Hidden home appraisal middlemen have cost homebuyers $12 billion

[George Hatch]

It a free market. It may be bad practice from a moral standpoint, but it's a highly feasible, legal business practice. Until the actual numbers are published as to the average/median AMC vs. Appraiser fee nationwide, all of these speculations about the percentage breakdowns are just that. Speculation.

Unpleasant but true.

Moreover and a little tangental, if the Executive Branch had maintained the original intent of the C&R elements of D-F the outcome would have been different. Leastwise, at the outset.

 

[alebrewer]

Moreover and a little tangental, if the Executive Branch had maintained the original intent of the C&R elements of D-F the outcome would have been different. Leastwise, at the outset.

and if AMC's were actually held to the C&R requirement... the C&R numbers I crunch every year are WAY different than the fees that folks report AMC's paying...

 

[George Hatch]

WRT AMC fees I've heard it both ways so I don't know.
----------
One thing I've wondered about is what happens if the AMC submarket gets arbitrarily leveled. If they can't compete with each other by fee does that mean that all competition ceases? Or does it mean they compete in other ways which have yet to be prohibited?

(received at 01/09/2025 @ 6:00AM)

"We are soliciting bids for the appraisal at 4320 Elm Street. The C&R fee is $500. We have already established an appt for inspection for 01/09/2025 at 8:00AM. The appraisal is due by 01/09/2025 at 6:00 PM. Any delay upon delivery will be penalized at $15/hour. We will award this assignment to the first appraiser who responds/agrees to these terms. "​

​

Unintended consequences, right? The other 15 appraisers who weren't first just lose out on that one.

 

[Joyce Potts]

Trying to figure out what you're trying to say, so I'm just gonna take a leap. Yes - the lender IS procuring a $200 appraisal service when they engage an AMC (assuming, of course, that the appraiser charged the AMC $200 and that the appraiser's services were adequate for the lender's needs). They are, however (or more appropriately - the buyer is), paying $1k for that $200 appraisal service. Which, to my point, should infuriate ANY lender - especially as regards the exorbitant fee their borrower is paying for the AMC's services.

Thanks for your service. Many of us have made similar but different efforts in trying to get the abuses within our industry back on course. And for those who claim that people like me don't get out there and go to all these meetings with all these organizations and events that, frankly, accomplishes NOTHING, here's some of things I've done over the last 40 years:

I helped raise ~$25K for legal fees and found a competent attorney for Pam Crowley when she was sued by eAppraiseIT (Google it) when she claimed they cracked open the PDF reports, removed the signatures and had free access to change whatever else they wanted in the reports.

I met with the Secret Service and State of (Florida) reps in Tallahassee to try and get more attention on the abuses by the lending and AMC industries going on in my state.

I have been a PIA for Jim Amorin, Mr. Liskar and others at the AI, DEMANDING answers on the FNC suit, stock options, self-enrichment disclosures for AI board members, staff, directly or indirectly. Myself a only a few others wanted to sue the AI years ago over the FNC and selling out of the residential membership and their data mining sell out (SCAM #1), that segwayed into the escalation of the AMC business model that takes that data and develops hybrids, etc., that competes against the appraiser. We couldn't get enough appraisers to donate to hire legal counsel to get our questions answered.

I was the 'task force' or 'think tank' in getting the HVCC implemented that went no where.

I hosted groups of vocal appraisers along with Steve Cannon, Esq., (FTC vs Lousiana) at my home to try and get a group together to get some legal action going.

The fee issue is the LEAST of our problems and has always been the wrong way to go about correcting the abuses within the lending and appraisal industries. But it appears the ONLY time you get the average appraiser's attention is when it hits THEM in the pocket book. Too little, too late.

I hope Cindy Chance blows up the AI. It's unsustainable and unsalvageable at this point, IMO. It's a tear-down due to functional and economic obsolescence, inherent moral corruption notwithstanding. The AI issue aside, the appraisal and related industries are a massive money making endeavor that is not likely change anytime soon.

Let REVAA take over let the appraisers all be trained by AMC's to hit the number. The beat goes on.

 

[George Hatch]

I mostly agree except I doubt the Appraisal Institute has the power or leverage to make a dent in the situation.

 

[alebrewer]

I met with the Secret Service and State of (Florida) reps in Tallahassee to try and get more attention on the abuses by the lending and AMC industries going on in my state.

How did you go about this? Is this something you think average 'boots on the ground appraisers' could pull off?

The fee issue is the LEAST of our problems and has always been the wrong way to go about correcting the abuses within the lending and appraisal industries.

Agreed that appraisers tend to be fixated on the fee issue, but in defense of that fixation - it's also the easiest to quantify and document...

 

[Joyce Potts]

I mostly agree except I doubt the Appraisal Institute has the power or leverage to make a dent in the situation.

George, they were behind and facilitated the data mining, or GIVING away the residential data. Did they profit from it? Great question. Could they have made a dent in the current AMC business model? We'll never know.

 

[Dublin ohio]

Be careful where you get your information about the amount of work the top five AMC‘s handle

So who are the top 5 AMCs.

 

[Joyce Potts]

How did you go about this? Is this something you think average 'boots on the ground appraisers' could pull off?

Agreed that appraisers tend to be fixated on the fee issue, but in defense of that fixation - it's also the easiest to quantify and document...

Appraisers keep fighting these battles (over fees) when in fact, the war has already been lost. But if it gives appraisers the false persona of the moral high ground, carry on.

 

[Joyce Potts]

I mostly agree except I doubt the Appraisal Institute has the power or leverage to make a dent in the situation.

I forgot, both you and I were involved with the development of the HVCC. That went no where.