The third party

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

Pam,

Why would any loan officer or lender ever accept appraisals like what you've described?

If they are that bad, just simply reject them altogether. I wouldn't even attempt to have them correct it. It's already obvious that they don't deserve the title of 'Appraiser'. Tell the mortgage broker that is trying to peddle that crap to find a competent appraiser. If you ordered it, it's time for you to find a competent appraiser.


Mike,

I see you have a little experience with mortgage brokers. :lol:

 

[Pam]

Oh, for crying out loud. I'm not a loan officer or a broker. I'm an appraiser and have been one for 26 years.

Any wholesale lender who rejected substandard appraisals outright would be out of business by sunset. The best one can do is spend each day teaching Appraisal 101 over the phone and make sure the borrowers have enough equity to clean up the mess those appraisers leave in their wake.

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

Ouch!

Any wholesale lender who rejected substandard appraisals outright would be out of business by sunset. The best one can do is spend each day teaching Appraisal 101 over the phone and make sure the borrowers have enough equity to clean up the mess those appraisers leave in their wake.

If they did reject the substandard appraisals outright, the 'appraisers' they use would have to either learn to their job properly or get out of the biz. Seems to me the main reason there are that many bad appraisers is that there are that many bad loan officers and mortgage brokers. They are the ones that set that standard and accept that crap.

 

[Paul in bama]

One point I am trying to make is this: the work I turn in is in my opinion, high quality work. I follow the standards and I include the best and most recent data possible in my reports. I am not trying to make the loan work, I could care less if it goes through or not, that is the lender's concern not mine. So when I turn in the report I assure you that it is as good as it is going to get. I know this because I have been educated in my profession and have been properly trained. And that should be good enough. When you start adding comps that don't really need to be in the appraisal and all of that extra mumbo jumbo, it stops being an appraisal and just becomes a tool to make the loan go through in my opinion.

 

[Pam]

The unfortunate thing is, the hacks think they have done the best job possible as well. When appraisers start charging for additional comps, or additional explanation, or whatever, the hacks also feel entitled to additional fees for "extra" (of course with a hack it isn't extra, it's just enough to meet the minimum requirements to be an appraisal) work.

The lender's job is to make loans, not to police appraisers. If appraising is ever going to be considered a profession, then we need to act like professionals, not spoiled children trying to get away with doing the absolute minimum amount of work.

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

Pam,

If appraising is ever going to be considered a profession, then we need to act like professionals, not spoiled children trying to get away with doing the absolute minimum amount of work.

This I can absolutely agree with.

The lender's job is to make loans, not to police appraisers.

Now this is another story. The lender's job is to hire qualified appraisers to begin with, not hacks. If they are hiring based on low fees and quick turn times or to make the number they want, they are getting what they are paying for plus are not meeting FNMA guidelines on their end.

I only do quality appraisals and reports at full fees and do everything I can to complete them in a timely manner. They will be sent when they are finished - not before. The lenders time crunch does not mean that I can or will turn in an incomplete report or one with information that has not been verified. I'm not above making a mistake and I will correct my mistakes. If it's not my mistake - I will and do charge for any additional work.

You can demand professional treatment when you do professional work. I am both sad and angry about the poor quality of too many appraisers and furious about the demand there is for them. That demand is from the lenders who are breaking the laws/rules that are supposed to govern them - many of the LOs have no clue what those laws/rules are.

 

[Paul in bama]

The loan officers could care less, 9 times out of 10 they will be long gone in 2 or 3 years when the loan goes south. This is the root of the problem if you ask me. If we were dealing with the individials that we were trying to protect then things would work just as they are supposed to in this profession. I'm a believer that if the appraisal is not accepted (if it is a good appraisal) then that is one loan that does not need to happen for one reason or another. But the appraisal is being supplemented and supplemented to appear more attractive. Yuck.

 

[George Hatch]

Pam,

From what you've said here, it sounds to me like your employer would do better if they managed their accept lists better. You know, work with a better class of fee appraisers, document and distribute your policies, kick the idiots off your lists, that kind of thing. I know for fact that not every appraiser out there is an idiot, nor do I even think the majority are. I highly doubt your company would go out of business in a day if they started rejecting substandard appraisals from appraisers on their accept lists. Truth to tell, I hear a lot more complaints about staff reviewers than I do about fee appraisers. From what I've heard, a lot of fee appraisers question the technical and geographic competency of many of the reviewers they deal with. And we don't even want to start talking about some of the unethical things some staff reviewers are doing these days. That will be a thread for another day.

If the lenders took control of the engagement of the appraisers like they're supposed to, they wouldn't have these problems to this degree. Instead, they rely on their 'agents' to engage the appraiser, and then don't manage those lender/broker relationships properly. And we wonder why there's such a large problem with appraiser pressure and conflict of interest between commission-compensated loan originators and the engagement of the appraiser.

Of course, most good fee appraisers are a bit picky about who they do business with. They won't work for just anyone. Believe it or not, there are appraisers who never work for loan brokers and only work for the direct lenders. They can afford to be a little more choosy because they don't have to run around in defense mode all the time, constantly fearful of the almighty reviewer. The fees might be a little higher but the costs are lower when you deal with good appraisers.


George Hatch

 

[Pam]

Why, thank you, George. I'm sure my employer will be very grateful for that advice. It makes me wonder how we've managed to stay in business and be so successful all these years without your blinding insight.

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

Pam,

I don't understand why you appear to feel insulted. I also don't understand why you would be sarcastic. Basically, it does sound like we are all looking for the same quality and professionalism. That includes posting on the forum.