VA Appraisal Request Cancellations

[Tru Red]

I have had (4) VA appraisal requests cancel in the past 3 weeks.

I SINCERELY hope that all VA appraisers are charging a fee of at least $150.

When I receive a VA request I spend about 2 to 4 hours obtaining data, researching, downloading information and assembling the file prior to completing the inspection.

When they cancel I loose that entire fee for the week that appraisal request was assigned. The VA does not send another to replace it.

It's really starting to hurt my income stream. The $150 is nothing more than a small bandage.

Even the VA indicates a cancellation fee is appropriate.

I know a few VA appraisers will be on their "high horse" and suggest otherwise.....but those appraisers are not helping the profession one bit.

Please.........charge a fee on cancellations.

 

[Don Clark]

I have had (4) VA appraisal requests cancel in the past 3 weeks.

I SINCERELY hope that all VA appraisers are charging a fee of at least $150.

When I receive a VA request I spend about 2 to 4 hours obtaining data, researching, downloading information and assembling the file prior to completing the inspection.

When they cancel I loose that entire fee for the week that appraisal request was assigned. The VA does not send another to replace it.

It's really starting to hurt my income stream. The $150 is nothing more than a small bandage.

Even the VA indicates a cancellation fee is appropriate.

I know a few VA appraisers will be on their "high horse" and suggest otherwise.....but those appraisers are not helping the profession one bit.

Please.........charge a fee on cancellations.

Better read the VA Guidelines for charging a fee. You may or may not be able to. I have had more cancellations this year than in any other year I can remember.

 

[Tru Red]

Better read the VA Guidelines for charging a fee. You may or may not be able to. I have had more cancellations this year than in any other year I can remember.

We definitely can. The VA told me on the phone and stated so in an email.

Here is the actual email:
Thank you for your inquiry. Your request to cancel has been processed. Per VA guidelines a reasonable fee for partial work already performed may be charged at the discretion of the appraiser.
Appraisers who have completed the appraisal report may charge the full fee. In the event the file needs to be reactivate please notify the VA at

 

[RSW]

A new fee schedule just came out for the Atlanta RLC which goes into effect on April 1. It give a break down of what you can charge. There's a lot in the new schedule.

 

[Tru Red]

My loan center is none of those. But....it looks like the fee's vary in those areas from $50 to $175.

If.....and I say if the west coast institutes those fee's than I will simply stop putting the files together until I have a verified appointment. Right now I do a lot of the work ahead of time. $50 is too low. $150 to $175 is still a bandage as the cancelled appraisal is a $600 loss to the appraiser. The VA typically does not assign another one if one is cancelled.

 

[Proactive]

A new fee schedule just came out for the Atlanta RLC which goes into effect on April 1. It give a break down of what you can charge. There's a lot in the new schedule.

Cancelled Orders -Lenders must notify the assigned VA appraiser and the appropriate RLC when an order has been cancelled. VA allows appraisers to charge for time and work completed. Work completed prior to setting an appointment with notes in WebLGY will not exceed $50. When an appointment is made, and notes placed in WebLGY stating the date and time of appointment and with whom the appointment was placed prior to the cancelation, the fee will not exceed $175. Once the review of the interior of the property has been completed, the fee will not exceed 50 percent of the posted fee. When the appraiser believes the work for reasonable compensation is beyond 50 percent, the report will need to be fully completed and signed and uploaded in WebLGY for the full fee.

I like this; it's reasonable. It also incentivizes the appraiser to post the appointment date/time on WebLGY, which I just did.

 

[CindyR]

. I have had more cancellations this year than in any other year I can remember.

Me too. and i don't like it.

 

[sandpiperapp]

Me too. and i don't like it.

Same here in NY. Last year was getting 4 to 5 a week from the VA. around November it went down to 2 or 3. Been 2 to 3 since the beginning of this year but it seems like one out of three or four is cancelling.

 

[David Beasley]

I have had (4) VA appraisal requests cancel in the past 3 weeks.

I SINCERELY hope that all VA appraisers are charging a fee of at least $150.

When I receive a VA request I spend about 2 to 4 hours obtaining data, researching, downloading information and assembling the file prior to completing the inspection.

When they cancel I loose that entire fee for the week that appraisal request was assigned. The VA does not send another to replace it.

It's really starting to hurt my income stream. The $150 is nothing more than a small bandage.

Even the VA indicates a cancellation fee is appropriate.

I know a few VA appraisers will be on their "high horse" and suggest otherwise.....but those appraisers are not helping the profession one bit.

Please.........charge a fee on cancellations.

We will, certainly more often, now that the VA has actually issued guidelines regarding the issue today- certainly the Atlanta RLC just did with its new fee schedule (effective 1 April). Around here, some did, some didn't charge "setup fees", those that did charged varying amounts, it was hard to figure out just how to do it consistent with our "peers" when any modicum of consistency was exactly what was missing. Now there's more or less a written fee schedule for cancellations, with markers for what to charge, based on completion status at the time of cancellation.

And yes, cancellations are up this year. I've had as many since 1/1/19 as I had for all of last year I think (5). Seems like the new trend is to order the appraisal and hope everything else comes together while it's being completed, and then everything is not coming together as planned by the LO or lender.

 

[Tru Red]

Seems like the new trend is to order the appraisal and hope everything else comes together while it's being completed, and then everything is not coming together as planned by the LO or lender.

Agreed.

What lenders don't think about...care about...or know......is most VA appraisers get a set number of appraisals each week. For instance I get 3 and that's all I want. When one gets cancelled, I lose that entire fee.

And it hurts.

Of course the hourly loan processor who orders the appraisal could care less.