Need Opinion On Appraiser/AMC Guidelines

[barbfit]

Hi there - I have a question. Do appraisers have access to prior appraisal reports? I read that the AMC was put in place to keep appraisers from knowing what the lender was asking for as a way to keep bias out of the appraiser's findings. We have a situation where within the last year we had 2 appraisals due to an addition we put on our house. One was 1/12/2017, the other 12/18/17. I found out that the same appraisal company was used and, coincidentally, both appraisals came in nearly identical and looked unusually familiar, even though the market had changed substantially including many more homes sold closer to our home for increased value as well as a 6% market increase in our area. It seems to me if the second appraiser knew of the first one (he even asked me what the appraisal was and, without thinking I told him) and worked for the same company, it would be in his best interest to keep the appraisal similar to the other appraiser. This seems to me to be a conflict of interest. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you!

 

[J Grant]

You might want to ask if the appraisers are staff appraisers vs fee (independent contractor ) appraisers. If both appraisers work as staff appraiser for a company, it is highly likely the company shares older appraisals among them as a time saving device. While most companies don't provide prior appraisals to independent appraisers, it's possible for them to do so. The appraiser asking you what it appraised for last time is a grey area since most clients do not want the appraiser discussing value issues with a home owner or party other than the client.

Make your concerns know to the lender, ask for a review or reconsideration of value or even another appraisal. It is possible your house is worth the same this time as last time, however if the extension has been added and/or market increased, any value change should have been factored in.

 

[residentialguy]

Using another appraisal is not bias, it's data. I often would ask if a prior appraisal was available as a check to see if I missed something. Now if they were cloned and used the same comparable sales when newer sales have taken place, then yes, you would have concern. But if they used recent similar sales in your area, then those are reflective of Market Value. That doesn't mean that they were adjusted correctly...only a review of that appraisal could determine that. They could also use the older comps used on the prior appraisal, if they were the best indicators of market value.

Something else to consider: Maybe your prior appraisal was inflated a bit, hence why the current one came in similar to that value.

 

[hastalavista]

Hi there - I have a question. Do appraisers have access to prior appraisal reports? I read that the AMC was put in place to keep appraisers from knowing what the lender was asking for as a way to keep bias out of the appraiser's findings. We have a situation where within the last year we had 2 appraisals due to an addition we put on our house. One was 1/12/2017, the other 12/18/17.

I would expect the appraisal reports to look very similar in terms of physical characteristics of the property (for those things that haven't changed), description of the market area, and in format and presentation.
I would expect the comparables to be different (or, at least, some different; it could be that a 12 month old sale is a very good indicator of value).

I do note that the timing of your valuations (January & December), while 11 months apart,are done in the Winter/Holiday Season. I cannot speak for your market but it isn't unusual for pricing (and values) to shift (rise/fall) going into and out of the holiday season/winter months.

As JGrant suggested, if you have sales that you think are better and were not considered in the second appraisal (I'm assuming you are benchmarking the second appraisal's value against the first), contact your lender and ask them how to request a "reconsideration" (a term that means something in the lending world).

Good luck!

 

[bnmappraisal]

Do appraisers have access to prior appraisal reports?

If it is the same appraiser, then yes, we have access to our prior appraisal reports. We are required to keep our reports a minimum of 5 years.
If a different appraiser did the prior appraisal report, then most times we do not have access to these prior reports

I found out that the same appraisal company was used

So the same appraisal company or same appraisal MANAGEMENT company?
There is a big difference there (although some may disagree at times)

It seems to me if the second appraiser knew of the first one (he even asked me what the appraisal was and, without thinking I told him) and worked for the same company,

Again, (my bold) the same appraisal company or same appraisal MANAGEMENT company?

 

[Tom4value]

Most of the time it is the homeowner who gives me a copy of a previous report. Since you are asking,that is not the case here. I have had cases where the lender provided a previous copy. That is perfectly ok since as the owner of the report, they can give it to whoever they want to.

Personally, when I get handed a copy of a report, I act like I got a lame birthday gift from Aunt Martha. I politely say thank you and put it in my file. After I collect my data I look at it for discrepancies. For comps, an 11 month old report is useless to me. I will still look at it to see if the original appraiser was on the money or way off. This lets me know if they will be happy or angry with my report.

 

[Mike Kennedy]

A prior appraisal reflects a prior Appraiser's opinion for a specific stated Intended Use by stated Intended User(s) - Period.

There is absolutely no reasons (except two>> ) for any property owner, ree-lator, mortgage broker, or lender to offer a copy of a prior appraisal report -

1. The new assignment is for a formal Review of a prior report and is entirely legitimate.

2. The offer is an attempt to sway the second appraisal's outcome (ie either property description, location, condition, quality, above grade living area sf, and/or sales which may or may not be "comparable", and the $$$econd market value opinion).

In 25 years, I have never and will never, ever accept a copy of a prior appraisal report from any party involved in a potential, or actual new lender, private, or legal appraisal assignment.

Appraisers are required by Law (in states which adopted the USPAP into Law) and/or Mortgage Lending Regulation to be entirely objective and independent.

Period.

 

[residentialguy]

A prior appraisal reflects a prior Appraiser's opinion for a specific stated Intended Use by stated Intended User(s) - Period.

There is absolutely no reasons (except two>> ) for any property owner, ree-lator, mortgage broker, or lender to offer a copy of a prior appraisal report -

1. The new assignment is for a formal Review of a prior report and is entirely legitimate.

2. The offer is an attempt to sway the second appraisal's outcome (ie either property description, location, condition, quality, above grade living area sf, and/or sales which may or may not be "comparable", and the $$$econd market value opinion).

In 25 years, I have never and will never, ever accept a copy of a prior appraisal report from any party involved in a potential, or actual new lender, private, or legal appraisal assignment.

Appraisers are required by Law (in states which adopted the USPAP into Law) and/or Mortgage Lending Regulation to be entirely objective and independent.

Period.

If the appraiser is weak, I agree with you. Otherwise, not so much. That's like a police officer not investigating other prior police work on a guy.

• It's a good double check your data
• It's a good tool to see something that you might have missed
• It's a good tool to arm your appraisal against a value discrepancy from that appraisal. Your report takes the wind out of their sail.
• It's a good tool to see a good comp that you may have missed

Being objective is a personal decision that you make. If you can't do that, you shouldn't be on this forum...you might be influenced!

 

[chad hampton]

I would ask if they are independent fee appraisers or if they are AMC/bank employee appraisals. If they are bank/AMC employees, then I am fairly sure they 'cloned' the prior report.

Of course, bank/AMC shouldn't be hiring employees to appraise properties, as they are no longer the middle man in the process, but that's our fight, not yours.

 

[Sid Holderly]

In my area just because the public data for the stats on a whole county (or MLS) went up or down does not mean the subject and comps in a specific segment went up or down. Sometimes supporting fill from organizations or publications is recommended and may or may be used verbatim by various appraisers or recommended (required words) by some AMC's. Like other commenters, if the data or adjustments give you a lot of concern (not different where they should be)a review by the lender or another appraiser may be in order.