FHA injustice-Need more help!!

[RGAcker]

I don't know how long forum comments or in my case appeals for help stay in the forum. I found this forum last Sat. night and appealed for help from anybody who cares to. I was kindly given condolences and helpful advise. However, if anybody else has any input or follow-up, I would really appreciate it. I am a Certified Residential Appraiser from central Maryland who was recently removed from the appraiser roster for 6 months . I did not do what HUD/FHA Philadelphia HOC said I did. The reviewer did not even accuse me of what HUD removed me for. The main reason for the suspension is "I potentially endangered the health and safety of the occupants :roll: of the home" I appraised in March 2000. I received an AQA from the Washington I think :?: in May 2001. The reviewer was not identifed nor was the date of the AQA :roll:. The reviewer :lol: stated "there was defective paint in the basement/foundation walls". The review was done (my guess) in April or March 2001, A year later. :?: I did not see any loose, cracking or peeling paint at the time of my appraisal inspection. I explaind this in the AQA answer I sent in May 2001. In October 2001 I received notification of the proposed removel (Dated October 25, 2001". I had 20 days (actually 17 days by the time I received the letter) to respond. I did respond by U S Postal Service Certified Mail on November 10 2001 (14 days after I received notification and 17 days after the date on the proposed removal letter). The letter of response and appeal for a conference along with the package (almost 2 lbs) of evidence I sent, took at least 5-6 hours to prepare. The return receipt had a November 15th 2001 date on it. I could not beleive it took 5 days to get from basically Baltimore to Philadelphia in 5 days :?. I just so happened to have been working 12+ hours a day 7 days a week at the time. I then received a letter from Philadelphia HOC stating that I did not respond so I was suspended for 6 months 8O :? . I then received a letter stating my response was "Late" and the person backed up the other person :roll: and confermed the suspension. Well I was not only I was professionally and sort of :x . I could not beleive that a person who tried to do his best (I do on all assignments no matter who the client or subclient is) on every job I am assigned. I VCed 10 items on that appraisal and it was an almost completed totally renovated "townhouse" in what is no know as "Federal Hill", Baltimore Maryland. Now I regret even doing the appraisal which was done correctly and I still stand by my adjustments and value conclusion. I will not go into the entire AQA and all of my answers. I will say there were approximately 2-3 minor errors, 3 disagreements with adjustments and a 3% difference of opinion on value and the "Paint" issue. My father who was on the FHA panel since 1986 apprenticed me and I know how to do FHA appraisals. I have done several homes in the Federal Hill area of Baltimore and can defend my adjustments. My father was also "Asked to be a reviewer in 1993 :?: , right after the lender select system took over. He was wise enough to know that an appraised value is a professional opinion in which appraisers may differ slightly. The reviewer differd by 3% which is under the AQA's 10% question and under the handbooks 5% guideline in the "new " handbooks threat collums :roll: . ps. I love that part of the handbook in which they have tried to scare the do do out of appraisers to do their job. to me it is unnecessary. However, the powers that be saw fit to include this in the handbook and then do not follow the guidelines anyway. Why would a fellow appraiser even address the disagreement with value unless it is over the guidelines. I guess he or she was trying to make me look bad :roll: . The proposed removal letter was accompanied by "the final rule" regarding appraiser discipline. There were several questions and answers regarding the "NEW" appraiser discipline methods. One of the questions had to do with "Won't this system of removal allow HUD an easier avenue to remove an appraiser and therefore have the potential to be abused? The answer by HUD's representitive was "In the past during the entire time the panel was in effect there was only 36 appraisers removed from the panel and most of those cases were out right fraud or criminal in nature. So what is HUD saying to me, I am a criminal :evil: , Huh!! I have never done anything illegal in my carreer and would not even think about it. Damn it I did my job and still have not only lost my FHA work and reputation, it has bleed over to the conventional work being suspended also by the main company I worked for. They said it was a "Corprorate decision" to go along with HUD. If they think you should be suspended then we will go along with that. Just great! Now my professional reputation has been tarnished, stained and hopefully tempoarely ruined over a mistake. I have a letter from the builder who renovated the house and he states "someone prior to my renovation painted the basement walls (this is the first item that make Me think that the walls were more recently painted than 1978) and my company scrapped any loose paint and cleaned the basement. Baltimore City issued a Use and Occupancy certificate for this house. I am trying to find out if Paint or lead based paint is an issue considered when a U & O is issued? I would think so. Well thats all for tonight. I couldn't find the old forum appeal for help so I am reissuing it in hope that some other advise comes in. Thank You all for you condolences and advise. I truely appreciate it.

