Lee Ann,
Another good point from you. Now, here is a bit of speculation on the issue of HUD. They may not be as dumb as we think.
Think of this. You are an FHA appraiser. You work for lender A for five years, a reputable company, they want honest appraisals at fair market value to protect their investors. Their lenders are in it for the long haul, and want to protect their appraiser to a degree.
They carry a low default rate because they properly screen their applicants before ordering the appraisal.
Now along comes Breaka leg mortgage, offering you the chance to be their appraiser.
You immediately pull up the FHA page and find out they have a large default rate, and that, by taking their work, you know you are risking your qualifications as an FHA appraiser. So, you tell them no thanks, you have enough to do already, but you appreciate the offer.
They go and find another appraiser who happily rolls the numbers and gives them what they want for their treasure chest fee.
FHA then sees the appraiser hit the default alert level. Now, he/she loses their FHA income. The lender is back to hunting for another chump.
But you are still doing FHA work, and still staying in the safety zone.
FHA is actually hitting the appraisers in the pocket.
And making it necessary for any FHA appraiser that wants to do their work to start being pickier about who they do the work for, thereby putting a dent in the predatory lending arena.
It is a low-budget, under handed tactic, and, unfortunately, smart as can be. Now they can legally get rid of bad appraisers, and kick the snot out of the bad lenders, and still get to blame the appraisers.
They keep their political clout with the banking industry, and we get stuck policing our clients to protect our incomes. So, who is at fault when an appraiser refuses to do a lenders work? They will blame the appraiser, and if they do accept the work, then they get one step closer to the FHA getting to boot them.
It is actually a very smart plan. And they don't really care that they are kicking the appraisers in the chops. Honestly, the only ones who will run from the work are the ones who are nervous about their ability. The ones who know they are good at it will simply be very picky about who they do work for, and will demand payment in kind.
I still intend to get my FHA number when I get my license. I'll just be picky about who I work for. And, with all the people jumping ship, there should be plenty of good clients to work for.
Good luck.
