New Housing Bill/FHA Loans

[Don Clark]

Once the President signs this bill, this will be the new requirements for FHA:

The text from the bill awaiting signature follows:

SEC. 1404. REVISED STANDARDS FOR FHA APPRAISERS. 7
Section 202(e) of the National Housing Act (12 8
U.S.C. 1708(e)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 9
lowing: 10
‘‘(5) ADDITIONAL APPRAISER STANDARDS.— 11
Beginning on the date of enactment of the Federal 12
Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008, 13
any appraiser chosen or approved to conduct ap- 14
praisals for mortgages under this title shall— 15
‘‘(A) be certified— 16
‘‘(i) by the State in which the prop- 17
erty to be appraised is located; or 18
‘‘(ii) by a nationally recognized profes- 19
sional appraisal organization; and 20
‘‘(B) have demonstrated verifiable edu- 21
cation in the appraisal requirements established 22
by the Federal Housing Administration under 23
this subsection.’’.

Here is a link to the full bill:

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/financialsvcs_dem/hr3221_bill_text.pdf

 

[Wendy]

How can you be certified by a "nationally recognized professional appraisal organization"?

Don't the individual states control certification?

PS - Since Florida has pretty much phased out the licensed category - I don't see much impact here.

 

[Mike Phillips]

How can you be certified by a "nationally recognized professional appraisal organization"?

Don't the individual states control certification?

PS - Since Florida has pretty much phased out the licensed category - I don't see much impact here.

Ah...the lady wins a cigar! Less than 70 Licensed appraisers in Florida.
Florida no longer issues the Licensed category appraisal license.

 

[Doug Wegener]

certified

Once the President signs this bill, this will be the new requirements for FHA:

The text from the bill awaiting signature follows:

SEC. 1404. REVISED STANDARDS FOR FHA APPRAISERS. 7
Section 202(e) of the National Housing Act (12 8
U.S.C. 1708(e)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 9
lowing: 10
‘‘(5) ADDITIONAL APPRAISER STANDARDS.— 11
Beginning on the date of enactment of the Federal 12
Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008, 13
any appraiser chosen or approved to conduct ap- 14
praisals for mortgages under this title shall— 15
‘‘(A) be certified— 16
‘‘(i) by the State in which the prop- 17
erty to be appraised is located; or 18
‘‘(ii) by a nationally recognized profes- 19
sional appraisal organization; and 20
‘‘(B) have demonstrated verifiable edu- 21
cation in the appraisal requirements established 22
by the Federal Housing Administration under 23
this subsection.’’.

Here is a link to the full bill:

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/financialsvcs_dem/hr3221_bill_text.pdf

What does certified by a national appraisal organization mean?

Does that mean a designation? Does NAIFA's designation with requirements equivalent to certification qualify?

How about the designations of other appraisal organizations? Which qualify and which dont?

 

[Don Clark]

What does certified by a national appraisal organization mean?

Does that mean a designation? Does NAIFA's designation with requirements equivalent to certification qualify?

How about the designations of other appraisal organizations? Which qualify and which dont?

Doug,

I wish I had the answer. Maybe Brad Pack can fill us in.

 

[ZZGAMAZZ]

IMO the "shall be certified" verbiage doesn't necessarily equate to the professional status of "certified" appraiser. If it means what it says, great, but otherwise it's a poor choice of words.

 

[Doug Wegener]

Certified

Doug,

I wish I had the answer. Maybe Brad Pack can fill us in.

In my opinion, this is an example of a poorly written law. What does

“Certified by a nationally recognized professional appraisal organization” mean?

I think eventually HUD will have to issue a interpretive regulaton which fleshs this out and interprets what it means. Until then nobody will know what it means, probably including Brad Pack

 

[Don Clark]

This was posted by Jo Ann Meyer Stratton on another forum. It is what NAIFA believe the new legislations says:

Title: H.R.3221
Author: Ms. Ann Susko, IFA
07/28/2008



NAIFA's Legislative Commitee and the Appraisers Coalition have been working diligently over the past few months to influence this bill. It is the Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act. It has passed both the House and Senate and should be signed by the Pres. today. I will summarize the relevant portions as the bill is 694 pages.

--All appraisals done for the Hope for Homeowners program (FHA housing & stabilization & homeownership retention) must be conducted in accordance to Title XI of FIRREA & performed by an appraiser who meets the competence requirements of USPAP.

--Amends the FHA Appraiser Roster Requirements as follows:
* beginning on the date of enactment of this bill, any appraisr chosen or approved to conduct FHA appraisals shall be certified
**by the State in which the property to be appraised is located; or
**by a nationally recognized professional apraisal organization; and
**demonstrate verifiable education in FHA appraisal requirements

--Appraiser independence: prohibits all aparties involvd in a real estate transaction, including mortage lenders, mortgage brokers, mortgage bankers, real estate brokers, appraisal management companies, employee of appraisal management companies, or any other person with an interest in a real estate transaction from improperly influencing an appraiser. This provision protects appraisrs working under the Hope for Homeowners Program & the FHA Appraiser Roster.

--Establishes a nationwide loan originator licensing and registration system that will set minimum standards for loan originators licensing substantially improving the oversight of mortgage brokers and bank loan officers.

--Loan restructuring can only be 90% of the "appraised" value of the property.

These are a few of the highlights that will have an impact on appraisers. We must remember that nothing happens quickly when dealing with the government. Bill Garber, the lobbyist for AI, has been extremely diligent in keeping the Coalition informed, collating our ideas and responses, and writing letters to the appropriate people so that the appraisers voice is heard. I feel very good that our suggestions and efforts had an impact on the final product.

Ann Susko, IFA
NAIFA Legislative Liaison

 

[Mary Tiernan]

I have seen the term "certified" to mean licensed, as in certified by that state to do appraisals.

 

[Jerry Lieb]

To answer a couple of questions in this thread: Some, but not all, professional appraisal organizations certify their appraisers though an on-going certification program. Generally these requirements are somewhat more stringent than what the state requires. I know this is true with the Appraisal Institute and also the American Society of Appraisers, of which I am a member, but not sure about other organizations.

I have a question for one of you regarding the FHA 2008 Reform Act. Has this gone into effect yet, or will it happen later this year? My wife - who is NOT certified by California - just was placed on the FHA roster. She is a licensed appraiser; will take the certification exam sometime before November.

By the way - we just had a 5.8 earthquake here in Southern California that really shook us up. Phones went dead - land line AND cell phone. All that worked was our MagicJack phone, which goes thru the computer....!

Jerry Lieb, ASA