It will be the same-old same-old in Chicago until there is a complete purge at national. And the odds of that happening may have risen from 0% to something higher with the lawsuit, but I wouldn't bet my money on anything substantial happening. Case in point, not a single peep from the board. Step up and call an emergency meeting, like the one where they fired Dr. Chance, vote then release a statement. They won't because they are no clean hands in this mess.
Cindy Chance? I don't think she is sufficiently qualified to be a "leader" in appraisal. The fact that she was made President of the Appraisal Institute (for 1 year), just goes to show how much of sh*t show they run.
She doesn't have a degree in real estate, appraisal or even a related tech field. There is also no indication of any proficiency in statistics or computer science.
CC says the right words for some appraisers - so they support her - end of story? There is more to being qualified to make decisions for appraisers than just verbally professing agreement with the views of some appraiser group. There must be understanding and experience to back up those opinions, and she really does not have a good "understanding/experience" resume to support the required qualifications.
What I believe I see are appraisers looking for whoever comes closest to agreeing with their point of view. Just because she says this or that is, in the long run, not that meaningful. It is really most likely just a political move by her to garner support. People change their minds, when it suits them. She doesn't have a track record. She doesn't have leverage.
Of course, I am not saying there is ANY one around that can do the job. There likely isn't. Relatively speaking the current President, Paula K. Konikoff, it about as good as it gets, just looking at her LinkedIn profile and hearing one of her presentations. However, even she lacks qualifications with respect to technical proficiency in math, statistics, AI and computer skills.
One could argue that no American appraiser really has what it takes to run any large appraisal organization. One can argue that it is a hopeless, sick cow that is doomed to extinction. And finally conclude, that it really doesn't matter who is running the show: Even if the President of the AI were quite competent, they would have a very long road ahead of them trying to budge the inertia - the status quo - that exists among an AI membership that is, we might very well assume, interested only in what benefits themselves.
What is needed is a new organization that is an order of magnitude more qualified in advanced appraisal techniques and appraisal science, than what you currently find in the field of appraisal. Of course, that is almost a contradiction of terms. Right?
Every existing appraisal technique used by the vast majority of appraisers lacks constraints necessary to keep value estimates in check, - neither too high nor too low.
Compare that to Accounting - where all ledgers have to be kept in balance - to the penny. That is a significant constraint that makes significant illegal alterations in value, very difficult without breaking the established accounting protocols.
