We Need a Lobbyist
Who is going to organize raising the funds and hiring the lobbyist?
We are woefully behind the curve here. Myself and many others were organized in the early 1990s and managed to protect the appraisers’ interests for the most part at that time. Here in 2023, there does not appear to be any meaningful response other than the same old anecdotal war stories we pass along among ourselves. Yes, past markets crashed due to really bad mortgage products/underwriting, and banks failed due to really bad management decisions to go along with those mortgage schemes, but if Uncle Sam is going to reimburse them for their losses and bail them out, well they have just found a way back to the gambling table. As I recall someone once said that, whoever complains about something without offering a solution is just whining. So my fellow appraisers, who has the plan?
How about we put together a coalition of the appraisal trade associations to fund & organize this campaign into an informative counter-offensive to the powers that be?
Let’s say we get 20,000 appraisers to contribute to a $5,000,000 campaign that will pay for the lobbyist who can identify the key politicians to whom to direct the political contributions and educate on the issues. Fortunately at this point, the “No Appraisal Necessary” movement is only in the regulatory rule state, not law. The regulatory process is easier to fix. If appraisers had lobbyist like the AMCs we would never be in this position. Do any of the trade associations have a legislative liaison? If so, wake them up.
Politicians drive the regulators and money drives the politicians. We are analysts, so let’s figure it out. The Mortgage Bankers Association Political Action Committee (MORPAC) spent approximately $3,000,000 in 2021-2022 to influence federal politicians, and the mortgage bankers got what they paid for. Let’s do better.
I talked yesterday wit my representative for the house, and also a candidate for the senate (Virginia). They had no clue abut the attacks on the appraisal profession. They asked for more info. I am planning to put together a file anyone in the country would be able to use as a reference/starting point. Any idea is welcomed.
Planning to talk with Us House representative and other VA representatives.
DPOR (VA licensing agency) experiences an influx of complains against appraisers from Fannie Mae. It is state level, we can stop such efforts on state level. If all the state licensing agencies get the same response from appraisers, (supported by representatives, state licensing agencies can push back and help us….?
Maria
We need your help in VaCap!
1. Point out HUD Secretary Marcia Fudges own racist/biased comments in her current Official Strategic Plan (“…especially People of Color”) comment.
2. Point out FNMA/FreddieMac new language limitations in violation of 1A and Dodd Frank (also hypocritical concerning their own forms verbiage)
3. Point out FHFA failure to rein in FNMA fraudulent quota based repurchases and phony complaints against appraisers as justification.appraisers
We need more people like Maria, direct discussion with your representatives is far more impactful than hiring a lobbyist. Feel free to contact me Maria.
VaCap? What is it? Sorry, I have no idea.
VaCAP is short for Virginia Coalition of Appraiser Professionals.
https://vacaponline.com/
Just got this one.
We need a “Lobbyist” or “group” who will point the spear at 1 place – Washington, DC. WE need an ADVOCATE in that town who has influence in the upcoming administration. Whoever is in place at this time appears to have an agenda beyond “protecting the public trust”. I’m convinced that until someone high up in DC takes a stance we are just sitting in the mud herding our own cats. The Cobra effect is in full effect in our “industry”. But I’m also afraid of the unintended consequences that always appear with DC policies. Prayers
What you need is 60,000+ appraisers willing to walk off of the job until AMCs are abolished. Only a small fraction were willing to endure that pain. Until then you can count on being pulverized by the AMC grist mill. Enjoy the agony. You had the power to crush AMCs all along…you were not willing to put in the work.
Hint: The U.S. banking lobby is the most powerful and well funded lobby in America. Do you think they will be willing to surrender billions in annual AMC profits to lowly appraisers?
Eric, are you on board with me? I started a minute ago to organize a group of appraisers to take actions. Not a joke. I just took the first part of the USPAP class, 4 hours of bias lies, no USPAP update…
I am pooling together data. They have mill of dollars for PAVE, based on gossip. Using thousands of hours of appraisers to take a bias class, no proof. I am an immigrant…and many other issues: AMC, fees etc. we need to take back this profession! Who is with me?
