Austin
Elite Member
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2002
- Professional Status
- Certified General Appraiser
- State
- Virginia
I just read that article for the third time and the more I read it the clearer I see the underlying problem. I will catch hell for saying what I am about to say, but I had rather catch hell now and inherit heaven later. Let me try and put Tom Hilderbrandt’s, Steve Vertin's, and David Johnson’s cases in perspective as I see these cases.
First a little historical background: I work in a city of about 50,000 in Southside Virginia. My dad went into the real estate business in the early 1960’s, and I entered the business with him in 1972. There were no designated appraisers in this city or immediate area. My dad wanted me to get into the appraisal business and explained the facts of life to me.
Only 52 miles north of us is another city slightly larger, or was at the time, that had many MAI’s and a large AI Chapter. My dad had taken classes in the same town with the old Society of RE Appraisers. My dad explained to me that the reason for the concentration of MAI’s was that the Virginia Dept of Transportation had a large office there and these AI people made a living doing condemnation work. They were basically trained by a couple of MAI’s and it was kind of a close-knit old-boy-inter related society. In other words, condemnation work was their private domain.
In the late 1980’s when talk started about appraisal regulation I joined their AI Chapter and started taking appraisal classes from the AI. I completed all requirements for the RM designation except writing the demo appraisal, and all of the course work for the MAI designation, all without a mentor and all on my own. When I was having my experience credit evaluated for the then RM designation, an old MAI was talking to me and said, “Austin, this is a tough damn business to get into.” He was right, but I did it anyway without any help from anybody other than the AI education programs. What the old MAI meant was, you have bucked the system and gotten away with it.
I never made any further attempt to get an AI designation for various reasons of personal preference. Only one of these reasons is related to this narrative. In my opinion, the AI is the father of real estate appraisal and the historical soul and body of the profession. I have no complaint about their standards, ethics, and professionalism. Their aim is high and their intentions are good in general. I have thoroughly enjoyed my affiliation with the AI, especially the local chapter that was recently merged out of existence. Almost all of my appraisal friends are or were until today MAI’s or SRA’s.
Having said all of the above, there is in my view a collective group psychology within the AI body, not all of them, that hold the opinion that “we are god’s, and how dare anybody question us or the status quo.” Last year I was taking the required 6-year USPAP class at our AI chapter and the instructor was a 72-year-old MAI who has been around for a long time. He was teaching and telling stories of the old days and he said jokingly after one of his stories, “Yes, back in those days, we MAI’s were like gods. Nobody could question us.”
Now, I have said all of the above to set this scenario up: Lets take David Johnson’s case first. Who turned David Johnson in to NCAB and for what motive? As I understand it, David was turned into NCAB by an AI member SRA basically because she appraised a property at around $200,000 and David appraised it at around $250,000, then the property eventually sold for $252,000 approximately making her look bad. Why was David turned in? I mean the motivation, not the charges. We can always rig the charges to cover our tracks. Answer: Because David Johnson dared to disagree with an SRA. How dare you undesignated David Johnson disagree with the gods that be! Your punishment is death.
Now in the Tom Hilderbrandt case, what was the motive behind his being turned in to the NCAB? Answer: Who turned him in and why? He was turned in by an MAI because Tom made the MAI look bad and had to be liquidated. Who do you think you are undesignated Tom Hilderbrandt questioning the view of one of the god’s! You are condemned to death.
There is another thread running on this board with a similar case against MAI, Steven Vertin. What was the motive behind the actions against Steve? I can’t say for sure, but five will get you ten young Steve rustled the feathers of one of the old gods somewhere along the line. This activity is not confined by any means just to those that are non-AI members. MAI’s are notorious for turning each other in to the AI on various charges. Same motive: How dare you question the status quo of the old guard? I once had an AI instructor in capitalization Theory who was turned in to the AI on ethics charges because he was adjusting cap rates for property appreciation. The AI studied the charges for two years, decided he was correct, and hired him to teach classes on the subject.
SUMMARY: Is what I just stated an indictment of the AI? Absolutely not intended to be. This problem is not confined to the AI. What am I trying to say? What do these three cases have in common? The state appraisal boards are in my opinion being used as enforcement tools or method of punishment by a group of egocentric and small-minded individuals to deal with any who dares to cross paths with the gods that be. Not all of the self proclaimed gods are AI members. There are similar clicks in other organizations and local areas that are just as bad and just as dangerous.
Given the vagueness of USPAP (1-1b & 1-1c), the nature of the appraisal environment we live in as described above, and the unqualified and arbitrary police power vested in the state appraiser boards ruled over by political appointees (organizational affiliation is the surest path to political appointment in the good old boy network), what we are witnessing is a modern day GASTAPO style protection racket used solely for the purpose of liquidating those whom dare question the god’s that be. In essence, the state is making its powers available for the sole purpose of carrying out private vendettas against any person who dares to threatens the status quo.
