never did appraisals again. That was before hybrids.
Let’s check in on the help wanted and general review pages.
https://www.simplyhired.com/browse-jobs/companies/Fannin-Central-Appraisal-District-1
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Class-Valuation-Reviews-E721418.htm
https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Class-Valuation
https://www.classvaluation.com/property-data-collector-careers/#search-jobs
https://www.classvaluation.com/careers/
39 staff appraiser positions across 22 states.
“Embrace the suck” Who writes that for an open job position?
‘Inspection based waivers’.
Complete with contradictory information.
https://www.classvaluation.com/inspection-based-waivers/
“Don’t risk further price negotiations”. Then on the same page; Reduces the opportunity for bias, prompting fair and impartial property valuations / Voila! Price becomes value, without actual full valuation service. Borrowers get railroaded into immediately upside down positions in their mortgage loans.
‘A property data advantage report is issued and lender is notified after gse approval’. I’m having a hard time telling the difference between an amc and a lender these days. They are functioning as a lender and submitting directly to gse’s on behalf of lenders. FNMA just gave them full CU access.
https://www.classvaluation.com/property-data-advantage/
It’s a loop de loop, a bamboozle, a fraud. A valuation compliance mechanism that bypasses any real value analysis. Just like an appraisal, but without the appraiser or state licensing.
The property data collectors are arguably operating as home inspectors without licenses. They’re being asked to be experts in habitability, home use, utility infrastructure, repair needs, construction methodology, etc.
Take a look at the property data advantage sample report. Read the certifications. They’re calling required home repairs. It’s a regulatory work around, an institutional level fraud on consumers of mortgage loan services.
You can see the results of this in MLS data, bifurcated markets and illogical pass throughs at peak pricing during periods of over supply and downward price adjustment. People are being put into immediately upside down loans with these products in real time right now.
The Class Valuation Property Data Advantage sample report.
https://44606422.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/44606422/Website%20Files/Property_Data_Advantage_Sample.pdf
______________________________
Join Class Valuation as a Staff Appraiser – Transform the Industry with Us!
Seeking Certified Residential Appraisers in Texas!
State; Primary area(s) of coverage; County(s): TX; Houston; Harris County
Are you a certified appraiser looking for more than 17+ orders per month? Class Valuation, one of the largest nationwide Appraisal Management Companies (AMC), has an exclusive opportunity for you to become a W2 team member (employee)! /
At Class Valuation, we are dedicated to creating efficient, transparent processes and pushing towards one-day appraisals. We leverage real relationships and real-time data to power credible loans, delivering consistent and accurate values our clients can trust.
Responsibilities:
Complete market value residential property appraisals (traditional, hybrid, desktops).
/
*Comprehensive benefits are available to our full-time staff appraisers, defined as those completing an average of 17 or more orders per month. (So you lose benefits as an actual employee if you don’t get enough work?)
Our Core Values: / Roll Up Your Sleeves
No Job Is Beneath Anyone / Do What Is Necessary / Winners Work
Passion To Win
Never Settle / Every Detail Matters / Embrace The Suck
Care And Respect For Family
Support, Serve And Trust / Golden Rule / Work Family/Home Family Balance
______________________________________________
Let’s check out the executive role job requirements. (copied below)
Brilliant! They grab onto lenders land harass them if the volume drops. They’re lender management too!
“Success means more than just hitting the numbers.” This is what appraisal management has evolved into due to a dysfunctional regulatory system. They hit the numbers. Nowhere in any of these job requirements is consumer protection principals or safe lending engagement for consumers mentioned.
https://www.classvaluation.com/careers/
_____________________________
We are seeking an experienced Account Executive to join our growing Sales team. Reporting directly to Sales leadership, the Account Executive will play a critical role in driving growth by focusing on areas where strong opportunities for expansion exist.
This role requires proactive outreach, relationship building, and a solutions-oriented mindset to re-engage clients and unlock new business. At Class Valuation, success means more than just hitting numbers—it’s about living our core values: /
This position will directly impact our mission to deliver valuation solutions while helping shape the future of our client partnerships.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Essential Tasks:
• Conduct daily outbound calls (OBCs) to assigned branches within strategic accounts.