Sincerely, R G Acker

Ps. My email address is in my profile if someone wants to privately communicate. Certanly do not mind

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

I wouldn't stop fighting! The fact is that with FHA and USPAP, any appraiser could probably be taken down. So many grey areas with so many ways to interpret.

I've been told that there is an appraiser in my area that really hates me. I don't even know him! :? I have no idea why he hates me. I do know why a couple of others do. :lol: Way too many appraisers take an adversarial attitude toward all other appraisers. This was a real surprise to me when I first started appraising. Along with this, there are FHA reviewers that shouldn't be reviewers. I'm beginning to believe reviewing should be a specialty. Too many reviewers just give the orders to a newbie to do; especially with the really low fees that the FHA contract companies pay. If some appraiser that decides (s)he doesn't like you gets into doing reviews, you're cooked!

Maybe the ACLU would help you. I don't always agree with what they do go after but, this extreme lack of due process seems unconstitutional to me. Maybe :?:

I just know that if it were me, I would fight with everything I could think of. Keep us posted on what your doing and how it works.

 

[RGAcker]

Just trying to make a living :? Know what I mean?

Thanks again

RGAcker

 

[Francois K. Gregoire]

I don't know how long forum comments or in my case appeals for help stay in the forum. I found this forum last Sat. night and appealed for help from anybody who cares to. I was kindly given condolences and helpful advise. However, if anybody else has any input or follow-up, I would really appreciate it. I am a Certified Residential Appraiser from central Maryland who was recently removed from the appraiser roster for 6 months . I did not do what HUD/FHA Philadelphia HOC said I did. The reviewer did not even accuse me of what HUD removed me for. The main reason for the suspension is "I potentially endangered the health and safety of the occupants :roll: of the home" I appraised in March 2000. I received an AQA from the Washington I think :?: in May 2001. The reviewer was not identifed nor was the date of the AQA :roll:. The reviewer :lol: stated "there was defective paint in the basement/foundation walls". The review was done (my guess) in April or March 2001, A year later. :?: I did not see any loose, cracking or peeling paint at the time of my appraisal inspection. I explaind this in the AQA answer I sent in May 2001. In October 2001 I received notification of the proposed removel (Dated October 25, 2001". I had 20 days (actually 17 days by the time I received the letter) to respond. I did respond by U S Postal Service Certified Mail on November 10 2001 (14 days after I received notification and 17 days after the date on the proposed removal letter). The letter of response and appeal for a conference along with the package (almost 2 lbs) of evidence I sent, took at least 5-6 hours to prepare. The return receipt had a November 15th 2001 date on it. I could not beleive it took 5 days to get from basically Baltimore to Philadelphia in 5 days :?. I just so happened to have been working 12+ hours a day 7 days a week at the time. I then received a letter from Philadelphia HOC stating that I did not respond so I was suspended for 6 months 8O :? . I then received a letter stating my response was "Late" and the person backed up the other person :roll: and confermed the suspension.

This sure sounds like a harsh sanction for one appraisal. My understanding of the HUD/REAC Single Family Appraisal System and Appraisal Quality Assessment was appraisers would be sanctioned for infractions more serious than what you have described or for multiple violations of HUD Standards. Were there other notices of appraisal deficiencies or notices of non-compliance prior to the one you describe? Have you previously been sanctioned by the Philadelphia HOC? The more complete the information you provide the better.

 

[Mountain Man]

Sorry to hear your story, but HUD is going through many changes in REAC. Frankly, I don't think that they know what they are doing! I did AQAS reviews in the past, until it became a total mess and they cut fees to $90 for a review. My past experience is that if I disagreed with the value, and it was NOT at least a 10% difference, then HUD would make me take out any comments in the review report of a value difference. A minor difference of value opinion is not grounds for a sanction.

Also, the review appraiser is required to provide evidence of the infractions with photos, letters or statements from the home owner, copies of invoices, etc. Did the review appraiser provide supporting evidence of the infractions with the AQAS review? If YOU have WRITTEN statements from the home owner, contractor or your photos of the repairs, I don't see where their review will hold merit.

