Appraisal Institute Controversy

[George Hatch]

It is also possible that Cindy Chance was essentially a "hired assassin" whose temporary job was to purge certain undesirables from the AI by those who hired her. All you have to do is interview those who were fired to determine what their beliefs and opinions were:

1. Were they just incompetents?
2. Were they in fact employees who whispered among themselves that the residential appraisers were being ignored at the AI, - or some such thing.
3. Were they the types who speak up, speak their opinion and criticize?
4. Or were they followers?

Who is in control at the AI now? What are their intentions?

Those such as Lori and others who think that Cindy Chance was some gift from God, are quite possibly wrong. She just does not fit the bill of what is needed to save the AI, - other than being a hired assassin to fire a certain group of employees.

Look deeper.

Unless/until ruled out all of the above are possibilities, including the possibility that is is all an AMC conspiracy. Or some combination.

 

[Zoe]

It looks like the board was responsible for firing many people to me.

Why is always the hardest question to answer?

You know dang well she went to many board meetings before she fired somebody.

 

[RCA]

I would say, and look at what has been happening over the past several years. Just open your eyes. - We have a MAJOR push by a "certain" minority within the Democrat Party to inject liberals into the real estate appraisal service sector to pull said minority out of the poor house, possibly with good but misguided intentions. It is a megaton force that will carry many to wealth if they go along with it. It is - (What is the term?) - UBIQUITOUS.

The incompetents love these waves of political force. They ride them to nice jobs, a higher living standard. This particular wave started in the 1950-60s, had its ups and downs, its phases, - and now it is in this really promising phase of "corrupting appraisal: to supposedly help pull this particular minority out of the poor house.

Would you happen to know where this leads? Appraisers can be forced to appraise homes in less desirable areas for more than they are worth. Loans will be given out, some probably at 100% of appraised value. But at some point, those homes will have to be sold, and the loans will have to be paid off. And if they don't sell for enough to cover the loan value, then what happens? - Most likely, the taxpayer will pay. If Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were privatized, then most likely, lenders and banks would pay - and that would be a no-go.

Ultimately, this approach is not sustainable. Those pushing for it are merely chasing short-term gains, while the long-term consequences are overlooked. It's a case of some unethical individuals benefiting financially at the expense of the future.

It's crucial to remember the primary role of appraisers. Their job is to estimate value for collateral , not to address social inequalities. This distinction is key to understanding the potential pitfalls of the current trend.

All other things being equal, homes in some areas have market values less than those in other areas for a variety of reasons:

1. Income. Homes in areas with predominantly higher-income homeowners will typically value higher.
2. Education levels.
3. Location: Elevation, good drainage, waterfront, view, appeal of surrounding areas, e.g. nature, parks, and so on.
4. Culture. The reality is that some people will avoid areas with high crime rates, a high proportion of cultures, races, religions, etc., they do not feel comfortable with.

If the racial composition of a neighborhood, all by itself, impacts market value, that should not be a concern of the appraiser. He needs to be concerned with collateral value. That is not to say that politicians should not try to remedy the problem. They could remedy the situation by providing incentives to buy in such areas, such as arranging for lower-interest home loans. These would have an explicit cost and means of sourcing funds - they can be managed and controlled. But tinkering with the appraisal system - measuring market value- is an invitation to disaster.

 

[Mejappz]

What are your thoughts on the interim CEO, who seems to be from a mergers and acquisitions, auditor, accounting kind of guy (he's a CPA)? Totally agree about her being hired to be an assassin of people they didn't have the guts to get rid of or were afraid of retaliation. And some of the people in receptionist/secretarial positions at National were rude as hell to me on the phone and emails years ago. They were completely disrespectful to me, while once again, the local Chapter coordinators I registered through were professional and always helpful or would find someone to help.

If that's accurate, it would certainly be another feather in Cindy’s cap. It’s high time those who’ve been living comfortably while the industry has been burning down are held accountable. Meanwhile, look at how TAF is managing Kelley Queen—King Dave has her on a tight leash, and it's business as usual over there. In fact, TAF’s recent partnerships might be making things even worse.

 

[RCA]

What are your thoughts on the interim CEO, who seems to be from a mergers and acquisitions, auditor, accounting kind of guy (he's a CPA)? Totally agree about her being hired to be an assassin of people they didn't have the guts to get rid of or were afraid of retaliation. And some of the people in receptionist/secretarial positions at National were rude as hell to me on the phone and emails years ago. They were completely disrespectful to me, while once again, the local Chapter coordinators I registered through were professional and always helpful or would find someone to help.

Who is the iterim CEO? Anyway, I respect CPAs. They also handle a lot of business appraisals - so there is overlap.

I honestly don't know who they fired or for what reasons. From looking at Glassdoor.com, it is easy to see there were and probably still are problems. It's rating is 2.1/5.0 - and that is pretty low.

Aside from the racial bias BS, you have AMCs gathering strength (both financially and politically), TAF problems, low appraiser income and so on.

They eventually won't have very many independent appraisers and will have to automate 100%. That means the cheap AVMs that only give approximate values biased towards the center, plus more expensive and accurate system that are monitored by experienced appraiser analysts, - to support research, lawsuits and investigative work.

 

[Amy Perkins]

Every residential appraiser should resign. Agreed 100%

They have their gov subsidy

 

[Amy Perkins]

I know little to nothing about the organization so it is no surprise that this the 1st time I've heard of Cindy Chance....
I'm surprised that forumites support a non-appraiser for the tip spot....

Her replacement is an accountant... I guess the bottom line is more important

 

[TC]

Why the uproar from so many res appraisers? Was she doing something the MAIs didn't like? As mentioned, I never heard of the woman before and didn't realize the AI was in trouble.

 

[Tiffany Gibbons]

Why the uproar from so many res appraisers? Was she doing something the MAIs didn't like? As mentioned, I never heard of the woman before and didn't realize the AI was in trouble.

Well, she was only there 11 months and she was heartily defending appraisers against the "racist appraiser" narrative favoring those designated members that head up AMCs or are big deal executives at the GSEs.

 

[Non Sequitur]

If true, the HR angle seems TO ME to be a much more likely explanation for this outcome than the other narrative being floated about AMC interests controlling the top echelon of the AI. It's also possible that both are true.

C'mon George, AI members can't read between the lines of a public statement by the president but reading between the lines of Glassdoor reviews is OK?

Anyway, those who are pushing the need for secrecy and justifying it with analogies to corporate America seem to forget the AI is a non-profit formed to benefit its members. There is NO JUSTIFICATION FOR SECRECY. Now with that said, there may be a need to keep personnel and legal issues private but that's a far cry from secret meetings with secret votes. The AI isn't a private for-profit business or corporation formed for the benefit its owner or stockholders, even though a few at national treat it that way.

One more point: The "Special Message" announcing Dr. Chance "is no longer in her role as CEO" lacked basic manners. Not wishing Dr. Chance well in her future is telling. But some think it's inappropriate to read between the lines.