How to Fight AMC Abuse of Appraisers

[George Hatch]

What I have said - and what everyone here understands - is that your real argument about the fee won't sell. That's why you have to back into it by alleging the AMC appraisers are incompetent and present a threat to the public.

I don't disagree that the primary problem for appraisers is the fee nor do I criticize anyone for considering the fee to be the primary problem. All I'm saying is the public doesn't care about appraisers or their fees except to the extent they can't get appraisals for free.

 

[sputnam]

I have nothing against AMCs. I am opposed to the fees some of them offer. The simple solution is to not accept the assignment at a fee that I consider too low. That's what I do. I can't control the behavior of any other appraiser. I can, and do, when given the opportunity, encourage other appraisers to not accept lower fee work. The problem is breaking through the common mindset that success in the appraisal business is measured by how many assignments are completed. It isn't. Success is measured by how much money you get to keep. Don't get me wrong. I have been a GSE/AMC fed appraiser who covered a large geographic area at fees that I wouldn't accept now. When I decided to stop doing that, the amount of money I got to keep did not decline. I did fewer appraisals, at higher fees, my costs were lower, and I had more time to do other things... like build guitars.

 

[J Grant]

I have nothing against AMCs. I am opposed to the fees some of them offer. The simple solution is to not accept the assignment at a fee that I consider too low. That's what I do. I can't control the behavior of any other appraiser. I can, and do, when given the opportunity, encourage other appraisers to not accept lower fee work. The problem is breaking through the common mindset that success in the appraisal business is measured by how many assignments are completed. It isn't. Success is measured by how much money you get to keep. Don't get me wrong. I have been a GSE/AMC fed appraiser who covered a large geographic area at fees that I wouldn't accept now. When I decided to stop doing that, the amount of money I got to keep did not decline. I did fewer appraisals, at higher fees, my costs were lower, and I had more time to do other things... like build guitars.

I fully agree; if each and every or at least 90% of fee appraisers stopped taking low AMC fees, the AMCs would be forced to pay higher fees - under the current business model, most of them would go broke, which would be fine, then lenders would be forced to order dried.
I have no problem with AMCs themselves, but we can not separate AMC;s from the low-fee model they operate on; thus, AMCs are a problem. And of course, the problem originates with the lenders who use AMC, because the lenders get free or hard cost to their service borne on the backs of appraisers, so the lenders are complicit, and the combined money and power and influence of both lenders and AMC;s a powerful force for appraisers to fight back against.

The other problem is it was easier for you to get other work due to a cert gen license - of course, you worked to get the cert gen license, but having it gives another alternative to AMCs that res license appraisers lack., That said, some res appraisers refuse work from AMC's but it is not an easy path.

There are a few rat appraisers who like the low-fee system at the AMCs because it gives them their one and only way to compete, which is to outbid the others and pile on a huge volume. Which, of course, is a problem because even if they are competent, cranking them out, in their lingo, short changes the borrower - back to the same problem on the consumer end angle. The consumer of Oucre is completely unaware that their assignment might go to an AMC and that once it is in the AMC pipeline, it is pimped out reverse auction-style to the lowest bidder. That should be midsoles, but of course, it is not.

All the official and high-brow appraisal organizations cover for it and never mention it as a problem. This is why membership is shrinking and nobody trusts them. It is why many res appraisers are dropping out. Their own organization and regulators betray them, yet they, the low-resource appraisers, are somehow the only ones expected to hold up for public trust and be above every influence,all for a dinky fee, while the AMC supposed firewall is a farce and an appraiser can be ghosted for coming in "low. - explains why there is only signing up for PAREA or other training options,

 

[alebrewer]

Would a simple email suggesting it be sent to every appraiser whose email is available from licensing be effective?

I doubt anyone here has the time to be some kind of mastermind coordinator, but maybe someone out there does.