I’m on board – however I don’t have time or $$ to waste. If the effort is not aimed at DC then I will be reluctant to even try. I’m all ears for a good plan. A little less talk and a LOT more action – would be nice 😉
Sure, beat that old horse some more!
Maybe all the people who never joined the coalitions or union will act differently today.
Not holding my breath in the interim.
Maria
You can count on me
I would maybe recommend we start out with the State Coalitions?
You’re right Mike!
I am not sure if my previous note went through.
Here is my email: grappraisal@gmail.com
Please send me an email if you are intersected. Everyone is welcomed. We need to invite every coalition who wants to work to save the appraisal profession. Every retired appraisers, and the only criteria is: we work together.
I am taking USPAP class currently (2 days). It is a DEI class instead, at least for 3.5 hours it was…
Please remember that this class is taken by trainee who wants to became an appraiser, and learns about what is an assignment, scope of work etc., not only us, taking it the 10th time.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/vc5-course-documents/courses/74973/2024-257-HRNationalUSPAPStudentManual.pdf
I loved Paragraph 3 the most “the appraiser intentionally selects comparable sales that she believes are owned by people of the same race as the property owner.” I asked how is it possible? Is the appraiser driving around in the evening to check who lives in the comparable, and if the race is not the right one, she will change the comparable, diving back and forth, until the right race will be represented?
I was told that all the scenarios are real situations reported to state agencies…I said I do not believe it.
Reviewed by ASB, approved by AQB. We must do the work and clean out this cancer; nobody else will do it for us.
Hi Maria, this is a discussion question for the class. For those reading along, here’s the entire portion of the Student Manual, including the part in USPAP that says what is prohibited, with the question for class discussion that follows:
(This is from USPAP) Paragraph 3 – Prohibition
1. An appraiser, when completing a residential real property assignment, must not base their opinion of value in whole or in part on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or familial status.
(This is the question for class discussion) QUESTION: An appraiser is in the process of completing an appraisal and schedules an in-person inspection with the property owner. When the appraiser meets the property owner, the appraiser
concludes that the homeowner is a member of a race that makes up a minority of people living in the subdivision. The appraiser intentionally selects comparable sales that she believes are owned by people of the same race as the property owner, or in subdivisions where she believes the majority of property owners are of the same race as the owner of the subject property. Is this permissible under the Nondiscrimination section?
This is not the ASB or the AQB or TAF or your course provider saying that this is acceptable. You can see from the portion of USPAP that is highlighted that it is not, as well as in various state and federal laws. Hopefully your USPAP instructor and fellow class participants discussed this in detail and you received a copy of the answers that also clearly state that choosing comps based on occupants protected status is unacceptable.
I hope this helps.
I have often said that I have taken a racial bias class the last 17 times I’ve been forced into a USPAP Update.
Thank you for your notes. I think I was not clear, apology, English is my second language.
I was wondering how the appraiser would be able to choose comps whose owners belong to the same racial group. It would be a lot of extra effort to do so. Thank you though. I didn’t grow up in this country and might be overly-sensitive for marxist ideology. But maybe I am just a flag showing the direction of the wind.
I am happy to help, Maria. English is my primary language, and I sometimes get mixed up. I thank you for your question, and that I was able to be of assistance.
If we don’t have questions, how will we ever receive answers and learn? 🙂
The hypothetical is one I doubt has ever happened since 1971.
IF it did no one would argue its not bias.
Respectfully, creating unrealistic strawman arguments does NOTHING to educate appraisers.
Maria is right. How would one even do that if they wanted to? MY mls doesn’t include seller and buyer demographics.
The only place demo data appears is in census tract numbers….mandated by the feds.
How come none of the prohibitions don’t conform to VEVRAA? I know VEBRAA was intended to affirmatively apply to hiring practices, but once a group is designated as a protected class of individuals, then it seems to follow that it would apply to all FHAct issues as well. For example:
A qualified era veteran supports conservative issues. The property owner (or appraiser) notes a Pro ***** or M*** sticker on his truck. The hypothetical seller wont accept the offer to purchase because they disagree with the politics of the protected class individual; or the appraiser who supports the other side of the aisle thinks concluding at a “conservative cash out refinance value” is fair play?
