That’s right. On May 1, 2009, the mortgage business got yet another OUCH. I will keep this as simple as possible, but stay with me. If you are a homeowner who might be refinancing soon, this is “must know” info. Don’t be blindsided.
Somewhere along the line, the “powers that be” thought it was possible that mortgage lenders, loan officers, etc., were influencing final appraisal values by having discussions with and interacting with the actual appraisers who do the value analysis.
For example, supposedly, lenders might tell the appraiser that the expected (or needed) property value is $400,000. And then what do you know, the appraiser DOES find the value to be $400,000. A nice little report is prepared and submitted back to the lender with the requested value.
Now, if it happened, could it be because the property was really worth $400,000? Good chance.
Well, just in case there are some situations where some manipulation WAS involved, the appraisal process has changed for appraisals requested after May 1, 2009.
Loan Officers (people like me), will no longer communicate with the appraiser. In most cases, requests will move through a middleman who will assign an appraiser to visit and appraise the home.
The appraisal fee must be paid upfront to the lender. The lender then winds up with the extra burden of dispensing the payments back to the appraisal company. Be aware of these changes. If you are getting your mortgage with me, your payment is made to First Hallmark. It can be made via credit card for your convenience.
Have questions? Let me know.
To stay completely up-to-date on all the pending mortgage changes, to see how they will affect you, and get news about interest rates and programs, just read my weekly updates - Click for free email alerts.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
The intent is good one….Appriasers should not be in position to be preesured by loan officer. The professional way to do is to provide comps for the property your client is interested in. If you do not have an access to MLS, then perhaps you can get it from realtor of your choice. This works for me.
Just an idea.
I agree. The intent was good. I believe though the implementation is flawed. Ethical people in the business will agree that any intent to sway appraisers opinion of value is not good. Many homeowners are in desperate straits now due to previous over-valuations.
My post was more global in nature. I am not concerned about this for me or my office at all. As correspondent lenders, the impact is minimal for us. But I have spoken to a few appraisers who will be seriously affected. They will lose quite a bit of income due to the inclusion of a new middleman. Though the middleman is purely in an administrative role, they will take in tidy sums for their work. Then there’s the homeowner who will pay a higher price for the appraisal.
The program has good intentions. Let’s see how it pans out. Should be interesting.
Have a great summer……..Carol
I love the name of your site. