National Appraiser Boycott

[Zoe]

Have you considered looking? Just think, instead of making the careless crack without even thinking about it you could have taken 2 minutes to look for yourself to avoid the factual error.

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What grade do you give them with commingling of fees and fastest and cheapest?

 

[TC]

Don't you cuzz me boy..............

Had to Google that one.

 

[George Hatch]

if they are not for us...then they are against us...ask their paying partners

Appraisers sign certifications in every report stating they are not advocating for anyone's interests. We assert our impartiality and objectivity as a foundational principle. Our advocacy is limited to selling the merits of the appraisal process and our role as the outsider to transaction.

TAFs objectivity role is parallel to that. They advocate for the process and the standards/qualifications criteria and for the professional role of the appraiser. And not their economic interests as a group, let alone any subset of that group (like fee appraisers). Likewise the state appraisal boards are there to advocate for the rule of law as it relates to the licensing programs. Not to protect or promote or advocate for the economic interests of the licensees.

Why you or anyone else would find that offensive makes no sense. The professional orgs are in place to advocate for the business interests of their members. If fee appraisers seek a GAF representation for their business interests then there's an app for that. Go join one or more of those professional orgs, attend the meetings, pass the donuts and coffee and make their voices heard there. Or don't.

Or, appraisers can join one or more of the emotional support groups like this forum and shout into the void like I do. It don't cost nothing.

 

[HUDSHARM]

When do we finally join together as one and attempt to make changes that actually benefit us as the collective?

1. Our fees have been stagnant if not declining now for 12-15 years while everything else has gone up with inflation.

2. We face unethical AMC's that are taking a large % out of our fees with zero legislation in place to stop them unbeknownst to the general public.

3. We are forced to waste hours on end of our time as independent non salaried employees answering ridiculous revision requests that have zero effect on the actual assignment results.

4. We face absurd slander and attacks from Fair Housing officials who are now producing radio adds slandering the profession as "racists" with zero actual evidence of this
actually being an issue whatsoever in the industry. It makes no common sense to anyone with a functioning brain.

5. We are being tasked to learn a new "form" and new "software" with lenders and AMC's steadfast on paying us the same low ball fees regardless of the extra time constraints.



We have no Union. We have zero representation. No lobby fighting for us for even basic fair and reasonable treatment .

The only thing that is gonna save us is us. I don't know if a grassroots campaign is possible or will work and it might be painful for some for a few weeks but if we collectively boycott the conditions
we have been put in we can shut the whole system down until we are given what we ask or something atleast reasonable for the work we are putting in to try and feed our families.

What is stopping us from collectively boycotting the systems until we get better pay, resolve the AMC scam from the bad actors, get minimum fee standards. Get rid of the low ball "bid system" which
the consumer has zero idea takes place . The lenders and AMC's do not care about quality of one's work, they care about who can do it for the cheapest fee regardless of their talent or expertise.

Something has got to change. If not know, it will never happen.

The consumer is beginning to know. Nothing will be done unless you uncover the widespread harm to the consumer, and they are doing a good job at hiding it from them.

The AMC involved in this case was Class Valuation, which many appraisers already know for their low fees, aggressive turn times, and questionable selection practices. The postscript to the July 2024 article included documentation from the borrower that exposed something even more troubling. Class Valuation’s reviewer checked a box stating that the utilities were private and met FHA distance requirements, even though the appraiser had marked the property as having public water and sewer on the URAR. The reviewer’s checklist directly contradicted the appraiser’s own reporting, and the contradiction between the URAR and the AMC checklist cannot be dismissed as a simple oversight, because the reviewer’s statement directly concealed the appraiser’s error and cleared the path for the loan to proceed without addressing the underlying eligibility problem.

The imbalance becomes even more obvious when you look at how the AMC operated. Class Valuation selected the appraiser, and their choice was not a neutral one, because the appraiser they assigned already had a documented history of deficiencies with HUD, including repeated failures to report utilities, site characteristics, and other basic elements of the assignment. Class Valuation then controlled the review process and produced a checklist that contradicted the appraiser’s own reporting, effectively smoothing over the very error that should have stopped the loan in its tracks. Borrowers have no influence over any of these decisions, yet they are the ones who live with the consequences when an AMC prioritizes speed and cost over competence, and appraisers see this pattern repeatedly in the way certain AMCs staff their panels with whoever is willing to work for the lowest fee.

Systemic Failures in FHA Appraisal and Loan Review

This case exposed the cracks in an FHA system where failures by the lender, the AMC, and the review process aligned in ways that no borrower could have anticipated. It shows how easily an appraisal…

appraisersblogs.com

 

[chad hampton]

We all know what TAF is supposed to do. Now let’s talk about what they actually do. There’s a reason they have the reputation they do.

 

[George Hatch]

We all know what TAF is supposed to do. Now let’s talk about what they actually do. There’s a reason they have the reputation they do.

AFAICT they are doing what they're supposed to do. What they say they do. I don't agree with some of their decisions but I also don't believe they are acting in bad faith relative to their mission statement.

No matter. If TAF was retired tomorrow it would be replaced by some other entity and you would expect them to act outside of their scope of practice, too. Just like you do with your state appraisal board - you think it's their job to protect your fees from the lenders.

What you want is an Appraisal Institute with regulatory power who will intervene into the lenders' businesses and provide to you that which you are incapable of providing for yourself. You want the nanny.

 

[Surf Cat]

Public trust fundamentally starts at the top, both as an organizational reality and a legal definition.

Whether you are looking at this from a philosophical leadership perspective or through the lens of U.S. federal employment law, the highest tiers of leadership carry the ultimate burden for establishing and maintaining trust.

Ethical behavior, transparency, and accountability must be modeled by executives. If leadership bends rules, the rest of the organization internalizes that culture.

Case in point;

While the individual real estate appraiser legally signs off on every report to independently protect the public trust under USPAP, the system’s architecture forces a profound lack of transparency regarding the consumer's money.

Lenders and AMCs frequently utilize regulatory gray areas to conceal exactly how the borrower’s appraisal fee is divided.

 

[George Hatch]

What does AMC conduct have to do with appraisal standards, appraiser qualifications or even appraiser conduct? Nothing, that's what.

There's not one word in USPAP or anything else TAF publishes that touches upon the issue of the consumer's money or lender disclosures or lender transparency. You're attributing to TAF the responsibility for what the lenders are doing and what their regulators allow them to do.

You're just the appraiser. You are not responsible for the loan decision or any of the terms of that transaction. You're only responsible for what you do in the appraisal assignment.

 

[J Grant]

What does AMC conduct have to do with appraisal standards, appraiser qualifications or even appraiser conduct? Nothing, that's what.

There's not one word in USPAP or anything else TAF publishes that touches upon the issue of the consumer's money or lender disclosures or lender transparency. You're attributing to TAF the responsibility for what the lenders are doing and what their regulators allow them to do.

You're just the appraiser. You are not responsible for the loan decision or any of the terms of that transaction. You're only responsible for what you do in the appraisal assignment.

The fact that an AMC is called an APPRAISAL management company might be a clue. The AMC is regulated because it is set up to be a trusted agent of the lender with respect to appraiser qualifications and standards.

 

[Steelers74]

I wouldn't mind taking a month off. Could we make sure we do it while the weather is still nice?