Please, send me an email if you want to do something. There are a lot of people who already does or want, we only need to coordinate the effort: grappraisal@gmail.com
After a week I will post how many and in which state (no names or personal info) is interested. I want to go from there. I hope the breath held will not be an upset sight.
I’m sorry. But this ship has sailed. As Mike said appraisers have had plenty of opportunities to join coalitions, the Guild and more yet they refuse to do so. Then they come on here and other groups complaining about fees etc. appraisers are their own worst enemies. They sure can claim they aren’t biased or do an appraisal without being biased yet their own personal biases get in the way of joining a union or state coalition to better their profession. They let their own feelings hurt them. So funny to witness this.
If this was done back in 2008-2013 things could be different however you have your appraisers that are not in the know, appraisers who only care to cut corners, appraisers that are brainwashed by the AI and other organizations who are now finding you those organizations are in bed with those AMCs and more.
The opportunity was there many years ago. Hell some even bearded the appraiser cats to come together at a conference, yet well how did that turn out.
Trying to do something now while noble is at best a lost cause. I applaud you for trying to get involved, however you’re about 10 years behind those that are trying to continue this shitty change.
Maria – extraordinary lender disregard for risk driven by earnings pressure. I never thought I’d say it will happen again, but now I’m betting on it. It is not the collateral or appraisers, it will be high l/v risk loans unable to perform – As Nancy said – Just say NO. We are seeing crazy requests for odd properties – pay attention and stay out of the play ground!!!
I’ve stopped doing ANY appraisals for GSEs and will continue my one-person boycott until they rescind the unsupported and unjustified language prohibitions.
FNMA for its part continues to LIE to state regulators claiming they have performed reviews on their false-accusation tip/complaints; typically submitted in conjunction with one of FNMAs FRAUDULENT repurchase demands for low interest, higher than 2.5 CU scored loans they couldn’t sell in 6% and 7% markets.
FNMA LQC and CURE Underwriter Team reviewers are located in Texas. Texas is a mandatory USPAP state and a FNMA desk reviews built on CU are NOT a USPAP compliant appraisal review).
FNMA needs to either stop pretending they perform “reviews” inferring they are like real USPAP compliant appraisal reviews, or alternatively call them what they are. Non-USPAP-compliant, spurious appraisal reviews that violate most aspects of USPAP compliance.
PS to FNMA and their blind watch dog over at FHFA-I have the evidence, including insiders, and former insiders willing to testify; as well as numerous well documented instances of false complaints.
The language B S is a violation of our rights to free speech and expression
Agree 100% Pat. Its also a dirrect violation of the Dodd Frank Act.
When they can only cite “May be bias, vague or subjective” as a reason it proves they have no specific objection to any individual words.
By the way, FNMAs own forms call for subjective ratings using poor, fair, average, good etc..
We are supposed to replicate the decision making actions of typical buyers in the markets we serve. In over 40 years in real estate and appraising I never once heard a buyer or seller refer to a property as being in C2 or other ‘c” condition, or to be Q3 quality.
I agree, Dave. My thought (not conspiracy, just a thought): appraisers will be blamed for the next downfall. They make the bed now…
On the other side: the ship has been sailed? One, One person made to take out the Bible from the classroom. One, one person made possible legalizing the abortion, one, one made the changes in many (weather you agree or not) cases.
We watch fascisms taking over. (fascisms: top down Marxism). It is not only about the appraisal profession.
I am asking for your help to save the appraisal profession, because you are appraisers. Because appraisers are the safe guard for the borrowers. Because ~30% of American economy is tight somehow to real estate (appraisers, construction companies, manufacturers, banks etc., hence FED wants to influence the RE and with ~30% of the economy easy peasy). Appraisers have much to say about the American economy…a very important pillar, for that we are attacked.
Top down Marxism: they took over the heads, we need to do the same. Finally join our effort and focus on one point at a time. Be laser sharp and precise. We can win. Didn’t Washington win?
“The course Approval Program was established by the AQB at the request and as a service to state appraiser regulatory agencies and RE Appr. education providers. …Please contact your state to determine if a course is approved in your specific state….”(TAF/resources)
State regulatory agencies have the last say what is thought…they can fight against DEI (marxist agency, if it wouldn’t be clear by now).
