Tag Archives: Appraisals

According to a statement released by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the companies are in the process of developing the Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) to improve the quality and consistency of appraisal data on loans delivered to the GSEs. Business and technical details of the UAD, implementation dates for the Uniform Collateral Data Portal (UCDP), and use of the UAD and UCDP are expected to be released later this year. Implementations will occur in 2011.

Fannie Mae says it is working with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to develop and adopt new appraiser independence requirements that will replace the controversial Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) enacted by the GSEs in May of last year. Until the revised requirements are released, the existing HVCC provisions are still in effect. Fannie Mae says it expects the new appraisal rules to be issued by October 21, but that they will be ""substantially similar"" to HVCC.

Oklahoma City's a la mode recently announced that Veros Real Estate Solutions has integrated their VeroSELECT and Valuation Risk Management products with the company's Mercury Network vendor management platform. The integration connects Veros' platform clients with one of the industry's largest networks of real estate appraisers and appraisal management companies, and provides electronic appraisal submission in full compliance with the GSE's Uniform Mortgage Data Program (UMDP) requirements.

Kirchmeyer & Associates, a national appraisal, database, and real estate consulting company based in Buffalo, New York, has added Meredith Boyd to the company's management team as director of sales. In her new position, Boyd is responsible for establishing key relationships in the industry to boost Kirchmeyer's client base.

A survey conducted of more than 5,000 licensed appraisers across the country by the appraisal management company Coester Appraisal reveals that only 3 percent of appraiser respondents have less than five years of experience, a result that contradicts lenders' and independent appraisers' claims that appraisal management companies (AMCs) are employing inexperienced appraisers. More than half of the AMC appraiser respondents have been in the business for 15 years or more.

The Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act includes new appraisal management rules as well as stricter laws and firmer penalties for lenders. The bill's appraiser independence standards will give lenders new options on managing appraisers, and lenders are scrambling to evaluate options to decide what will benefit their businesses. An October deadline is looming for the issuance of new appraiser independence rules, which are expected to be more stringent than the Home Value Code of Conduct (HVCC).

Fannie Mae is implementing a new policy this week regarding home appraisals. Beginning Wednesday, lenders will be prohibited from making changes to appraisers' valuations - a practice that has become more widespread and is commonly referred to as ""appraisal cutting."" Fannie officials say they have identified cases where the lender reduced the opinion of market value in the appraisal report based upon underwriter judgment or automated valuation models, prompting the GSE to place a ban on so-called appraisal cutting.

Default process management software provider DRI Management Systems, Inc., has announced its new Web-based, loan servicing application for the mortgage industry, Rincon. According to the California-based company, the Rincon platform helps overburdened servicers keep pace with demands for borrower assistance. Rincon is expected to double or triple the workload each servicing specialist can handle.

Mortgage technology firm FNC Inc. recently announced that it is partnering with Integrated Asset Services (IAS), a provider of collateral valuation and management services. The joint venture will offer FNC's servicing clients the option to procure more precise, next-generation real estate valuations, allowing users to formulate their property disposition strategies based on real estate value trend lines, the company explained.

Axios Valuation Solutions has fully integrated its appraisal management operations with a la mode's Mercury Network Vendor Management Platform. The integration is expected to benefit lenders and appraisers in terms of regulatory compliance, quality assurance, appraisal data security, cost, and flexibility.