AQB Update On Proposed Changes To Appraiser Qualifications

[George Hatch]

What QE training did these appraisers take that they were able to pass with such a low-quality skill set, and how much room for improvement could we make at the QE level?

Quote myself to ask the question - do any of you think a trainee could make it through the AI courses at the residential QE levels without being able to adequately read/write/reason?

 

[timd354]

Let's be honest, here.

How many bad appraisals can be attributed to poor writing/ reasoning skills vs deliberate violations of the ETHICS RULE? Was it poor sentence structure that caused that gross overvaluation or was it the deliberate errors of omission or commission, committed for the express purpose of assisting a client to lie to the primary intended users of the appraisal?

I don't know what percentage of bad appraisals is due to poor reasoning and writing skills versus ethical issues although both are a problem in my opinion. I will even grant you that it is the unethical appraisers that are the bigger problem and they concern me much more than the incompetent appraisers with poor writing and reasoning skills. However, just because the ethical problem may present a greater risk than the incompetent problem, that does not mean that we should not address the incompetent problem.

By the way, if you have a good method of identifying unethical appraisers (who have not been convicted of felonies or serious misdemeanors) before they are licensed/certified I would love to hear about it.

 

[George Hatch]

Like I said, if you position against the state protection of your economic interest, drop your state appraisal license and compete without one. I see nothing wrong if appraisers expect a state to protect their interests, The lenders and AMC's have no problem lobbying or going for seats on state boards or govt agencies to protect their interests.

Let me attempt this one more time:

There's a difference between qualifications criteria designed to attain a minimum level of competency - which was clearly the original intent of licensing requirements - and adding excessive and unnecessary requirements after the fact and for the sole purpose of protecting our economic interests via competition control. the stated purpose of licensing is to protect the public. Not to protect the appraisers. So no, I'm not going to apologize for meeting the requirements for licensing fair and square in order to compete in the marketplace for that work, but I'm also not going to be a hypocrite and say that I think it takes a 4yr degree to be a competent form monkey when I know for a fact that isn't the case. And I'm *especially* not going to tell that lie on behalf of my own selfish interests.

 

[George Hatch]

I don't know what percentage of bad appraisals is due to poor reasoning and writing skills versus ethical issues although both are a problem in my opinion. I will even grant you that it is the unethical appraisers that I think are the bigger problem and they concern me much more than the incompetent appraisers with poor writing and reasoning skills. However, just because the ethical problem may present a greater risk than the incompetent problem, that does not mean that we should not address the incompetent problem.

By the way, if you have a good method of identifying unethical appraisers (who have not been convicted of felonies or serious misdemeanors) before they are licensed/certified I would love to hear about it.

No, it's others in this thread who are attributing better ethical conduct to higher barriers to entry and education; not me.

Likewise, it's others in this thread who seem to be suggesting the choice is between all (4yr degree) or nothing (HS/GED). Not me.

 

[The Warrior Monk]

I've never seen a 3rd grade writer in appraising, but okay.

I'm kidding with regard to grade level, but I am not kidding with regard to basic writing skills. Once again, reviewing reports coming in through AMCs and MBs in the heyday dramatically changed my view of what was going on out there.

Also, FWIW, I went back to college in the late 1990s because I was considering a career switch. I had to take first year college-level course in order to obtain additional degrees (note: I didn't have to take them to get my initial four-year degree, due to an exemption specific to my major at the time). I was astounded at the lack of basic English skills that many of these students had...and it was more than a few.

If "education" solves that problem then the next step is "how much education"?

I don't disagree there is a balance somewhere in between. What happened was that we went from one extreme to the other. However, I prefer the current extreme over the prior one, as it tends to make entry to the profession more difficult, versus the previous situation of letting everyone in.

Lemme ask you something in all seriousness. If you had one of these appraisers assigned to you for 2 weeks - and it was a do-or-die situation for them - do you think you could help them get their report writing up to an "acceptable" level for SFR appraising?

Acceptable is a relative term. I can say most definitely that there is absolutely no way I can bring someone up to the level of writing that I expect in my reports. But that is because I have college degrees in report-intensive majors, along with several years of copy editing experience. Additionally, because of the type of appraisal work I do, there is typically significant narrative required.

Now if we were dealing with cookie cutter assignments with limited narrative, maybe. However, one doesn't just change bad habits, or simply educate themselves, overnight.

 

[djd09]

Are you guys done giving each other high fives , yet.

Sometimes it is like reading an AI infomerical around here.

Did we vote for the members of the AQB or are they appointed by the king.

 

[timd354]

No, it's others in this thread who are attributing better ethical conduct to higher barriers to entry and education; not me.

Likewise, it's others in this thread who seem to be suggesting the choice is between all (4yr degree) or nothing (HS/GED). Not me.

I agree that there likely is no connection between ethical conduct and weather an appraiser has a college degree

 

[The Warrior Monk]

Quote myself to ask the question - do any of you think a trainee could make it through the AI courses at the residential QE levels without being able to adequately read/write/reason?

This is one of the big issues that arose post-licensing. If the QE courses were actually AI-level courses in the first place, we'd probably be in a different place right now. However, a great many weren't...they were simply designed to past a test. I've experienced a plethora of times. It didn't matter to me, simply because I took some courses to satisfy certain QE requirements post-licensing, rather than trying to get my pre-licensing SREA and AIREA courses approved.

 

[The Warrior Monk]

Sometimes it is like reading an AI infomerical around here.

Except that most people in this discussion don't belong to AI (Denis excepted). There education is the best...speaking from firsthand experience.

 

[George Hatch]

I must confess to asking a question for which I already knew the answer. And I did it for the express purpose of bringing the discussion of individual competency WRT what it takes to develop/write an acceptable SFR appraisal for the typical suburban dogbox that comprises the majority of assignments in most SFR appraisers' book of work.

So if we have QE courses of varying degrees of quality graduating trainees of varying levels of ability - and conversely, not-graduating students of lesser ability at varying levels - where do you guys think is the logical place to start WRT increasing qualifications requirements? What's the most direct and proximate fix?