Home Valuation Code of Conduct Real Estate Appraiser
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No governmental or professional oversight was utilized to address the potential impact of the HVCC to the 1,000,000+ appraisal industry employees and their families. In June last year, Tasha Linton and I wrote about how HVCC Could Negatively Affect Towson Home Values , because the appraisers assigned are the lowest cost one available, not necessarily from the area. Real estate is very local — for example, Towson neighborhoods are very unique — sometimes even street-by-street! An appraiser from outside of Washington, DC will not understand the neighborhood nuances, and this could tremendously effect an appraisal value.

Your past show about the upcoming HVCC was good, I just have one question for anyone who is in fear of it…Who will be enforcing it? Its not being enforced by my local state board. For those who are not familiar with what an AMC is, it is short for Appraisal Management Company. They are not new, but since the adoption of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, the number and the frequency of their use have increased. They are the order manager for the lender and ensure appraiser independence. If you have not already read “What’s Not in Your Wallet” or “Round and Round!
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Services they provided for a Lender, Mortgage Company or Bank through an Appraisal Management Company or AMC as they are known. What’s an Appraisal Management Company you ask? Well for those that do not know, AMCs have been around a long time. Appraisal management companies are business entities that administer networks of independent... Real estate appraisals for divorce, estate settlement, loans, property tax appeal, pre-listing and more. We cover Sacramento, Placer and Yolo County.

– Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James B. Lockhart announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will implement a revised Home Valuation Code of Conduct effective May 1, 2009. The Code is based on an agreement between the Enterprises, the New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and FHFA to improve the reliability of home appraisals. Following a comment period on the original Code, modifications were made by the Enterprises to reflect comments received. The revisions will facilitate implementation in the marketplace. We are committed to the highest ethical and professional standards to inspire trust and confidence in our work.
Home Valuation Code of Conduct: Y2K of Appraising?
Created by the Appraisal Foundation, USPAP set forth the guidelines for how appraisers should perform their work. By following these standards, appraisers ensure that they act in a professional and unbiased manner. To expand, even more, USPAP states, “While USPAP does not... A real life illustration as to the impact of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct on the appraisal industry is The Appraisal Corp in Orange County CA. The firm was founded in 1988. In 2006 the firm employed a staff of approximately forty professional and clerical persons. Many of the employees having been with the firm from its beginning.

Soon after the widely publicized HVCC, AG Andrew Cuomo announced plans to run for Governor of New York . Touting the suit and even more so the HVCC made for the perfect political smoke screen. With highly questionable activity at HUD, and the prior landslide loss running for the New York Governorship, both of which were extensively publicized, Andrew Cuomo won the New York Governorship.
What is the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC)?
Here’s a one-minute video I did while at the Vendor BBQ. If an appraisal came in lower than the purchase price, the loan likely would be denied. Since loan origination staff is typically paid by commission, a failed deal meant no paycheck for them. If that happened too many times, Frank says, lenders stopped sending the appraiser work. I get asked quite a bit about HVCC and how I feel about it, so I wanted to offer my two cents.
Starting April 15, all good faith estimates provided to applicants must indicate a flat $455 charge for appraisals arranged through the appraisal management company. Consumers will now have to pay the appraisal fee upfront -- before any inspection or valuation is completed -- using a credit card, debit card or electronic fund transfer. The thought is that now the loan officer and appraiser have no contact, so that no pressure can be placed on the appraiser to inflate values. This may be true, however if a licensed appraiser was submitting false values for the sake of more business he or she was already committing a crime that we have laws in place for. This HVCC rule only helps the lenders and owners of the AMC’s. Lenders are pressuring AMC’s to be conservative when appraising homes in a declining markets and leaning towards appraising homes at the lower end of the spectrum.
AMCs Take a Sizable Cut of the Appraisal Fee
DETAILS… NO MATTER HOW SMALL OR BIG NEED TO BE PRESENTED. If not, you failed. On March 23, 2022, there was a public meeting to unveil the Pave Task Force report on Racial Bias in the Real Estate Appraisal Profession. You can watch the press conference below as well as read the entire...
The only people who benefit from this rule are the AMC’s, the large banks that own them and the bureaucrats who got paid for months working on this rule to justify their job. In the meantime, here is a small sample of the aggregated data we will provide. It's the VA appraisers turn now to enjoy what the rest...
It was a very successful event that raised over $5,100 for the scholarship fund. I paid for a vendor booth too, so it was fun to represent, mingle with friends and meet some new faces too. There were quite a number of Realtors wondering why I had a booth since appraisers can no longer be hand-picked for loans. But the truth is there are thankfully so many other avenues of business where appraisers and agents can still connect.

In days past, loan originators would develop relationships with local appraisers who knew their market and conducted the appraisals required for consumers to obtain loans at various lending institutions. We would tend to try several appraisers and find out who do a better job at the most competitive price. Personally I would look for appraisers that had good people skills, were professional, friendly, on time , diligent and knew their local market. I would also expect the work to be done in a timely fashion and would also look for someone who understood that sometimes certain jobs needed to be rushed when the situation called for it. The Home Valuation Code of Conduct is a set of federal guidelines designed to make the home appraisal process more reliable.
Believe me, appraised values on residential homes is more art than science. The old saying was that an appraised value was just one man’s opinion. Send 3 different appraisers and you will probably get 3 different values. So enough background, here is the problem for consumers. Lower values equal higher interest rates and we know who benefits here.
Rules to cover rules are usually designed to protect the corporate interests in this country and not the consumers. We need to enforce our current laws to the fullist before creating new ones. I feel bad for the veteran, quality appraisers who are now out of business and the consumers who were forced to pay for 3 appraisals just to try a get a good mortgage loan. Frank Garay with National Real Estate Post interviewed Mark Skapinetz on Monday May 17, 2021. They discussed racism, entry into the appraisal field, appraisal fees and appraisal waivers. Frank intends on having Mark back to discuss other issues at hand within the appraisal industry.
Definition of Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC)
Are desktop appraisals with third-party inspectors protecting the public, or are these products about to destroy the very profession I love so much. The Uniform Standards Professional of Appraisal Practice are the key to maintaining public trust in real estate transactions. USPAP is pretty much the equivalent to the Bible, but it MUST be followed for appraisers.

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