Appraiser board

[Terrel L. Shields]

I doubt if we could get 25 appraisers to ask her to resign.

Changing the clowns does not change the circus.

appraisers will fare better in the courts in front of non-appraisers than in front of people who at least know what they're talking about WRT appraisals?

A real judge (a trained jurist) can often cut through the piffle that is the law whereas, a simple appraiser on a board may be biased with their own personal peccadillos on the best way to appraise something. I see it in the forum when someone assumes everything is either funded by FNMA, FHA, or VA. A judge is far better versed in administrative law than a board member with an appraisal license. A judge does not need the experience of being a thief themselves in order to adjudicate a crook coming before the court.

 

[George Hatch]

What we're looking for here is better (overall) vs worse. A legal case that is stretched out 2 years before a case even gets to trial can be a problem. A $50k cost for atty and case costs is money that has to come from somewhere. E&O carriers usually settle because of those costs, and they are sometimes doing so over the objections of their insureds. Fighting out the legal meaning of the word "is" might be appropriate at an appeals level but its overkill as a default.

If a state is getting 30 complaints a year then taking them all through an adversarial judicial system is going to get expensive and those costs will be passed on directly to the licensees in at least some states.

This ain't 1996 no more. If there are state boards out there which are acting reasonably then that is proof of concept; the individuals can attain competency and they can act ethically. The effective level of individual competency WRT both the standards and the law is much higher now than before when some of your examples occurred. The resources to remediate the level of competency have been established. A trained atty is as capable as a judge in advising a state board on how to effectively operate within the laws/regs as written.

There's always room for improvement, but IMO bringing in attys and judges who don't understand the difference between "reasonable" and "accurate" in appraisal parlance is moving the competency issue in exactly the wrong direction. OTOH I don't believe that training and holding board members to the COMPETENCY RULE in their exercise of SR3/SR4 applications is an unrealistic or unattainable expectation.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

A trained atty is as capable as a judge in advising a state board on how to effectively operate within the laws/regs as written.

You know what kind of attorney you get on a board? You get the newbie in the office, fresh out of law school. And they probably are the attorney for any number of such boards. You don't get Perry Mason.

 

[George Hatch]

You know what kind of attorney you get on a board? You get the newbie in the office, fresh out of law school. And they probably are the attorney for any number of such boards. You don't get Perry Mason.

The letter of the law is what it is. Except for the *known and documented* legal precedents involving privity these cases usually don't even hinge on controversies involving the law anyway. They hinge upon what is/isn't required under the standards; the primary role of an atty is to connect the dots showing jurisdiction. The state regs requires certain specifics of which USPAP compliance is one of them. The accused is going to argue that their actions didn't amount to an offense at the standards level, not that they weren't required to adhere to those standards per the terms of their license.

It's up to the appraiser members of the board - who are supposed to possess the technical competency with the standards themselves - to show the actual violation of the standards. As in obvious and beyond "this is how I do it". Which that's where almost all of the situations you complain about have occurred - one or more of the board members have applied their personal style to someone else's work as if their approach is the only possible solution. That problem right there can be fixed - proactively and at the personnel level - without incurring an extra $200k every year in court costs for the state.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

That problem right there can be fixed

Not as long as humans are involved.

 

[George Hatch]

I'll give you half a point on that one - "perfect" isn't among any of the alternatives because of the human factor. That's one reason why I keep reverting to the elaboration from (it's all "broken") to ("broken" compared to what?).

WRT governance, throwing rocks and preaching revolution is easy. Governing is hard.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

There were an estimated 2,000 "tips" sent to the boards by FNMA and Freddy. Plus, the normal number of clowns. So, every board is getting a regular dose of them. And, for the most part, the appraisers are funding the defense of the appraisers without compensation. That's why every 'tip' should be accompanied by a $100 application fee, refundable if an actionable violation occurs. You have to pay a fee to file in a court.

Yes, you can spend a lot of money to clear your name. And there is rarely a time you can countersue for the cost. And people know that so it's not going to cost them anything. U is f'd.

 

[George Hatch]

Maybe the regulatory system should be changed to require pay-to-complain. Offhand I can't think of another parallel anywhere in the legal system but there probably is such a parallel somewhere.

 

[sputnam]

Sputman is right, but you got the money and time to go thru the court systems.

You never want the state to look any of your appraisals, was always my mantra.

Good mantra.

 

[Zoe]

Maybe the regulatory system should be changed to require pay-to-complain. Offhand I can't think of another parallel anywhere in the legal system but there probably is such a parallel somewhere.

It is not so much that relative to the appraisal profession imho. The independent and employee appraisal profession is not united like many professions and skilled workers in America.

My question to you then which is an open end question. How does the appraisal profession become united? The leaders are not united. Appraisers are not united.

Keep in mind many professions are very united in their efforts.

Many skilled workers are very united in their skills.