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PITTSBURGH — November 10, 2009 – Findings Reconfirm AMC’s Strong Reliance on Local, Independent Appraisers — The typical driving distance traveled by independent appraisers, retained by the nation’s largest appraisal management companies (AMCs), averages 13 miles in urban and suburban areas this year, according to a new survey conducted by the [...]

KB Home and Countrywide Financial Corp. have been named as defendants in a Class Action suit filed on October 30th, 2009 in the US Dist. Court for the Middle District of Florida – Orlando Division.  The attached suit details alleged predatory practices in an attempt to dominate mortgage lending and corrupt the loan underwriting and [...]

November 6, 2009 MORTGAGEE LETTER 2009-46 ATO: ALL APPROVED MORTGAGEESSUBJECT: Temporary Guidance for Condominium Policy In Mortgagee Letter 2009-46 B, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced the permanent baseline guidance for condominium project eligibility. This Mortgagee Letter (ML) waives five provisions of that guidance and serves as a temporary directive to address current housing [...]

Announcement 09-14, Electronic Appraisal Reports, Enhancements to the Loan Delivery File Format, and Mortgage Fraud Reporting, stated that Fannie Mae will require the submission of electronic appraisal reports and their addenda in an acceptable XML format for all loans requiring an appraisal report. The date lenders will be required to comply with this requirement [...]

The FBI is on the Phone for You By Peter Christensen

The FBI released a report earlier this year entitled 2008 Mortgage Fraud Report “Year in Review”. It indicated the obvious: that reports of mortgage fraud and investigations of it by the FBI increased significantly in 2008. The FBI further indicated:

“With [...]

Washington, DC, November 5, 2009 — The Appraisal Foundation, a Congressionally authorized non-profit organization dedicated to promoting professionalism in appraising through the establishment of appraisal standards and appraiser qualifications, announced today the establishment of a third independent board, the Appraisal Practices Board (APB).

Earlier this year, the Foundation Board of Trustees established a Task [...]

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) today announced several significant policy changes that are intended to improve their exposure to risk.  The changes, effective January 1, include:

Modification of Procedures for Streamline Refinance Transactions
Adoption of Home Valuation Code of Conduct Guidelines (some not all)
Updated Appraisal Validity Period
New Appraisal Portability Regs
New Requirement of Lenders to [...]

Appraisers have had blinders on for way too long. It is time to open our eyes wide, keep an open mind and to truly think outside the “check” box.

Most of us learned this crazy business by filling out a form.For me, it was actually preparing forms on the good old typewriter, and [...]

The New York Times story “In Appraisal Shift, Lenders Gain Powers and Critics“, by David Streitfeld, the author does an excellent job of taking its readers through the HVCC time-line and illuminating the current issues with appraisal ordering and pressure.

Below are a few quotes from the Times story:

“We’ve been begging for years [...]