Category: Trending

SettlementOne Valuation & Dart Appraisal Disciplined by VREAB 32

Virginia is NOT Playing Around!

Two AMCs Disciplined by VREAB… At the May 16, 2017, Virginia Real Estate Appraisers Board Meeting two AMC’s were disciplined by the Board. SettlementOne Valuation Corporation was disciplined in Mississippi, Illinois and Pennsylvania, all for unlicensed activity within those states. SettlementOne was required to report the disciplinary action to Virginia within 30 days, which they did not. The Virginia Real Estate Appraisers Board imposed a $2,500 monetary penalty for these violations of the Boards Regulations. Dart Appraisal was disciplined in Minnesota for providing an estimate of value on the engagement letter to the appraiser. Dart Appraisal was required to report...

AMC / American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisal Organizations

CoesterVMS AMC & Brian Coester Sued by Mark Skapinetz, Appraiser 31

Coester Sued by Appraiser

CoesterVMS & Brian Coester have a questionable history with the law… According to a lawsuit filed against CoesterVMS and Brian Coester by appraiser Mark Skapinetz on April 20, 2017, Brian Coester and CoesterVMS have illegally accessed (hacked) his email accounts. The lawsuit alleges violations of the Stored Communication Act, Trespass to Chattel, and Trespass to Land, Conversion, Fraud, and Invasion of privacy. Mark Skapinetz is a Certified Residential Appraiser in Georgia that owns a very active private Facebook page with over 700 members. Mr. Skapinetz has been very vocal about appraisers being treated unfairly by AMC’s and advocates for appraisers.

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

Skapinetz Believes Appraisers Are Being Held Captive by AMCs 28

Who is Mark Skapinetz?

Mark Skapinetz believes that appraisers are being held captive by AMCs…. Reserved is not a word that anyone would use to describe Mark Skapinetz; at least of those who know him. Shy is not in his vocabulary. Mark is the founder of the “100% Real Estate Appraisers” group on Facebook. He joined me on April 23, 2017 as a guest on The Appraiser Coach Podcast to discuss everything from training the next generation of appraisers to the AMC debacle. Mark believes that appraisers are being held captive by AMCs. Though he works for a handful of AMCs himself (in other...

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

Employees at Quicken Loans... They Delivered Your Pizza! 19

I Must Apologize; I Got it Wrong…

Your employees did not come from Taco Bell, they delivered your pizza! In a recent New York Times article by Julie Creswell on 01/21/2017, former executives of Quicken Loans confirm “many employees come in with little or no background in financial services. One employee joined after delivering pizzas to the Quicken Loans Offices”. No need to say anymore, that statement speaks volumes. The article titled “Quicken Loans, the New Mortgage Machine” is a tell all article, right down to the founder and Chairman Dan Gilbert’s physical altercation on a former colleague at a religious function, to his public tirade against LeBron James,...

AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Management Companies / Appraisal News / Appraisers News / Federal Housing Administration

E&O Binder Page in Appraisal Reports: Just Say No 21

Quit Doing This. Just Say NO!

E&O coverage has nothing at all to do with underwriting mortgage loans… Do not include your E&O binder page in any appraisal report. Period. End of story. Especially if you are being ‘managed’ by an AMC who has that in their engagement agreement, claiming it’s a lender requirement. A while ago, I received a “correction notice” via a prominent AMC for a report I submitted: “Per lender requirements, evidence of E&O coverage must be included in the report.” My response to the AMC directly via email, not in the report, was this: “To: AMC rep Is there any way you...

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

Desktop Appraisal... Should I or Shouldn't I?  28

Desktop Appraisal… Should I or Shouldn’t I? 

New wave of AMCs desktop “appraisal” products… VaCAP has received several emails from members concerning a new wave of desktop appraisals available from some AMCs. These products have an inspection of the property performed by another individual and the photographs and property specific data is provided to the appraiser. The AMC’s are claiming that the entire product is on-line and no written report is needed. They also claim the report is USPAP compliant. They are looking at compensating the appraiser $65 and the report should take approximately 45 minutes to complete. VaCAP does not have any specific knowledge of these...

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

Clear Capital Push For Hybrid VA Appraisals 54

Clear Capital’s Push For Hybrid VA Appraisals

Clear Capital suggests that the VA consider the use of a desktop appraisal On April 4, 2017, the House Committee on Veterans Affairs held a hearing on “Assessing VA Approved Appraisers And How To Improve The Program For The 21st Century.” The hearing was designed to “assess VA’s current appraisal process, as well as specific difficulties for timely appraisals in highly rural areas”, as well as to investigate possible technological solutions to mitigate timeliness issues. Much of the hearing focused on two areas: The requirements for becoming a member of the VA appraiser panel, and the baseline requirements for comparable...

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

CoreLogic vs Appraisers: My Day as an Appraiser 117

My Day as an Appraiser

Big Corporations like CoreLogic are like sharks… This morning, as I do every morning, I made some coffee and began work on one of the two appraisal reports that were soon to be due. The first was for an AMC known as Speedy Title and Appraisal Review Services. This appraisal management company is owned by CoreLogic. From their website “CoreLogic is an Irvine, CA based corporation providing financial, property and consumer information, analytics and business intelligence. The company analyzes information assets and data to provide clients with analytics and customized data services. The company also develops proprietary research, and tracks...

ACI / AI / AMC / Appraisal / Appraisal Institute / Appraisal Management Companies

Legislation to Regulate AMC's & Protect Consumers Opposed by REVAA 38

AMCs Are Not Part of The Appraisal Profession

Foreign entities do not get a voice in what legislation is introduced… Let’s think about this with an open mind… More states are introducing bills concerning AMC legislation, more specifically how AMCs will conduct business. Even states with existing AMC legislation are introducing stricter, more precise legislation. Why is this happening in all 55 jurisdictions? States do not want to interfere in how a company or industry conducts business, but when practices are so abusive that it harms small businesses and consumers, they have little choice. States have the obligation to protect their citizens and businesses that contribute to the...

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

Slow Pay AMCs and Ponzi Scheme Payment Process 143

Slow Pay AMCs

Slow pay reputation AMCs and Ponzi scheme payment process… Folks, Through several of the ‘media sources’ I read recently, I’ve learned that “a particular AMC” based on the west coast has a slow pay reputation. As so often happens with low echelon AMCs with few clients, when business slows down, their payment process becomes a Ponzi scheme. Ultimately they go out of business. I currently have an outstanding report with that AMC, but the payment due date to me is March 7. So I’m respectfully withholding their name publicly from others, until and unless they don’t pay me on time....

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

xml sitemap
blank