Deal Nears to Curb Home-Appraisal Abuse, Coumo, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae

[Marcia Langley]

Yeah, that's the thing about GSEs.

The banks want as many appraisals as possible to be saleable to the GSEs. Even if many never end up there. If the banks were to find this new code to be too restrictive, it's always possible that they will take some care with the scope of the assignment and specify those cases where there is no need to conform to the GSE guidelines.

But at first blush, it seems more likely they will continue to want compliance as an industry standard.

 

[Michael Tipton]

The following is copied from an article in today's issue of the NY Times. I believe LSI and LandAmerica are also affiliated with title insurers. Won't they also have to be divested?

For a company like Countrywide, that would mean it would no longer be able to use its LandSafe subsidiary to do appraisals for its home loan business if it wanted to sell loans to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Title companies like First American would also have to divest their appraisal divisions if they wanted to continue working for lenders that sold loans to the mortgage agencies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/business/04loans.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin

 

[Hamlet]

The following is copied from an article in today's issue of the NY Times. I believe LSI and LandAmerica are also affiliated with title insurers. Won't they also have to be divested?

For a company like Countrywide, that would mean it would no longer be able to use its LandSafe subsidiary to do appraisals for its home loan business if it wanted to sell loans to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Title companies like First American would also have to divest their appraisal divisions if they wanted to continue working for lenders that sold loans to the mortgage agencies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/business/04loans.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin

I don't know about LandAmerica, but yes LSI has a title division.

 

[Sean47]

Will this shake up the industry?

" WASHINGTON -

A new agreement by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to only buy mortgages for which appraisals are made by firms independent from lenders will shake up the industry, analysts said.
The accord announced Monday between the country's two largest mortgage purchasers and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo likely will benefit independent appraisal firms and could force lenders that own appraisal operations to sell them off."

I got this quote from Forbes.com, and I wondering what appraisers on this forum think about this issue. How much you think this will change the industry and will this open doors for people. Please state your opinion.

 

[Tim The Enchanter]

World is no more, it's all Wachovia now, for some time.
I guess this agreement isn't carved in stone, and isn't permanent either. The part about not letting brokers select the appraiser sounds good anyway.

3 Big lies in life...

In California the 3 biggest lies are:

The Mercedes is paid for.
The mortgage is assumable.
The herpes is in remission.

 

[OSU Beavers]

We have this property tax loophole here in Oregon called Farm Deferral where if you show a minimum amount of farm income on your rural land you get taxed at a much lower rate. So what everyone does is take their goat and rent the neighbors pasture for it to graze on and then rent their two acres to the neighbor so he can graze his sheep.

I see the same thing happening with lender owned AMCs.

 

[Proactive]

In California the 3 biggest lies are:

The Mercedes is paid for.
The mortgage is assumable.
The herpes is in remission.

I left California for Idaho almost 30 years ago... I see the lies have changed...

 

[Doug Wegener]

Yup

The following is copied from an article in today's issue of the NY Times. I believe LSI and LandAmerica are also affiliated with title insurers. Won't they also have to be divested?

For a company like Countrywide, that would mean it would no longer be able to use its LandSafe subsidiary to do appraisals for its home loan business if it wanted to sell loans to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Title companies like First American would also have to divest their appraisal divisions if they wanted to continue working for lenders that sold loans to the mortgage agencies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/business/04loans.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin

Yes, And what is this going to mean for E-appraise It? Are they finished as
a provider of appraisals.

Are the appraisal divisions going to be sold off to some other company?
Anything less would seem to violate the spirit of the agreement.

Must be some late night meetings going on at the AMC's with lawyers.

 

[Jeff Newsom]

I saw some info that led me to believe this may only be a two-year program, ending in 2008. Not sure how "official" the source is, so take this with a grain of salt.
SNIP>>
Independent Valuation Protection Institute: The GSEs also agreed to provide $12 million apiece over a 5-year period to fund an “Independent Valuation Protection Institute.” A separate and independent organization, the institute would provide an appraisal complaint process, mediation of appraisal disputes, and mortgage fraud reporting.

The agreement terminates 28 months from the date of execution (i.e. July 2010). MBA staff are actively engaged in this issue and will provide comments regarding the code to the relevant regulatory agencies when the comment period opens.
<< SNIP

Any word on how the said "list" will be compiled? Are they going to make us sign up?

 

[Smokey Bear]

Divesting E-Ape from First American wouldn't solve any of E-Apes problems. They've created a huge PR and credibility mess, and I can't wait until someone gets Merlo in deposition to find out more about their malfeasance.