One other little tidbit about this news article of interest: I looked up in the year 2000 AI directory the names of the other two appraisers involved in this news article who lost their license, and neither are listed as AI members. The factions involved in this case are MAI’s on one-side and undesignated non-AI members on the other. If this narrative offends anyone, as my grandmother use to say, “If the shoe fits, wear it. If it doesn’t fit, put it down.”
First a little historical background: I work in a city of about 50,000 in Southside Virginia. My dad went into the real estate business in the early 1960’s, and I entered the business with him in 1972. There were no designated appraisers in this city or immediate area. My dad wanted me to get into the appraisal business and explained the facts of life to me.
Only 52 miles north of us is another city slightly larger, or was at the time, that had many MAI’s and a large AI Chapter. My dad had taken classes in the same town with the old Society of RE Appraisers. My dad explained to me that the reason for the concentration of MAI’s was that the Virginia Dept of Transportation had a large office there and these AI people made a living doing condemnation work. They were basically trained by a couple of MAI’s and it was kind of a close-knit old-boy-inter related society. In other words, condemnation work was their private domain.
In the late 1980’s when talk started about appraisal regulation I joined their AI Chapter and started taking appraisal classes from the AI. I completed all requirements for the RM designation except writing the demo appraisal, and all of the course work for the MAI designation, all without a mentor and all on my own. When I was having my experience credit evaluated for the then RM designation, an old MAI was talking to me and said, “Austin, this is a tough damn business to get into.” He was right, but I did it anyway without any help from anybody other than the AI education programs. What the old MAI meant was, you have bucked the system and gotten away with it.
I never made any further attempt to get an AI designation for various reasons of personal preference. Only one of these reasons is related to this narrative. In my opinion, the AI is the father of real estate appraisal and the historical soul and body of the profession. I have no complaint about their standards, ethics, and professionalism. Their aim is high and their intentions are good in general. I have thoroughly enjoyed my affiliation with the AI, especially the local chapter that was recently merged out of existence. Almost all of my appraisal friends are or were until today MAI’s or SRA’s.
Having said all of the above, there is in my view a collective group psychology within the AI body, not all of them, that hold the opinion that “we are god’s, and how dare anybody question us or the status quo.” Last year I was taking the required 6-year USPAP class at our AI chapter and the instructor was a 72-year-old MAI who has been around for a long time. He was teaching and telling stories of the old days and he said jokingly after one of his stories, “Yes, back in those days, we MAI’s were like gods. Nobody could question us.”
Now, I have said all of the above to set this scenario up: Lets take David Johnson’s case first. Who turned David Johnson in to NCAB and for what motive? As I understand it, David was turned into NCAB by an AI member SRA basically because she appraised a property at around $200,000 and David appraised it at around $250,000, then the property eventually sold for $252,000 approximately making her look bad. Why was David turned in? I mean the motivation, not the charges. We can always rig the charges to cover our tracks. Answer: Because David Johnson dared to disagree with an SRA. How dare you undesignated David Johnson disagree with the gods that be! Your punishment is death.
Now in the Tom Hilderbrandt case, what was the motive behind his being turned in to the NCAB? Answer: Who turned him in and why? He was turned in by an MAI because Tom made the MAI look bad and had to be liquidated. Who do you think you are undesignated Tom Hilderbrandt questioning the view of one of the god’s! You are condemned to death.
There is another thread running on this board with a similar case against MAI, Steven Vertin. What was the motive behind the actions against Steve? I can’t say for sure, but five will get you ten young Steve rustled the feathers of one of the old gods somewhere along the line. This activity is not confined by any means just to those that are non-AI members. MAI’s are notorious for turning each other in to the AI on various charges. Same motive: How dare you question the status quo of the old guard? I once had an AI instructor in capitalization Theory who was turned in to the AI on ethics charges because he was adjusting cap rates for property appreciation. The AI studied the charges for two years, decided he was correct, and hired him to teach classes on the subject.
SUMMARY: Is what I just stated an indictment of the AI? Absolutely not intended to be. This problem is not confined to the AI. What am I trying to say? What do these three cases have in common? The state appraisal boards are in my opinion being used as enforcement tools or method of punishment by a group of egocentric and small-minded individuals to deal with any who dares to cross paths with the gods that be. Not all of the self proclaimed gods are AI members. There are similar clicks in other organizations and local areas that are just as bad and just as dangerous.
Given the vagueness of USPAP (1-1b & 1-1c), the nature of the appraisal environment we live in as described above, and the unqualified and arbitrary police power vested in the state appraiser boards ruled over by political appointees (organizational affiliation is the surest path to political appointment in the good old boy network), what we are witnessing is a modern day GASTAPO style protection racket used solely for the purpose of liquidating those whom dare question the god’s that be. In essence, the state is making its powers available for the sole purpose of carrying out private vendettas against any person who dares to threatens the status quo.
One other little tidbit about this news article of interest: I looked up in the year 2000 AI directory the names of the other two appraisers involved in this news article who lost their license, and neither are listed as AI members. The factions involved in this case are MAI’s on one-side and undesignated non-AI members on the other. If this narrative offends anyone, as my grandmother use to say, “If the shoe fits, wear it. If it doesn’t fit, put it down.”