Personally, thought I would like to see it happen, it does not affect me and I can not put in some enormous effort to make it happen. Those affected who appraisers who work for AMC's need to make it happen. But the other efforts can work perhaps - NAR esp hates AMC;s as a rule, I have interacted with enough RE ahnets to know - almost th first thing they ask is do know th eara a nd then they relay a horror story about an out of area AMC appraiser.

Probably easy enough to get appraiser contact info - just would have to know the right folks to ask, but I'm sure there are a few lists floating around. And getting a mass email out wouldn't be that awfully challenging - heck, the NAA probably has several thousand members. One of the issues with aligning with an advocacy group, though, is that there really is a lot of comingling between the advocacy groups and the regulatory groups. For instance, Whitney Dingeman is the Director of the NAA. Her husband, of course, is chief appraiser for Class. As an aside - I like both those folks - I'm just saying that it may be challenging to get an advocacy group to stand up to the AMC's because of conflict of interest.

 

[Tom D]

Yea, yea, yea. Yada, yada, yada. Most here will be retired, or appraising dead within 2 years, no matter what we think of AMC. I gotta wipe the tear stains on this thread, from the self inflicted appraiser behavior. Sorry kids, I've got 9 toes out this door. The 10th toe waiting to see the amount of new aggravation the new 1004 uad will have to offer.

Still looking for a place to repair your buggy whip.

 

[Tim Hicks (Texas)]

On the one hand I strongly recommend appraisers use the "public good" angle in their appeal because that's the only theme I think will resonate with the public or the politicians. On the other hand everyone here understands this discussion is really only about the appraiser's fee. IRL, the plausibly deniable use of the "public good" angle is strictly subordinate to their fee problem.

I wonder how much of the public think appraisers are all racist and biased? That is the only press we have gotten lately.

 

[J Grant]

I wonder how much of the public think appraisers are all racist and biased? That is the only press we have gotten lately.

Well, look at the Wildfire thread and see why.

Unfortunately, the haters became the face of appraisers - which still leaves the biased claims as false, but they play right into it.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

we have to spend half our time responding to appraisers who argue why AMC low fees are the appraiser's fault. or whho like to mock and denigrate any effort -

Making the accurate observation that the appraiser has to accept a low fee for a low fee to be imposed (upon their peers as well as themselves) is not denigrating anyone's effort to raise prices. I understand the concept of united we stand and divided we fall. But the solution isn't a union. It isn't lobbying by societies in the face of a powerful NAR and ABA. That's jousting the windmills.

As the AMCs drive more and more appraisers out of business, then their cry of "shortage" will only ring truer and truer. The AMCs themselves should recognize that they are shooting themselves in the foot. By driving more folks out, they are accepting short term profits without admitting that in the long-run, they are driving themselves out of business as banks substitute AVMs and AI to do appraisals rather than humans. And the banks do not need the AMC if they are using an AVM.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Still looking for a place to repair your buggy whip.

Good analogy. Find a good leather buggy whip for less than $100. Sure you can get a $14 plastic one from China. I bet you won't find many Amish with a horse and buggy that would use a plastic buggywhip. Another example of scarcity increasing the demand dollar. Buggy whips were never obsolete and there were few people who only made buggy whips. They built all sorts of leather accessories. Saddles, bridles, harness, etc. My buddy sold a saddle to the company that made it 100 years ago for their museum. Today that company is still in business but builds all sorts of fasteners and buckles for everything from purses to industrial machines.

A good buggy whip is made by a craftsman. And skilled leatherworkers are not plentiful. Leather is not cheap. I sold a custom saddle recently. $1500. You could buy a saddle for $500 or less - made in Mexico, cheap crap. To build a custom saddle here is a $1,500 - $5,000 proposition. So, again, quality matters more than quantity.

 

[Surf Cat]

AMC appraisers are the battered girlfriend of an abusive boyfriend. They're in so deep that there's no way out. Everyone is telling her "just leave him" and when she tries to pack her bags and leave... it's like the boyfriend senses this desperation and appears out of no where as she's packing....and beats the ever-loving sh*t out of her for even thinking of leaving.

So....she stays with the AMC boyfriend.....because there's no way out.