• Re-engage branches that have shown a decline in order volume.
• Introduce Class Valuation products, services, and initiatives aligned to client needs.
• Partner with Sales Executives and Account Managers to hand off qualified opportunities.
• Maintain accurate activity tracking and branch-level notes within HubSpot/CRM.
• Provide feedback on trends, objections, and competitive intelligence gathered from outreach.
• Contribute to branch-level sales campaigns in coordination with Marketing.
• Achieve weekly/monthly outreach and engagement metrics (e.g., number of calls, connections, qualified branch opportunities).
• Other duties as assigned.
• Regular attendance is a requirement.
Qualifications & Skills: /
I’ve often thought about doing an AMA about my short tenure at class as a staff appraiser. Like the poster above, it took me about two months to figure out what was going on. It took me about another four to prove it and after asking many questions and gathering as much evidence as I could, I left.
I’ll say this much: Class Valuation has found out a way to steal from their Staff appraisers as well as the borrowers.
And I know a lot of people here say that those who are on the staff program there are bad people and ruining the profession. I met some really good people there after I quit who I’m still in touch with and they’re just trying to make a living. I can’t say that I blame them. However, the entire executive committee who are former Appraisers can all rot in hell for all I care. They are all Judas’ and have sold out their profession for their silver. I hope karma takes a big bite out of their….
ATL Appraiser:
Your experience closely relates to information I am currently reviewing concerning Class Valuation, staff-appraiser workloads, compensation practices, and the allocation of appraisal fees.
I have information that may be directly relevant to the concerns you described, but I do not want to discuss it publicly. Please contact me privately at **[kjmull@aol.com](mailto:kjmull@aol.com)**, include your telephone number and a convenient time, and I will call you.
I would like to hear more about your experience and compare the facts and dates. Please do not post confidential employment, client, or appraisal information on this blog.
Kenneth J. Mullinix
Certified Residential Appraiser
Working RE Magazine Contributor
If administrative services that were historically part of the lender’s cost of making a loan are now being charged to the borrower, can those costs legally be bundled into a line item labeled only ‘Appraisal Fee’ without separately identifying the appraisal management component?
2 of my direct lenders have recently started using an AMC they begged me to try to work with them.. lender was paying $550 for an order AMC pays $400..
After 6mos lender called me to say their living a nightmare now …theyre costs have actually gone up and eventhough the appraisals are being done in a couple days, everything is delayed longer times, every question AMC has to go back to lender and takes a few days..nobody knows what is an AMC realtors buyers sellers and borrowers and the consumers costs are higher then before..
Kenneth Mullinix
July 28, 2026 at 4:50 pm
ATL Appraiser:- call me at 949-697-1717
In Nevada AMC’s are required to disclose their fee to the appraiser. The appraiser is required to show both fees in the appraisal. While I no longer do AMC work, when I did it was amazing how many would resist that. I held up one assignment for 2 weeks waiting for the fee disclosure, to their great displeasure. AMCs are not worth the effort. I had one call me (I live in a rural area with limited appraisers) for a bid and when I refuse she went ballistic, threatened and yelled. Most fun I had in a while.
Previously I was approved down the entire TAVMA list (the first amc trade group). This sort of attitude runs through nearly the entire amc industry, pressuring appraisers on behalf of their lender clients. Lenders whom use amc’s could not be happier with the situation. They offload the appraisal side management cost to the appraisers while gaining the amc as an advocate.
Completely eliminates two way accountability between an individually licensed appraiser and an individually licensed mortgage broker. Subsequently state complaints and investigations into unethical broker activity stays low as investigations towards appraisers stays consistently high. Amc repts being on appraisal boards is a clear conflict of interest.
Defeats the purpose of the separation from loan production rule. Nullifies the concept of appraisal independence regulations and truth in lending pertaining to appraisal services in real world application. Amc’s make themselves interested parties to the transaction. Amc’s have become loan production. There is no separation from loan production just because an amc is involved, quite the opposite is true.
