I got this in my email this morning.
Well, isn’t this just a “fine how do you do.”
The A.I. President, Sandra Adomatis, SRA, sent this message out today, 9/13/24 (what a wonderful
13th day for this!):
“We are writing to inform you that as of today, September 13, Cindy Chance is no longer in her role as CEO of the Appraisal Institute.”
Rumors that this was pending have been circulating around appraiserville for several weeks.
Today, I’m reading comments on various forums asking
“will we be told the real reason for this?” My answer: Nope. It will never be discussed publicly.
This action makes me seriously consider why I pay dues to this organization, as I have since 2003. Will I continue being a ‘member’, now that Cindy and others were able to get the Directors to change their attitude about us lowly non-designated Practicing Affiliates, and changed the A.I. policy about how non-designated dues paying appraisers could identify themselves to others?
For years, A.I. has been dominated by people who didn’t (and maybe still don’t) give a rat’s pattootee about residential appraisers. On the BoD, only 22% of those folks are singular SRA’s; the rest are singular MAI’s or have dual MAI/SRA designations.
Over the years, A.I. has been extraordinarily deficient in regularly explaining to the American Public what appraising is and how it’s done. A.I. has been basically silent in defending our work against the outlandish discrimination claims that infer that all appraisers are racists. It’s one reason why we appraisers have targets on our backs.
Finally, after the prior CEO retired, the BoD hired a highly qualified Ph.D in Cindy Chance to lead this organization. It didn’t take Cindy long to figure out why A.I. had/has structural issues. Changes were instituted, and honest discussion about what appraisers have been experiencing since 2020 were put forth .... frankly in response to politics of the current federal administration.
My ‘take’ on this is those actions ruffled feathers to a point that the one person doing an incredibly good job over the past year had to be jettisoned so that long-term ‘members’ can retain the status quo of what once was. In my view, that has become an extremely short-sighted outcome.
Frankly, I suspect that I and many other A.I. ‘members’ will be taking a hard look at our involvement, and whether or not we should continue paying dues to an organization that chooses not to publicly fully represent, support and defend all appraisers, despite the internal claims that they do.
Dave Towne, MNAA, AVAA, AGA Owner / Educator
Certified Residential RE Appraiser
Appraiser Education Service
23+ yrs Experience Quality live appraiser CE education
FHA Approved
360-708-1196
Accredited
Green Appraiser
dtowne@fidalgo.net
Specialist – HUD Sec. 184 Lending Pgms.
Freelance Writer – Appraisal Topics Member
360-708-1196 Kiwanis Club of Mount Vernon
Towne Appraisals Board of Director’s Member
dtowne@fidalgo.net
www.towneappraisals.com
Mount Vernon, WA
Appraisal Institute – Practicing Affiliate Member
National Association of Appraisers – Member
Appraisers’ Coalition of Washington – Member
American Veteran American Appraiser – Honored Recipient