I am sending the student manual to my state agency for review. 4 out 7 hours about racism? I would like to learn about cases when I need as much knowledge as a lawyer….and not twisted crocked, wild phantasy of someone’s sick brain created situation’s. Even if they would occur, not widespread to talk about them.
(I grew up in a marxist country, I can smell miles away marxists and/or their actions.)
The TAF is directed by the Board of Trustee (BOT)s. One can apply to be the member of the Trustees (application is closed now). All goes back to BOT: take it back, and we have all the influence. With good strategy, it is possible.
If this is too much politics for you, just lean back, and watch America falling. It will be fun to watch. Have pop corn on your lap, beer, and a warm blanket, because you might not enjoy it for too long. Marxism killed hundreds of millions of people, a large portion via starvation.
Maria – I understand your fears with the current political environment! But back to what can you do – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) – now enforces Dodd Frank and they DO have a hotline for written complaints. I encourage all every time they sense a lender is stepping out of line to file a COMPLAINT. Briefly, our profession has replaced “specific” information with “General” information resulting in meaningless boiler plate. After many many reviews I will say the “specific” has disappeared and the lenders are delighted. It’s an easy fix and don’t hesitate to file a complaint ALL good professionals – it will make a difference despite Lyle Reike.
There were none who would want to save this profession. I am sorry for all of you. There are many who do good thing, even more standing by, but if all the efforts would be organized, the results would be much better.
I am sorry to see the struggle of this profession. It is not necessary. Especially with the “Halloween decision” of the court against NAR. There is a new venue opening up, if appraisers would just take a step to conquer it! I must leave this site. Too much talk, little will… hats off for those who do something!
Maria, many have tried and are still trying to fix the problems we all face. The problem / challenges have many seemingly insurmountable obstacles:
1. Not all appraisers want the same things. Some want and support policies that facilitate their continued operation of appraisal puppy mills. Big fans of low fee bifurcated hybrids and only superficially trained newcomers.
2. Others simply disagree on the approach and vehicles to be used. (Coalitions, & lobbyists) but not unions.
3. The current administration is ONLY concerned with advancing a very narrow, progressive agenda. DEI; All Appraisers are racists, “Equity” in appraising (whatever the hell that is).
4. GSE policies and other unidentified anonymous folks that undermine appraisal practice whenever possible. Biggest offender is FNMA. Partly to facilitate their own ‘fraudulently supported , quota driven deceptive buyback demands…and lenders that are unaware that FNMA has never yet won an arbitration case against a lender on these arising from a credibly proven bad appraisal.,
5. REVAA
6. AARO and its circumvention of state legislative bodies by bureaucrats operating as a Texas Non Profit but private corporation.
7. Keyboard warriors who keep repeating that we ‘need to do something’, but who in turn never join a coalition OR the union (Guild)
Many, many appraisers have been fighting for appraisers for (literally decades); Pat Turner, VaCAP, Maureen Sweeney, the Publisher of Appraiserblogs, Mark Skapinetz, Michael Smalls, Julie Friese, Jonathon Miller, Jeremy Baggott, and SO many others that are impossible to include here. I’m a relative newcomer. Only been at it for 10 years now. Josh Tucker and a relatively small but effective cadre he coordinates with. They have already made inroads with certain House Members, Senators, CFPB Officials
Anyone want to help but just do not know how? Join the Appraisers Guild and volunteer to work for others (unpaid) in many of the areas that are needed. A website manager (not host) & news editor is desperately needed. Researchers are needed. Additional (active) members of the National Appraiser Peer Review Committee are needed to learn how to help others and point out new abuses when discovered.
There were (at one time) over two dozen state coalitions plus a coalition of all the state coalitions. There are less than six that are visible anywhere today. More like three that do anything that anyone else knows about (VaCap, NC, LA and a couple others that once in a great while raise attention for specific issues.
Come join us. Any of us. Or, start your own state coalition (if you think you’d be good at herding cats into doing things they dont know they need to do, or dont want to do).