Here is how the conversation between a lender and an amc rep or manager happens in the real world; Lender to amc rep; ‘Get your appraisers in line or we’ll replace you both’. Subsequently amc’s nation wide have engaged in a multitude of ways to eliminate full service appraisals in order to take more control of the valuation process in order to appease the lenders interests better.
With a dysfunctional inadequate regulatory structure where amc’s have basically no oversight and have become impervious to clear as day provable transgressions, amc’s now also monetize data harvesting from what is supposed to be protected consumer data, as well as continued intellectual property theft from professional licensees work products. State boards only have jurisdiction over appraisers and appraisals, not all the other activity amc’s engage in. Lenders are not following their legal requirements to oversee the amc’s either.
The owner of Regorra was posting on reddit about giving away free appraisal software that can be used anywhere even outside his platform. While maintaining the ability to harvest data from the softwares use. Specializing in 24 hour hybrid reports utilizing pdc’s is what several open comments concluded.
The True Tracts company whom previously specialized in data analysis tools for appraisers has now branched into appraisal management, doling out orders, managing appraiser panels, without even bothering to maintain a single amc license anywhere. They function as an amc for the licensed amc’s, to create an automatic system where for a standard service fee, they basically handle the amc’s duties of assignment and panel maintenance for them, probably also some additional duties such as review and payment management as well.
As usual, any focus on consumer protection is an after thought, not even part of the business modeling. Traditional full service appraisal and direct engagement with lenders was the superior model for consumer protection.
At this time in declining or stressed markets we can see rather clearly the inflationary effects of value acceptance, hybrids, and pass through inadequate valuation services. Every market segment I look at in addition to obvious oversupply and supply demand imbalance, also has multiple skewed high indicators which are not logical to the principal of substitution or fair representation. Bifrucated markets. Deals are auto passed at unreasonably high pricing figures, leaving those buyers immediately upside down. Because the avm utilities are coded to prefer the higher side examples as the valuation proof. Disparate impact valuation theory when implemented in the real world simply means never ending approval of unreasonably high deal terms and never ending debt traps. Because no interaction happens with an actual licensed appraiser between a consumer or a loan broker, nobody is the wiser to the scale or scope of the fraud. So now we learn that value acceptance, avm automation, hybrids, actually nullifies the Blacks Law definition of fair market value. The people are denied the ability to operate in fair and impartial manners with reliable market data information.
Understanding what’s happening with ICE and the deportation issue is key to understanding why we have this brief yet unexpectedly obvious glimpse into the real world effects of value acceptance, hybrid, and pdc services. Millions of illegal aliens were served papers or otherwise notified to self deport or face consequences. The lenders never expected that, they had these people lined up for serious financial exploitation. So when entire portions of communities listed all at once, many unsuccessful, others did price slash to move, markets took substantial declines in short order.
Yet market balance does not happen as expected with shifting benchmarks to price and value. Rather we now see bifurcated markets everywhere as automatic pass throughs continue to rubber stamp approve deals at pricing levels easily substituted at a quarter to a third or sometimes even literally half or less the price elsewhere. Serious supply demand imbalance with extended absorption time trending would not have allowed those peak sales to continue to flow through as if there was no market disruption. Those skewed high sales records are in high probability to be the deals where no full service appraisal was involved. Unless appraisers can pass deals for equivalent properties with a single comp or multi year old data despite dozens of more current indicators demonstrating substantially lower value benchmarks, it does not seem possible for those deals to have passed with a full service appraisal involved.
I was thinking about this issue and wondered if reaching out to the people whom apparently closed at such higher pricing to verify their loans used value acceptance or hybrid practices might be a good way to kick start a massive class action that could run across the entire country. All one would have to do is identify the trend of over valuation tied to the automation and line the now committed borrowers up. It’s going to be a very long time before any of them have a positive LTV. Certainly the GSE’s already have this data though…
Appraisal modernization!
How does bidding out fees determine “customary and reasonable “?