Registered Trainees on HUD Assignments?

[Farm Gal]

Ed:
One of MY concerns other than that infamous ad and the HUD 'unofficial concerns about the Homebuyers Addendum' :evil:

is the lack of formal training from any source about FHA inspection requirements...

The formal organizations NAIFA, and AI, do give classes, however to an even greater extent than USPAP the classes appear to be open to individual interpretation as to what current inspection and reporting requirements actually are.

Frankly the last AI class I took consisted of 8 hours of HUD is gonna get you, and the lawyers are gonna get you and very little positive information on how to competently perform a FHA appraisal!

I was fortunate enough toget in on the vary tail end of the HUD roster, and attended I believe three classes local area classes. I learned a great deal. The communication was abysmal, other classes were given, but the only source for information was to call a long distance number and HOPE it ws updated, usually they only updated the information on upcoming classes a day or two prior to the actual class.

OK so happy in my knowlege of knowing what the unwritten rules were, I set forth to do my work, only to find that most of those unwritten rules no longer applied :evil: :?:

Then the new NATIONAL rules tossing all the local variences were implemented, hence the old reasonably clear rules (enter my running to major education providers for information) no longer applied except sometimes when it is a health and safety issue, and it is up to me to make that call, and HUD isn't in the business of enforcing Code, so I get to make the call all on my OWN 8O based on... WHAT? my intution apparently! I am to call a health and safety issue a concern and note it, I am to require only minimum standards EXCEPT>>>> where someone could get hurt or injured ? So I canot make repair requirements based on code (which was largely developed to protect the public health and safety) but I am required to observe adn report all items which could cause a potentially health threatening situation... Do you see a catch here? l-i-a-b-i-l-i-t-y...

Oh yeah and then we go back to that document which is GIVEN TO THE HOMEOWNERS... any competent attorney and even most incompetent ones can hang ANY appraiser through items ommitted, and items included, IF they wanted to.

Standing before a judge and saying "Honest, sir, I did the best I could' isn't a great defense.

Forget HUD, I am more concerned about liability 'to others', and guess what folks, your E&O DOESN"T COVER THAT!!!!!

ah well.

Just another day in the jungle.

Oh and another thought: since I do mostly HUD REO work these days I am a little skeptical of the results of my report being used on a house usually in less than prime condition. There's liability #1, #2 is: Wanna bet the happy homebuyer pays all their bills on time? But its something like a living :roll:

 

[Leon Stewart]

Ed:

I think you are missing the point. When inspecting a property, an Appraiser has to make a determination as to the condition of the various Systems of the Dwelling, based on what is readily assertainable from view. When the buyer moves in, and 3 months later the furnace fails or the plumbing starts to leak, the buyers lawyer is likely to seek legal action against the Appraiser based on his evaluation of those defective items. Even if you win the case, or your E & O Insurance settles, you will have to deal with some expense of this action, and they might very well file action against you with the License Board.

Repo's are not a true Appraisal in the sense there is generally no third party involved, consequently there is no buyer to complain, and the Lender or FHA will generally accept the value findings "as is", and generally without comment, but this is not the category that HUD is thinking of rateing the Appraisers. It's the foreclosures that took place prior to the Reposession. In other words it would be based on the value estimate on the original sale.

But your argument on the percentage system is not with me, since it's HUD that has devised this system of grading the Appraisers, and the system is foolish at best, and the only purpose I can see for the procedure is to further discredit the Appraiser about something he has nothing to do with.

Under this HUD Rateing System for Appraisers, an Appraiser who appraises in a community with few FHA Repo's will have a good rateing while an Appraiser who appraises in a community with many Repo's will have a bad rateing. It seem as if that would be a discrimitory process which would eliminate many appraisers from appraising in communities with high Reposessions. The Appraiser could consider the option of lowballing most of those assignments. The Appraiser who consider working in those communities would more than likely consider that option.

leon

 

[Farm Gal]

Leon:

It is my understanding that the purchasor of a HUD repo home gets a copy of your Notice to the Homebuyer, INCLUDING all addendums, only problem is the addendums usually don't get to the homebuyer....

I also screamed bloody murder when I found out that HUD was posting my "estimated cost to cure" on the website of active listings. For the perusal of prospective homebuyers 8O

Duh yuh think they might be tempted to rely on that? Hunh? do Yuh?

and then get mad when they find more or different damages than you listed??? yupeee, the govement told me it would cost $3,420 dollars to fix this house and it really cost $6,840. I want my money from SOMEBODY.... who is to blame for my out of pocket..

Or lets ad an extra zero to those figures just for fun. That would really plow MY day to get a demand letter for my 'oversight'!

Actually the best thing in the world to happen 8) is the additional addendum pages NOT getting to them, then they couldn't have relied on 'em and I would be less likely to get in trouble??? :mrgreen:

 

[Leon Stewart]

Lee Ann:

I'm not prevy to what HUD/FHA gives the buyer, reference to Appraisal Reports and Repair Estimates at the time of Closing. "Back in the day" when I was involved in some of those Repo Sales, I always made it a point to inform the buyer(s) to get a good estimate as to the amount and cost of needed Repairs, because they can and usually do come up short. But if HUD is suppling the buyer(s) with Cost Estimates made by the Appraiser (as you indicated), that could open up a whole can of worms for the Repo Appraiser. Estimating Repairs is similar to an Appraisal Estimate, and if you had 10 persons doing the estimating, you would come up with 10 different amounts. That's just the way it is.

Even when the buyer gets estimates on their own they will run the risk of a Contractor low-bidding the job to get the job, but once they start the work they will come up with many extras that weren't included in their Contract. It's a trick that has been practiced as long as I can remember, and they still do it. But if HUD is hanging the Appraiser out to dry in this manner, this appraising business is getting risker and risker by the minute.

leon

 

[Mike Garrett RAA]

Back to the original question.....No a trainee can not do HUD appraisals. They can assist you in doing the appraisal and receive credit (at least in my state) for the time put in but in order to be placed on the approved appraiser list you must

1. Have minimum of two years experience.

2. Be licensed, not registered.

3. Pass the test

4. Submit to FHA for approval and be placed on the list.