NY, FirstAM & WaMu article

[Carnivore]

Well, I certainly hope they all pick experienced reviewers to review the appraisal reports. I hope they are all wise enough not to pick reviewers with a predetermined mindset that simply because the report went thru E for WAMU that it is inflated.

I really really hope we get a quick revision to USPAP defining the length of time a reviewer can consider sales that occurred AFTER the effective date of an appraisal before this turns into a free for all against every appraiser in the country.

Janet,

Dont worry about the paper tiger USPAP. JE will take care of that problem.
The court would be disappointed if you did not look at the post history of an appraised property.

 

[Don Clark]

Geez Ray, why would you do that? There are a lot of appproved apppraisers with AMC's (eAppraiseit included) who do fine work.

That would be my question as well. I have done appraisals for many years for First American, the eappraiseit. Turn me in. You will find that I did not "hit numbers", and would put my work up against anyone else on this forum. I also chared full fees, which is likely the reason they stopped using me.

 

[Tawfik Ahdab]

Craig,

Thanks for the reminder about the NAMB letter we sent out in June 2004 and signed by over 120 forumites.

Let's dust off the old letter to remind the lending world we tried to reason with it.

http://appraisersforum.com/showthread.php?t=83324&highlight=NAMB

Mr. Robert Armbruster, President
National Association of Mortgage Brokers
8201 Greensboro Drive, suite 300
McLean, Virginia 22012
Email: bobarmbruster@namb.org


We, the undersigned, are members of an independent and voluntary group of appraisers from across the United States who meet on the internet and we would like to congratulate you on your recent appointment as President of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers.

A June 16, 2004 Realty Times article about your appointment quoted and paraphrased you as having a strong interest in prosecuting, punishing, and eliminating dishonest mortgage brokers among your ranks. As Real Property Appraisers who have mortgage brokers as clients, we commend you for the pursuit of this difficult yet crucial mission.

Just as the loan volume originated by mortgage brokers has exploded in the last decade, so too has undue pressure placed on Appraisers by mortgage brokers in order to facilitate loans. The rise in the number of mortgage brokers has unfortunately been accompanied with a decline in respect for the independence of Real Estate Appraisers.

The problem with lender pressure on Appraisers is not relegated to mortgage brokers alone, but is more rampant among them because they are not subject to State and Federal banking laws and regulations. Lender pressure on Appraisers has grown to become so overt and common that almost ten percent of all licensed and certified appraisers in the U.S. have signed a petition decrying it. Others that agree with the petition have stated that they are afraid of losing business if they sign it. We urge you to become aware of how acute a problem lender pressure is for Appraisers by visiting the web site hosting the petition: http://appraiserspetition.com

We are encouraged by your apparent recognition that dishonest mortgage brokers pose a grave danger not only to the financial soundness of all too many borrowers, but to the public trust that honest mortgage brokers struggle to uphold.

We are especially gratified by your pledge to develop a system of mortgage broker accountability in the context of industry self-regulation. Absent outright individual licensing of mortgage brokers at the State level (which still has not helped enough in those States that do license mortgage brokers) this approach to decimating the ranks of dishonest mortgage brokers holds the most promise.

Because predatory and fraudulent mortgage loans frequently require inflated property values and fraudulent appraisals, you may understand why we are very interested in the matter of combating the problem of dishonest mortgage brokers – it is a corollary to the problem of dishonest and incompetent Appraisers.

Mortgage brokers who obviously prevail because of their extensive knowledge and experience rather than by cutting corners or committing fraud have a stake in this cooperation also. These are the people we want to acknowledge and support. We don't think that the removal of unethical and dishonest mortgage brokers from the appraisal loop would do anything but play to the advantages of the ethical mortgage brokers. The unethical and/or incompetent Appraisers wouldn't be able to lie for them; therefore, the ethical players would inherit a greater share of the business and prosper accordingly.

It is our conviction that fraudulent loans are pandemic and that they are facilitated by fraudulent or incompetent appraisals performed under lender pressure. We therefore invite you to engage in a dialogue with the Real Estate Appraisal industry in the hope that our combined efforts will result in the expulsion of dishonest mortgage brokers and dishonest Real Estate Appraisers from the real estate industry.

We invite you to contact any and/or all of us at:

[we will insert names, license #, state & email address of the Forumites that post under this that they want to be included]

Respectfully Submitted,

 

[David S. Roberson]

"The attorneys at HBSS would like to hear from consumers who took out a home loan from Washington Mutual and had the home appraised by First American since 2006. You can reach HBSS at 206-623-7292 or e-mail "


This just keeps getting better!

 

[Ray Miller]

Geez Ray, why would you do that? There are a lot of appproved apppraisers with AMC's (eAppraiseit included) who do fine work.

Now that it has been brought public that this was taking place, we got to start the clean up of our profession some where. If the appraisers who are on the approved lists did good work, did not inflate value, then they should not have a worry about the work being reviewed.