Mell

P.S. Get an attorney. It may require some legal work to get the numb brains attention. That goes for your employer as well, it sounds like they are going to play the same game with you.

 

[Neil (Texas)]

Sorry to hear about your problem on being suspended for 6 months. However, it confirms the advice my attorney gave me after reviewing the 4150.2 when it first came out and my question was "should I continue doing FHA work?" His response: "Not no, but &*## NO! It's too ambiguous and frought with all kinds of liability." I took his advice.

Neil (Texas)

 

[RGAcker]

Well the lawyer who I thought would be my salvation really hit me with a brick. He stated that since it has been over 30 days since my tried appeal, that it is too late. I asked him if that came from a book or just his judgement and he said "his judgement". I then found out why he was so hesitent. :roll: He said that he has not had a day off since Christmas and that he was relly too busy to mess with it. Well great! (At least he told me)

Meanwhile, I contacted the Inspector General's Office in Washington DC which referred me to the Philadelphia Office and a specific person. This peson actually returned my call. He said "he would get back to me next week" on this after finding out HUD's side. We will see.

Thats all folks, I told you I would be brief.

Thank You for reading, RGAcker, The FHA Challenged Appraiser.

 

[Patrick McCarthy]

Sorry to hear your story. I have had problems with FHA appraisals regarding peeling paint. I went to Philadelphia from Long Island, NY to personally plead my case once on an appraisal. Drove down there in 4 hours sweating the whole way. Sat in a room by myself against 4 people asking questions. Luckily I prevailed because I had interior photos showing that the problem did not exist as of the date of inspection. The review was done 15 months after my inspection. When I do FHA appraisals, I take pictures of everything. Not all are submitted with the report. Good luck in the Future!!!

 

[Don Clark]

8)

I have two sets of comments. Number one is specifically for you, the second is comments in general:

1. Make a copy(if you have it) of your entire package. Send it to your congressman along with a request for help outlining what you have here. Also, send a copy to the Secratary of HUD marked "Personal and Confidential". If you can get letters from any professional organization you belong to, send them with the package as well. Get the fax number from REAC and every day, fax them a copy of your letter outlining what you have here. Send a copy of all this to the Chair of the House Committee with oversight of HUD(sorry, you will have to find out who that is on your own) as well as the senate committee with oversight of HUD(same comment as house). It is my firm belief that you will get a hearing, by someone. If what you say is true, you should be successful. I am going to assume, since I have no evidence otherwise, that what you say is true.

2. I did FHA(AQAS) Filed Reviews for over 7 months. In that time, the average appraised value was 16% above the sales price, and about 15% above actual market value. One appraisal was 100% above the sales price and 80% above market value. It was not uncommon to see 16,17,27,35% above sales price. In that time I saw absolute, blatant disregard for almost everything in 4150.2 including flakes of apparent lead based paint as large as dinner plates, visible from the street. Roofs that had long passed their life expectancy. Broken windows. Falling gutters & downspouts. A newly built home that I did an interior review on, that was built for a handicapped lady with 2 ramps, 1 wood, one concrete, with 15 major problems. The wood ramp had splinters over a foot long, broken rails. The concrete ramp had no safety barrier at the top. Shed demonstrated how, if she came out the front door and did not immediately stop, she would go flying off the front porch. Her bedroom had a specially built shower that she could wheel up to, lift herself out of the wheelchair and on to a seat in the shower. However, there was no build up at the shower base and if she used the shower, water would pour onto the carpet in her bedroom. There were many other problems, that is just a few. I also found one appraiser who liked to mix and match data. He would use the photo of one comp, and the data from another. Found many addresses that did not exist for comps. Found one appraiser who very carefully took a photo so as not to show the huge high voltage tower that was easily within the fall line of the subject and mentioned nowhere in the report. Should I go on :?:

:roll: I think you get the idea :idea: by now.

On the one hand I understand your plight, and, if what you say is true, and I am giving you the benefit of the doubt, then fight like :twisted: for what you think is right. However, I am glad to see that HUD is finally taking some action. :roll: Oh, by the way, none of the appraisers that I reviewed, with all the violations I have noted above, were ever sanctioned or removed from lender select.

Don