Appraisers Fight Back! Take back your industry. AMCs want to run you. Let’s not allow individuals and companies that are not qualified to accept Appraisal Orders continue to contract for Appraisal Work. 

Read More: http://appraiserblogs.com   

Sign The Petition:

Appraisal Management Petition

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/AppraisalManagement/

Posted: April 14th, 2008 under Appraisal, Appraisal Managment Companies, Banks, Brokers, Business Tools, Federal Charter Banks, Mortgage Banking, Real Estate.
Comments: 1

New Appraisers Forum, http://AppraiserX.com/ I want to make it known that their is a Appraisal Management Petition to protect Appraisers Rights. Do the AMCs have you in their clutches? Are you in thier pocket? Appraisers should post to AppraiserX Forum http://appraiserx.com  where everyone is welcome! We support Appraisers. ACMs don’t have AppraiserX Forum in their back pocket! 

Sign The Petition:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/AppraisalManagement/

Posted: April 14th, 2008 under Appraisal, Appraisal Managment Companies, Banks, Brokers, Business Tools, Federal Charter Banks, Mortgage Banking, Real Estate.
Comments: 2

Magic Jack

Magic Jack looks like a winner and given the pedigree of its backroom team will make an incredibly interesting addition to an all ready bursting at the seams arena.
Paul wrote about this first and there appears to be a form of a mini Armageddon going on in his posts comments. Anyways the guys at Magic Jack have promised to get me over a Beta test unit asap,hopefully before VON,Below are the highlights.

What is my monthly rate?

There is no monthly rate with MagicJack! Simply by purchasing your magicJack™, you have free nationwide long distance and all of your features for a full year!

What happens after I renew my subscription?

Your service is good for one year upon initial activation of your magicJack™-$29-39 for the first year. After one year, you may renew service yearly for a low annual rate of $19.99 per year thereafter

Can I use my current telephone equipment with my MagicJack?

Yes, simply plug your current ordinary phone system into your magicJack™.

When can I purchase the magicJack™?

The magicJack™ will be commercially available in April ‘07.

Can I make international calls?

Sure. Call any person who has a magicJack™ in any country and the call is free. Or click here (available in April ‘07) for low rates to other countries.

I for one am looking forward to seeing Dan Borislow re-entering the telecoms arena.

Posted: March 29th, 2008 under Appraisal, Banks, Brokers, Business Tools, Federal Charter Banks, Mortgage Banking, Real Estate, Uncategorized.
Comments: 4

Protect yourself from Mortgage Fraud Schemes. The FBI Website lists common types of mortgage fraud schemes. appraisers should be educated about schemes in order to spot potential assignments that may fall under one of the numerous types of Mortgage Fraud.

Specific Mortgage Fraud Schemes:

1. “Backward Applications: After identifying a property to purchase, a borrower customizes his or her income to meet the loan criteria.

2. Air Loans: These are non-existent property loans where there is usually no collateral. An example would be where a broker invents borrowers and properties, establishes accounts for payments and maintains custodial accounts for escrows. They may set up an office with a bank of telephones, with each one used as the employer, appraiser, credit agency, etc. for verification purposes.

3. Silent Seconds: The buyer of a property borrows the down payment from the seller through the issuance of a mortgage. The primary lender believes the borrower has invested his non-disclosed second own money in the down payment, when in fact, it is borrowed. The second mortgage may not be recorded to further conceal its status from the primary lender. 

 4. Nominee Loans: The identity of the borrower is concealed through the use of a nominee who allows the borrower to use the nominee’s name and credit history to apply for a loan.

5. Property Flips: Property is purchased, falsely appraised at a higher value, and then quickly sold. What makes property flipping illegal is that the appraisal information is fraudulent. The schemes typically involve fraudulent appraisals, doctored loan documents, and inflation of the buyer ’s income. 

6. Foreclosure schemes: The subject identifies homeowners who are at risk of defaulting on loans or whose houses are already in foreclosure. Subjects mislead the homeowners into believing that they can savetheir homes in exchange for a transfer of the deed and up-front fees.The subject profits from these schemes by re-mortgaging the property or pocketing the fees paid by the homeowner. 

7. Equity Skimming: An investor may use a straw buyer, false income documents, and false credit reports to obtain a mortgage loan in thestraw buyer’s name. Subsequent to closing, the straw buyer signs the property over to the investor in a quit claim deed which relinquishes all rights to the property and provides no guaranty to title. The investor does not make any mortgage payments and rents the property until foreclosure takes place several months later.”

Get more on this subject from the Headline Archives at www.fbi.gov 

Posted: March 27th, 2008 under Appraisal, Banks, Brokers, Mortgage Banking.
Comments: 3

What kind of tactice do mortgage predators use? Victims of predatory lenders are borrowers who believe they have few options in mortgage borrowing.  Because many of them lack financial knowledge, they place their trust in an unscrupulous lender who pretends to have the borrower ’s best interests in mind. Don’t Be a Victim of Loan Fraud”. For more on this subject go to http://www.hud.gov/

These are some examples of mortgage predators tactics: 

•  A lender or investor tells you that they are your only chance of getting a loan or owning a home. You should be able to take your time to shop around and compare prices and houses. 
•  The house you are buying costs a lot more than other homes in the neighborhood, but isn’t any bigger or better.
•  You are asked to sign a sales contract or loan documents that are blank or that contain information which is not true. 
•  You are told that the Federal Housing Administration insurance protects you against property defects or loan fraud. It does not.
•  The cost or loan terms at closing are not what you agreed to. 
•  You are told that refinancing can solve your credit or money problems.
•  You are told that you can get a good deal on a home improvement only if you finance it with a particular lender.