Those that did poor work or inflated value could come clean or wait to have an audit done of the appraisals that they sent in.

Why should e or Wa take the full wrap, the appraiser also worked at getting it done or it would not have happen.

Don't you feel the clean up has to start some where? The list are there.

 

[SmilingDog]

Many moons ago I worked for a lender that IMO did things the right way.

When they received a call from a prospective borrower, they would send out a staff appraiser FIRST. No estimated values, no pressures, just go and tell us what the property is worth.

THEN, the lender would make an appointment to talk to the prospective borrower. This lender also had an internal review department that did a really good job of educating the appraisers.

This system worked for this lender for many decades.

 

[Don Clark]

Janet,

Dont worry about the paper tiger USPAP. JE will take care of that problem.
The court would be disappointed if you did not look at the post history of an appraised property.

Carney,

I agree. Besides, TAF could not place such a restriction on a review. I have in some cases, in doing a VA Liquidation as well as REO appraisals, commented on how a subject could have been in a marketable condition when previously sold, and be in it's present deteriorated condition that clearly would have been there at the time it was previously appraised. I am not talking about damge or repairs, i am talking about deterioration that comes about over time.

It would be good to remember that TAF is not a regulatory body, and USPAP is not law. TAF is an educational organization. USPAP is/are minimum standards.

 

[Laura Goldware]

WaMu Employee Comments on Eappraiseit.

I found this on the WTUG group. It is from the WSJ blog.




Here's a comment from the HYPERLINK
"http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2007/11/01/the-trouble-with-apprais
als/?mod=homeblogmod_developments"WSJ Blog:

As a current employee in the mortgage banking dept. at WAMU (not in
NY) I have more than first hand knowledge of the outfit (e-appraise
it) getting sued. WAMU scrapped their in house appraisal dept. this
year and farms out every appraisal nationwide to two vendors. The one
getting sued is by far the most incompetent, frustrating, inefficient
operation any of us as ever experienced from an appraisal entity in
over 20 years.

One thing I know for sure is that you can in no way, shape or form
influence the value of the appraisal from either of these entities.
First, it is randomly chose which one gets the business, and second,
you are in no way allowed to even speak to the appraiser or give them
a value needed for the particular loan being made.

The complaint was always the other way around: they consistently
butchered their appraisal reports because essentially it is a chop
shop just churning out volume with little interest in the quality of
their work. Trying to forward documents or information to them was to
send it into a black hole; turn times were horrible, and mistakes were
common.

I don't believe these allegations can be considered widespread (maybe
a few were able to game the system, but ALL the employees I work with
wanted us to dump this outfit for incompetence, not fraud). Either
way, everyone in my office cheered this news because this company is
an impediment to quality business, not an enabler.

Comment by WAMU employee - November 1, 2007 at HYPERLINK
" http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2007/11/01/the-trouble-with-apprais
als/?mod=homeblogmod_developments#comment-1063#comment-1063"6:13 pm

 

[Don Clark]

I found this on the WTUG group. It is from the WSJ blog.




Here's a comment from the HYPERLINK
"http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2007/11/01/the-trouble-with-apprais
als/?mod=homeblogmod_developments"WSJ Blog:

As a current employee in the mortgage banking dept. at WAMU (not in
NY) I have more than first hand knowledge of the outfit (e-appraise
it) getting sued. WAMU scrapped their in house appraisal dept. this
year and farms out every appraisal nationwide to two vendors. The one
getting sued is by far the most incompetent, frustrating, inefficient
operation any of us as ever experienced from an appraisal entity in
over 20 years.

One thing I know for sure is that you can in no way, shape or form
influence the value of the appraisal from either of these entities.
First, it is randomly chose which one gets the business, and second,
you are in no way allowed to even speak to the appraiser or give them
a value needed for the particular loan being made.

The complaint was always the other way around: they consistently
butchered their appraisal reports because essentially it is a chop
shop just churning out volume with little interest in the quality of
their work. Trying to forward documents or information to them was to
send it into a black hole; turn times were horrible, and mistakes were
common.

I don't believe these allegations can be considered widespread (maybe
a few were able to game the system, but ALL the employees I work with
wanted us to dump this outfit for incompetence, not fraud). Either
way, everyone in my office cheered this news because this company is
an impediment to quality business, not an enabler.

Comment by WAMU employee - November 1, 2007 at HYPERLINK
" http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2007/11/01/the-trouble-with-apprais
als/?mod=homeblogmod_developments#comment-1063#comment-1063"6:13 pm

Let the (blame) games begin

 

[Non Sequitur]

Let the (blame) games begin

I agree 100%. The fingers are pointing and I'm sure glad they can't come my way; I've never worked for WAMU or eAppraiseIt. I feel for the competent appraisers. I think (but hope not) when it's all said and done some will either go down or spend serious cake defending themselves, collateral damage for a lack of better words.