That’s why she’s gone. AMCs and their exposure by her

Do you think AI might partner up with REVAA like they did with AppraisalPort?

Didn’t they sellout the residential folks?

The AMC industry collusion runs deep. Sounds like a case of suppression and collusion. Look it, they have never taken a clear, bold stand for their members. As far as I’m concerned it is no more then a money grab. Remember, “no taxation without representation”. Show them who they represent and who pays their salary.

I believe I also read something to the effect that one of the Board Member’s clients would take issue with Cindy’s stance on AMC’s or other issues? That is a serious conflict, but I need names as the Post on FB regarding Cindy being fired, some MAI’s are asking who they area. I think any member should cancel their membership now! Thanks!

‘The appraiser stumbling block.’ The appraisers new defacto descriptive of job duties; Interpreters of other peoples bias in real estate markets. lol. Sometimes my job is difficult but if the people lining up these deals have done their research and been honest, my job is usually pretty simple.

The appraiser in the big picture of lending is supposed to be inconsequential, one of many redundant checks to balances, safeguards to larger more complex systems than mere simple market value analysis. The absence of these sorts of checks and balances, that’s when real problems happen. Redundancy has a cost, and a hidden benefit which is far greater than just ‘cost savings’. Incorporating bias into this process would be better illustrated by turning to technology such as AI systems and automation rather than retaining the thoughtful logical capability of full service human appraisers. Humans dealing with other humans; what a concept. Is it me or has every single effort related to ‘appraisal modernization’ actually brought more bias into the process than it has sought to eliminate?

I tell the people it’s a tough market out there don’t trust someone just because they have a fancy title or a gold watch. Do not care about anyone elses feelings, make the best decision for yourself and you alone. A home purchase contract is a commitment, and once you sign on the dotted line, you own those terms for the length of the contract. So take it slow, always get second opinions, and be careful who you trust. People whom want to trust AI systems to make these decisions, they should check in at a mental institution at their first possible convenience.

Everyone is an ameture philosopher these days… Sure, why not. Well, it’s like this; We are each individually accountable for our actions. This is the American idea of individual accountability, due process, justice, law and order. There can be no crime, without a victim. If there is a victim, they shall be specifically named and the crime for which anyone may deserve punishment, specifically described. Judged by our peers. Much of this is described in the Constitution, among other important documents.

But in socialist and communist structures, everyone must atone for the wrongs of others, as the list of crimes against any citizen or even crimes against the state itself always expands, regardless if there is a victim or not. At which point everything from benign language to everyday activity, even the very nature of a human themselves becomes suspect and therefore a potential offense to the will of the collective. That’s called mob rule, the opposite of a republic signifying the adherence to individual rights. All wrong doers must atone or face punishment, as harsh as may be necessary, until compliance is achieved. Every book rewritten. Every contradiction to the state removed. Every mind reformed. The people end up apologizing to no end, forever, as long as they live.

Be careful what you wish for. This is why myself and roughly half of this country refuse to entertain the argument that somehow we must apologize or admit to our own, or anyone elses human weakness. We seek to be better, to promote strength, not weakness. In defense of liberty full time, night and day. People need to grow up and stop acting so thin skinned. They don’t know what real struggle is, but if they continue on this path, they will learn. An important legal and social concept comes into play; If we need help from the state, we have failed in our duties to be good citizens among each other, respecting all of our god given rights. Rights are not prescribed by the state, they are granted by the creator.

If there is a victim whom claims I harmed them; bring the witness forth so I can face my accuser. Otherwise I’m not apologizing to anyone. And if I ever did apologize, it would be to apologize for the other persons lack of education on the matter which led us to the point of false accusations, being dragged through the mud and other apparatuses of the state. Our constitutional structure is not all that complicated. We live in a voluntary society and if anyone is not happy with anyone elses’ services, they are free to deal with someone else instead. All service is final. There are no refunds.

Missing from this equation is the banking industry and unscrupulous mortgage industry participants who put pressure on appraisers. If anyone thinks this isn’t going on anymore is living in a perfect world and the world is far from perfect. A vast majority of appraisers are honest, hardworking individuals. Focusing on the few outliers discredits the industry as a whole. As appraisers we need to approach this as the glass is 1/2 full not 1/2 empty and start speaking positively about what’s good about the industry. Beating the drum of those hell bent on destroying us will only result in them destroying us.

I want to borrow a lot of your language – I completely agree that market participators make their own judgments, their own decisions, in their own best interests. I would add that, despite our best efforts, appraisers are also participants in the market. I also agree that we, as a profession, have to be very careful with the implementation of our principals. I believe that we need to acknowledge that we are human beings with biases and discuss the processes we undertake to demonstrate there are no intentional departures from fair dealings and good faith in our reports.

We cannot describe ourselves as unbiased because we are human (nor can we describe AVMs as unbiased because they are designed by humans). Regarding an acknowledgement of our inherent biases within our reports, PD mentioned on this thread, “There are those that would take such a statement out of context and exploit it to support their self-serving narrative. They would use it in a manner to try and eliminate the appraiser stumbling block”.

