This article will try to address misconceptions that are floating around,rather than calling for action by appraisers to protest Cuomo's Governors
race or to join/form a Guild in their state. Nor will I get into how
unlimited taxpayer funds are being used to purchase MBS's that no one in the
world will buy. The Government is buying, with our money, exotic mortgage
instruments that nobody wants? Yes. Neither will I go into how distasteful
it is for me that brokers and realtors have to stake their local reputations
and livelihoods on an unknown quantity like the AMC picking the appraiser by
lowest fee instead of competence. 1) The HVCC (Home Valuation Code of Conduct) is illegal. Although the
HVCC was issued in part by an administrative agency of the federal
government, it did not go through the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) or
the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) as required of rules issued by
administrative agencies of the federal government. It's described as a
settlement between New York AG Andrew Cuomo and Fannie and Freddie (the
GSE's) so they wouldn't have to open their books. The HVCC was born out of a
fraudulent union of an AMC (eappraiseit) and Washington Mutual Bank in
inflating appraisal values - an illegitimate child so to speak, along the
lines of the indigenous hill folk in the movie "Deliverance". It's truly
amazing to me that the Attorney General of New York, who is supposed to
uphold the law to the best of his ability, would not want his own policy to
go through due process to ensure the HVCC protects the consumer. Maybe
because he knows that it's serving private banking interests and doesn't
protect the consumer and hence would not pass due process? That is my guess.
Look at his largest contributors and that he was on the board of AMCO (an
AMC) and you can understand. The legality of the HVCC has been challenged
but answered: "As the GSE'S are in Federal conservatorship (bankruptcy) the
HVCC cannot be challenged in any court of law". Mind boggling, like so many
policies of this administration that pays the banks, AKA financial
terrorists, ransom in the sum of all the wealth and abundance of this
nation. Just $1 trillion dollars could pay for free college and health care
for all and much more! But, I digress. 2) In TAVMA'S newest release, "Per USPAP it is the ultimate
responsibility of the appraiser to only accept work that s/he is competent
to complete." Wrong again. USPAP states that if an appraiser is unfamiliar
with an area they are to notify the lender and if they want them to complete
the assignment they must spend enough time in the market to become
geographically competent or, they can associate with someone skilled in that
market so they can complete a competent report. Steps taken for competent
report completion must be outlined. This is what happens when you let
neophytes tell appraisal professionals how to do their jobs. It's
entitlement lunacy! 3) A recent article on AOL was titled "Are Appraisals The New
Organized Crime". The author stated "In 2006 and 2007, the appraiser did
262,000 valuations for Washington Mutual over an 18 month period, and had a
total $50 million in earnings, Bloomberg News reported." It actually was
WAMU and the AMC (eappraiseit) that earned the $50 million, not the
appraiser, and that's according to Bloomberg. Per a 2008 FBI report at least
66% of mortgage fraud occurred at the application stage. An appraiser's only
interest in bad valuations is the promise of steady work at $400 per
appraisal. Appraisal fraud is case by case and not industry wide as Cuomo
and others would have you believe. Instances of a high percentage of
appraisal fraud can be attributed to very few appraisers as so aptly
illustrated in the above story and 262,000 fraudulent valuations by one
group. 262,000 appraisals in 18 months is 20+ appraisals/hour, without rest,
for 18 months! 4) Pres. Obama on TV recently stated that the cause of the financial
meltdown was loose lending and borrowers that gamed the system. That shows
how out of touch he is! Does anyone really believe the banks excuse when
they said that they thought prices would always go up? I don't. We know the
banks were hedging (shorting) the exotic instruments they were creating and
selling, so they didn't believe it either. The financial terrorists gamed
us. Absolutely none of those bad loans would have gone through with proper
risk assessment. Banks assumed no liability in the loans they wrote and so
had no need for underwriting. The blame is 100% with the banks and their
greed. Dave Biggers of WINTOTAL issued a report showing typical fees county by
county across the country. Don't let AMC's dictate FHA fees! Be the
professional! Thanks Ed Ed Connor has 20 years appraising experience and is a recent member of AGA
(American Guild of Appraisers). He is the President of Connor Appraisals,
Inc. located in Olympia, Wa. Ed can be reached at 360-754-7044
begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 360-754-7044
end_of_the_skype_highlighting or apprazur@comcast.net. Promote your business and
services online and offline, find out when our next mixer is.Connect with other successful
womenReal Estate Investing Education,
take advantage of today's real estate marketBuild Your Business-Drive Your Dream Promo
Code: legendwww.TotalSolutionsAlliance.com Connect with me on Facebook
Twitter LinkedIn
via Ping.fm
No comments:
Post a Comment