The Appraisal Subcommittee Busted

[Terrel L. Shields]

half the time improvements are not picked up for years,

Our county is quite aggressive about keeping up with the new construction - uses digital data to find new construction in addition to cruising the building sites as they are being built. But I was in a distant county doing an estate and I found sales that were still not on the assessor's records 6 years after construction. Without the MLS, I would not have known it even existed. The counties are supposed to reassess every 3rd year and obviously this one wasn't.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Does government have the right to delegate a bureaucracy to create regulations? Central to a huge argument in state as well as SCOTUS

 

[Mejappz]

Does government have the right to delegate a bureaucracy to create regulations? Central to a huge argument in state as well as SCOTUS

Justice Bradley is correct. The people did not elect bureaucrat hacks like those at TAF and the ASC to govern. That responsibility belongs to elected officials.

 

[George Hatch]

All someone has to do to develop a more informed opinion about what actually is would be to go look at the sources to see what they're saying their role is.

Neither the ASC nor TAF write or enact any laws, rules or regulations. CONGRESS legislated both the establishment and content of FIRREA and CONGRESS authorized TAF to act as the source of standards and licensing qualifications. Neither ASC nor TAF conferred these authorizations upon themselves.

The ASC's role is enforcement of the content of the laws rules and regulations, including compiling and conveying the content of those regs (inclusive of the baking regulators' requirements) to the state appraisal boards as well as monitoring their compliance with federal law and the regulations applicable to the regulated financial institutions.

Here's a link to their policy statement, the origins of which go back 30+ years to FIRREA itself. If you had any interest in understanding more of what you're talking about you COULD go look for yourself instead of taking anyone else's word (who also never bothered to look).

https://www.ASC.gov/sites/default/files/documents/PolicyStatements/2018 March - Revised ASC Policy Statements.pdf

 

[RCA]

All someone has to do to develop a more informed opinion about what actually is would be to go look at the sources to see what they're saying their role is.

Neither the ASC nor TAF write or enact any laws, rules or regulations. CONGRESS legislated both the establishment and content of FIRREA and CONGRESS authorized TAF to act as the source of standards and licensing qualifications. Neither ASC nor TAF conferred these authorizations upon themselves.

The ASC's role is enforcement of the content of the laws rules and regulations, including compiling and conveying the content of those regs (inclusive of the baking regulators' requirements) to the state appraisal boards as well as monitoring their compliance with federal law and the regulations applicable to the regulated financial institutions.

Here's a link to their policy statement, the origins of which go back 30+ years to FIRREA itself. If you had any interest in understanding more of what you're talking about you COULD go look for yourself instead of taking anyone else's word (who also never bothered to look).

https://www.ASC.gov/sites/default/files/documents/PolicyStatements/2018 March - Revised ASC Policy Statements.pdf

The ASB, which belongs to TAF writes and maintains USPAP, which is considered law in many states. Therefore, TAF writes laws. ...

 

[George Hatch]

"Authorize" and "adopted" is done at the govt level. Did Congress have the authority at the federal level to do that or not? Because if they did have that authority then the responsibility for their decision making rests with them.

It's not like TAF issued some EO to empower themselves to bypass Congress. Or the White House.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board established that parallel long before the different appraisal orgs conspired to promulgate a common appraisal standard.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

It's not like TAF issued some EO to empower themselves to bypass Congress. Or the White House.

So, you think they didn't influence anyone in congress to adopt them like some orphan baby? I mean, why didn't congress simply delegate an independent group without a dog in the fight to do this. The whole premise of Congress appears to include delegating the task of creating regulations to non-elected officials, when the constitution says that is their job.

Take ATF attempting to ban pistol braces after previously approving them. Congress did neither but just looked the other way and said "Tee hee"...until irate gun owners got in their faces. And the courts so far have agreed. There is no precedence to a ban on them, large capacity magazines, concealed carry, nor did congress delegate the task of issuing concealed carry upon the whimsey of the sheriff.

 

[George Hatch]

So your response is that Congress had no authority to make the choice they made?

TBH, I don't see what alternative Congress could possibly have taken that would have reduced the level of criticism being levied about individuals acting in their own self interests, about the rights of others being usurped or about the leverage of the rich on our laws and regulations.

If Congress had designated the Appraisal Institute you'd be mad about that. If Congress designation the North Carolina DOT them you'd be mad about that. If Congress designated the Pope you'd be mad about that. All for exactly the same reasons - the promulgation of these considerations are being performed by human beings and not the Archangel Michael from Heaven who by definition is above all human frailty.

Appraisers simply have those anti-authority tendencies and hate the mere existence of appraisal standards as well as hating any mechanism for accountability of any type or in any form. It's like having a conversation with a 15yr old boy about his need to be "free" while at the same time complaining that he isn't receiving the financial support he needs to live his best life. .

I understand the utility of having that ethos for opposing all forms of external influence, but the lenders we work for are subject to heavy regulation and oversight and it's unreasonable to assume that any aspect of their due diligence functions would ever be permitted to operate independent of any form of accountability.

 

[RCA]

"Authorize" and "adopted" is done at the govt level. Did Congress have the authority at the federal level to do that or not? Because if they did have that authority then the responsibility for their decision making rests with them.

It's not like TAF issued some EO to empower themselves to bypass Congress. Or the White House.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board established that parallel long before the different appraisal orgs conspired to promulgate a common appraisal standard.

This is getting ridiculous. The ASB is continually consulting with appraisers and others to discuss changes to USPAP. They are without any doubt the ones who decide what goes in USPAP, when it gets down to the details. Or just as importantly what doesn't go in it.. They are the experts here, just like the attorneys who actually do the writing of specific laws. In the case of appraisal, those government officials who approve of so-called adoption - are heavily relying on the experts and the ASB who configured, structured USPAP.

So,TAF did in fact write USPAP in consultation with all kinds of so-called experts like field level appraisers, lenders, bankers and GSE's. They did the so-called coordination of the whole thing. There are so many fingers in the pie, so many strings ... although it is, we know quite well, the lenders who are continually watching the field with hawk eyes - always willing to not just jump in when needed, but plotting and planning for their income stream. They are the foxes sitting outside the hen house. Sly foxes, cautious, .... but of course they don't give a **** about anybody else.

 

[George Hatch]

Appraisal standards - promulgated by the appraisers and inclusive of all the fundamentals - existed in our profession for many years prior to FIRREA and licensing. Had that not been the case then there wouldn't have been anything for Congress to "adopt" or require of the lending institutions and federal agencies or to impose upon the states.

Insofar as the origin and sources of (generic) appraisal standards goes, they weren't created for the purpose of legally regulating appraisers in the development of the appraisals or to legally regulate what the lenders were required to use when using an appraisal. USPAP wasn't created out of thin air and nothing therein was new to the appraisal profession as a whole.

Appraiser qualifications criteria also existed prior to licensing and also weren't originally promulgated for the purpose of legally regulating the lenders. It was the licensing programs that were created for the specific purpose of legally regulating the appraisers participating on those assignments.

The one thing the AQB did do which went beyond the original proposition at Congress was add the SL and an Trainee levels of licensure, neither of which were required in FIRREA. To date, some states still don't offer the SL license because they're not required to do so under FIRREA.