To that I would say, we are having this discussion precisely because that is already happening and, in my opinion, it is partly because appraisers are pretending to be something that we aren’t. We are pretending to be unbiased and getting very defensive as a profession when other market participants say otherwise. It is literally impossible for an appraiser to develop and report an appraisal without bias. Obviously, we have to state that our reports are completed without bias though because USPAP requires it. However, it is possible for an appraiser to take accountability for our biases and state in our reports something to the effect of “This appraisal report was performed by a human being with inherent biases. The following steps were taken by the appraiser during the development and reporting of this appraisal to protect and preserve the public trust from these inherent biases…”

I don’t craft language for USPAP but hopefully you can see what I am aiming for.

I too wonder how we can maintain credibility and trust as an objective third party while we continue to remain in denial about being humans with inherent biases. Respectfully, I do not agree that acknowledgement and apology are the same. Acknowledgement of inherent biases can be a testament to our profession’s accountability. An apology is what we would owe the public if we discriminated. As you and many others have mentioned, and I whole-heartedly agree, 99.9% of appraisers do not discriminate.

https://appraisersblogs.com/loandepot-appraisal-discrimination-settlement/

Read the appraisals yourself, they are posted in that thread. If one could even call some of the hybrid simplified products as ‘appraisals.’ They did not adjust for land, gross sizing comparison differences, failed to adjust for rear features, did not adjust basement room counts, quality of feature differences, a myriad of shortcomings, see addenda, prewritten, etc, etc. The quality of the product has clearly disintegrated under the amc fast and cheap model. Utilizing the CU database for quality scoring instead of good old fashioned full reviews by actual licensed appraisers is another significant shortcoming which led to reduced reliability, along with exponential quota and volume of processing increase requirements for underwriters. There is no oversight, only the illusion of; aka administrative review. What’s so surprising about ten different engagement methods from ten different clients with ten different forms, yielding ten different results? There used to be a more uniform engagement of appraisers under the full fee full service model. Remember to keep up the party narrative; This is all the fault of the appraisers, and not that of the lenders and amc’s whom engage them, having already driven out over a hundred thousand of the most experienced appraisers right out of the industry. Pressuring appraisers works. And works very well.

Awesome comment !!!!

There are those that would take such a statement out of context and exploit it to support their self-serving narrative. They would use it in a manner to try and eliminate the appraiser stumbling block. The people trying to eliminate appraisers are greed driven, despicable individuals who have no moral compass. It is business and they will use anything at their disposal. I may sound cynical however the “proof is in the pudding”.

I understand your argument and this is interesting, perhaps you’re selecting language which is too close together in meaning. There is no room for bias, when all a valuator does is interpret and report on other peoples decisions, or some form of tangible items most likely and most probable worth in a specific market setting, solicited under specific terms. The three forms of value; value in use, value in market, value in income. This profession would have a more realistic chance of recovery if we better educated the public on what appraisers do, and do not do, rather than diving into theoretical concepts and obscure not broadly understood philosophies.

Appraisers are not biased. We form conclusions through research and rigorous value analysis methodology pertaining to real property value in specific locations, which leads us to market value opinions. Price is not the same thing as value. Market participators make their own judgments, their own decisions, in their own best interests. The appraiser merely interprets and reports on this data. We should be careful not to describe the appraiser as biased if there was no intentional departure from fair dealings and good faith principals.

That’s my personal opinion of course. Your argument is intriguing, but fails to address the real problem, that people are blaming the appraiser for the actions and results of other peoples decisions in the real world. Play that out to a real world situation first. One ponders how they could maintain credibility and trust as an objective third party, if right out the gate the person is apologizing for something they have not done yet, and have no intention of doing anyways. Know thyself and education on the principals of liberty are better philosophies to pursue.

https://ronpaulinstitute.org/the-right-to-tell-the-government-to-go-to-hell-free-speech-in-an-age-of-government-bullies-corporate-censors-and-compliant-citizens/

In my opinion, as long as USPAP requires appraisers to state that appraisal reports are performed without bias, the perception that we are a discriminating industry will not go away.

I think that USPAP language needs to be modified so that appraisers have permission to state that appraisers are human, biased individuals and that our reports are performed with a certain amount of bias. Then, and only then, can appraisers acknowledge the (obvious) existence of our biases within our reports and what efforts we have taken during the appraisal process to avoid discrimination.

To be clear, this modification wouldn’t guarantee that an appraiser will not discriminate. Bias (a thought) and discrimination (an action) are not the same thing. The modified language would only grant the appraiser the ability to tell the truth to the public (we are biased because we are human) and demonstrate what steps were taken to address our own inherent biases. The modified language could promote and maintain the public trust much more than pretending that our biases do not exist or that an appraiser can perform a valuation without bias.

Bias cannot be prevented or eliminated; it can only be acknowledged.

I was a practicing affiliate and did NOT renew because of the lack support from AI. About time they pulled their head out of rectal defilade!

Well done Mary! Thank you!

The Appraisal Institute, it seems is engaged in the long game by “ACE”-ing it. First “Acknowledge” the problem; then “Co-opt” it by internalizing and assimilating the accusations (putting oneself in the shoes of another); then “Educate” members and the public about the facts. Let’s tip our hat to Cindy’s efforts rather shout from the rafters about shoulda, coulda woulda. (These are my opinions only and do not necessarily reflect those of the Appraisal Institute or the CEO.)

Exactly