E-MAIL TO THE CONGRESSMAN

[bobburnitt]

RE: CONGRESSIONAL ACTION?????????????

How many of you have sent an e-mail to my Congressman, Joe Barton?

Maybe he might do something if someone shows some interest.

BB in Texas

 

[Frederick R. Ruffell]

Bob, I have not but I would if someone would make it easy for me. Why don't you write a short statment addressing the issue ( I remember reading your original statement but not the issue) that all can use or rewrite, and the congressman's E-mail address. If you do, I will.
Sincerely,
FRR

 

[Rick Neighbors]

Bob,

I registered with the Congressman's site and emailed him a short invitation to the Appraiser's Forum to see the petition and the postings by concerned Appraisers.
I also stated my own personal concern with commissioned employees being involved with selecting Appraisers, and the grief that we get from them if the value is not what they feel it should be.
I refered to your work on this matter and thanked him in advance for his time in looking into the problem.

Hope it does some good!!

 

[bobburnitt]

Fred,

The conversation I had with his office was regarding the routine practice of coercion of appraisers, by lenders, to lie about condition of properties, and to inflate values to make their 'deals work'. I believe that many appraisers succumb to lender pressure without a struggle. It is my position that this is a frequent occurence due to lack of enforcement of existing laws, and the fact that commissioned sales people are in charge of hiring / firing appraisers. So-called loan 'officers' who work on commission should never be allowed to procure the appraisal service.

It is also my feeling that all so-called "management' companies are nothing but appraisal brokers, and the split that is paid to them is a violation of RESPA. Their 'management' fee should be disclosed to the borrower.

Other things were discussed. You are free to add your own perspective.

You might want to address the ridiculous idea of allowing machines to perform 'valuations'. ie; AVM's

Question: Where are the 6,000 + appraisers that 'signed' the petition?

BB in Texas

To e-mail Congressman Joe Barton, go to his web-site and click on e-mail. Please address this issue in your own words. His web-site is www.house.gov/barton/

Couldn't be much easier than that.

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

Bob,

It won't accept any email from outside his district.

 

[bobburnitt]

Pamela,

That figures. I knew that he, of course, would not 'reply' to e-mails that originated from outside the district, but I hadn't anticipated that e-mails would not be accepted from outside the district. I'll have to try something else.

BB in Texas

 

[David C. Johnson]

<span style='color:darkblue'>Bob:

I went to the site shortly after you posted with the intention of sending him a short email. When I saw all the hoops to hop through (including the possibility of getting regular "stock" emails in return for the next few years), I gave up.

However, had I thought about it at the time, I would have checked the site better to see if there was a FAX number included there. The cost of such a FAX to the sender -- particularly when it is out-of-state, is dirt cheap.

I am going to share something with you and others on the forum. When communicating with an elected official on this type issue (as well as most other issues):

Do not telephone, Do not write a letter, Do not email, and Do not "drop-by" for a chat. FAX.

If someone asks, I will explain why this is true, otherwise, consider it solid advice.

In Short: FAX = Telegram.

Of course, you may be able to "FAX" right from your computer without printing a hardcopy and taking it to the FAX machine -- if you have the software and know how to do it. I don't.

Post his fax number, and I will "send him some paper," unless, of course, his office receives faxes via computer, which is just fine too. A fax is a fax -- errr...a telegram!

Regards,

David C. Johnson (a.k.a. Faxmiester)</span>

 

[bobburnitt]

OK

His Fax is 817-926-2618

BB in Texas

 

[Dave Doering]

I was also unable to send an email to the congressman since I am not a contituent.

However, I would appreciate if any of the Texas members of this forum could forward my thoughts regarding two of the major underlying problems that I feel are behind the problem of appraiser coercion.

Specifically they are: 1) the growing trend for lenders and loan originators to be paid on a commission basis; and, 2)the availability for loans to be sold on the secondary market without recourse.

With more and more loan "officers" now being loan peddlers and paid not on the basis of good lending practices, but on closed loan volume, "due diligence" does not appear to be as important. As a result, the appraiser that follows USPAP and excercises due diligence in the perfomance of the appraiser is often punished or coerced with the threat of not being paid or being blacked listed from future work.

The situation is further exascerbated by a lender's ability to sell loans with little differential in their discount rate "without recourse". By selling a loan without recourse the loan originator is absolved of much of the responcibility for the loan in the event there is a default. I have had several candid conversation with aggressive lenders who can sell a loan without recourse for little more than a 1/8th point difference and effectively wash their hands of a bad loan. For predatory lenders, this is like a get out of jail free card.

 

[Frederick R. Ruffell]

Done