Fraud alert

[J Grant]

Cases like this one have been around since long before the GSEs testing of PDRs. I worked on several while I was an investigator. Appraiser loses his/her credential, uses the name and license number of another appraiser, creates signature in their forms software and continues to work using someone else's name and license number.

This is the main reason I have never supported forms software that allows an appraiser to self generate a signature file - that makes such fraud far easier to pull off.

By the way, these cases are one of the reasons some AMCs ask for a photo ID to join their panel.

The article says a significant increase in fraud 2021-2023-

Imo, opening the appraisal process to thousands of unlicensed "inspectors" and letting mortgage loan officers input their own value for a waiver/acceptance - what could go wrong?? There are lots of hackers out there now, and opening the keys to the kingdom invites them in - I anticipate one day massive fraud from the AVM side, even generating fake loans for small home equity loans and the like wired into someone's account.
There was also a huge uptick in fraudulent wire transfers from automating closings with no humans present as well - "efficiency" comes with a price -

 

[Lil Rhody]

It only helps mitigate the risk; it does not eliminate it completely.

Unless a rep from the AMC is onsite during the appraisal inspection to verify the appraiser's identity or a copy of that appraiser's license is sent to the property contact (which is presenting an even more serious risk of identity fraud), I still don't understand how sending a copy of your license to an AMC will mitigate this type of risk?

 

[DWiley]

Unless a rep from the AMC is onsite during the appraisal inspection to verify the appraiser's identity or a copy of that appraiser's license is sent to the property contact (which is presenting an even more serious risk of identity fraud), I still don't understand how sending a copy of your license to an AMC will mitigate this type of risk?

Well, a government issued photo ID is commonly used to prove that one is who they claim to be. And, it is not necessary to send one's license to a POC. One can send just the photo, and, yes, some companies do send a photo of the appraiser to the POC.

 

[J Grant]

anyone or any number of people could have done it and be doing it, including an AMC employee- who are typically low paid - IMO, the more third parties and poorly paid people enter the mix the more access is created to people who have nothing at stake and are not making a career in loans, appraisals or RE-

 

[J Grant]

Unless a rep from the AMC is onsite during the appraisal inspection to verify the appraiser's identity or a copy of that appraiser's license is sent to the property contact (which is presenting an even more serious risk of identity fraud), I still don't understand how sending a copy of your license to an AMC will mitigate this type of risk?

It won't matter to a hacker.

I had my identity hijacked from the IRS of all agencies by someone who tried to divert a refund to their address -

 

[DWiley]

It won't matter to a hacker.

I had my identity hijacked from the IRS of all agencies by someone who tried to divert a refund to their address -

But this was no hacker. It was an appraiser who had lost his license. You can keep trying to deflect and expand to make it relate to something else, but at the end of the day this was fraud by a de-frocked appraiser.

 

[J Grant]

But this was no hacker. It was an appraiser who had lost his license. You can keep trying to deflect and expand to make it relate to something else, but at the end of the day this was fraud by a de-frocked appraiser.

I am just speculating, but imo the avg appraiser who lost their license is not sophisticated enough to do widespread fraud - it could be a hacker who lifted that appraiser's identity ( the article said the appraisers whose identities were used had no knowledge of it, )or a hacker worked with that appraiser -jjust my opinion since the majority of fraud wrt banks, loans, online systems is pretty hard to pull off otherwise far more people would do it -

 

[J Grant]

It seems improbable that if the appraiser who lost their license was smart enough to commit all this widespread fraud, they would also be stupid enough to use their real name and have the checks sent to their address - it just seems more likely a hacker or criminal used their identity - IMO -

 

[alebrewer]

Most direct lenders and AMC's that I deal with require a copy of the appraiser's cert and E&O dec page in the report. If that increases the risk of fraud, that's really on the lender, not the appraiser...

 

[Lil Rhody]

Most direct lenders and AMC's that I deal with require a copy of the appraiser's cert and E&O dec page in the report. If that increases the risk of fraud, that's really on the lender, not the appraiser...

I would never place my E&O in an appraisal. Lenders, Homeowners, borrowers, realtors, processors etc. all get to see copies of appraisals. None of those entities other than the client need to know my insurance info. Any client I do business with has an updated copy of my policy in their internal records and that is where I like them to keep it, in their internal records. Not for public consumption.