Posted: March 27th, 2008 under Appraisal, Banks, Brokers, Federal Charter Banks, Mortgage Banking, Real Estate, Uncategorized.
Comments: none

Comp Searches, Are these types of assignments all considered to be appraisals, or can they be handled in another way?

USPAP defines appraisal as:

“(noun) the act or process of developing an opinion of value; an opinion of value.  (adjective) of or pertaining to appraising and related functions such as appraisal practice or appraisal services.

Comment: An appraisal must be numerically expressed as a specific amount, as a range of numbers, or as a relationship (e.g., not more than, not less than) to a previous value opinion or numerical benchmark (e.g., assessed value, collateral value).

Over the years, many appraisers have harbored the mistaken belief that providing a client with a value range (as opposed to a single-point estimate) is not considered an appraisal.  This is incorrect.  An appraiser who provides a value range must also prepare a workfile for the assignment, and must retain the workfile for the required retention period specified in the Ethics Rule in USPAP.   

As an alternative to developing an appraisal, Advisory Opinion 19 outlines what is termed “research”.  In this type of situation, an appraiser provides a client with raw data, (typically sales comparison data), but provides no analysis, opinion, or conclusion.  No value opinion is developed or communicated by the appraiser; instead the client sets search parameters e.g., two story homes with four bedrooms, 2000-2500 square feet, located in the Oak Hills Estates subdivision), and the appraiser researches sales based on these parameters.  The appraiser does not analyze, sort, or adjust the data; he or she simply transmits the raw data to the client.  The client then utilizes the data to draw his or her own conclusion as to the possible value of the property.  

In AO-19, an appraiser’s possible response when receiving a request of this type is outlined: 

“If what you want is only the sales of properties shown in the databases available to me with the criteria you specified, I can do that research and send you the result.  Then you can decide what you think your client’s property is worth.  If I do only that, it is just research and not an appraisal.”   

Posted: March 27th, 2008 under Appraisal, Banks, Brokers, Federal Charter Banks, Mortgage Banking, Real Estate.
Comments: none

How can an Appraiser limit his liability? When Fannie Mae issued the revised Uniform Residential Appraisal Report (URAR) form in 2005, there was a firestorm of controversy over Certification #23.  This certification reads:  “The borrower, another lender at the request of the borrower, the mortgagee or its successors and assigns, mortgage insurers, government sponsored enterprises, and other secondary marketparticipants may rely on this appraisal report as part of any mortgage finance transaction that involves any one or more of these parties. 

Many appraisers and regulators saw this as a means for passing on an enormous amount of additional liability to the appraiser. 

The Appraisal Foundation issued an opinion that appraisers are required to follow USPAP, and as such are required to supplement the report form to specifically identify the intended users.  At the urging of appraisal organizations, Fannie Mae issued a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) that when the appraiser believes the Lender/Client is the only intended user,document which addressed this controversy.  This FAQ document stated the appraiser is permitted to add the following statement to the appraisal report:    

“The Intended User of this appraisal report is the Lender/Client.  The Intended Use is to evaluate the property that is the subject of this appraisal for a mortgage finance transaction, subject to the stated Scope of Work, purpose of the appraisal, reporting requirements of this appraisal report form, and Definition of Market Value.  No additional Intended Users are identified by the appraiser.” 

Posted: March 27th, 2008 under Appraisal, Real Estate.
Comments: none

Excessive fees and “packing” – This involves charging the borrower fees that are too high for the services provided, and also the practice of hiding or “packing” fees into the loan amount without the borrower’s knowledge or understanding.

Like loan flipping, packing robs property owners of their hard-earned equity.  The excessive fees are not paid directly from the borrower’s pocket; instead, they are rolled into the loan amount.  In a case like this, a borrower who they are rolled into the loan amount.  In a case like this, a borrower who intended to borrow $50,000 on his home could – unwittingly – end up with a mortgage of $60,000, of which $10,000 goes directly to the broker or lender.

In April 2006, Fannie Mae announced that it will not purchase or securitize a mortgage if the total points and fees charged to the borrower exceed 5% of the mortgage amount.  For example, on a $100,000 loan to be purchased by Fannie Mae, the fees and points charged to the borrower cannot exceed $5000.

Just as in loan flipping, “packing” cannot occur without an inflated appraisal.  Because these “packed” fees are part of the loan amount, the property must appraise high enough so that this additional amount can be borrowed. 

Posted: March 27th, 2008 under Appraisal, Banks, Brokers, Federal Charter Banks, Mortgage Banking, Real Estate.
Comments: 4