One of my favorite lines from the original Terminator movie from the Kyle Reese character that can apply to the unknown driver of AI National’s obsession to force evaluations on residential appraisers because they can count on the designation handcuffs that keep many from speaking out and continue to damage the public trust and continue to damage the livelihoods of its own members in slow motion without bothering to reach out and explain what is behind it (gasping for air sound). Remember that it took 10-years of screaming by AI membership to get AI National to disclose their dealings with FNC with an...

I did a screenshot of a photo from a private appraisal group that blew my mind. Now imagine an unregulated, non-standardized, untrained inspector (home inspectors aren’t being used for hybrids) for a hybrid appraisal assignment (being paid $12 to rush through a home) actually catching this scam like a trained experienced appraiser did. LIA (Liability Insurance Administrators) has said that the appraiser is still responsible for house conditions even if they use a disclaimer. I heard this directly from LIA when they presented at TAF a few months ago. I wonder what other things would be missed by an unregulated,...

Senseless Acts Harmful to the Profession… This past Tuesday, (June 19, 2018), I was a keynote speaker at the Ohio Coalition of Appraisal Professionals (OCAP). I’ve always seen this organization as one of the stronger state coalitions in the context of getting things done at the legislative level. I had been looking forward to attending the Columbus conference for several months. After I made my presentation, I listened to the next speaker from the Appraisal Institute. I was startled because the speaker said there were about 5 states that currently allow certified appraisers to turn off their USPAP compliance and...

By my math, this is a 18-day process… appraisal part only took 3 days as a rush… Despite being approached all the time to add our firm’s name to an appraisal management company, we decline. However, when wealth management companies were forced by their parent company, they made arrangements to help attract better firms like ourselves to consider working with them: Pay our fee Respect our turn time quote Not inundate us with clerical addenda requests Last fall we were approached by 4 different AMCs because their wealth management clients demanded they fix the problem of not attracting the better...

“Phil Crawford and Mark Skapinetz break down the Appraiserfest 2018 Agenda! This will be the cutting edge event that no appraiser will want to miss! Register today and we will see you in San Antonio on November 1st, 2nd, and 3rd!!!” Here is the core Appraiserfest schedule that I believe will be subject to additions. Think of signing up for the event as a “rush appraisal” – just clear the deck and get it done now. It will help Phil & co. with planning for the event immensely.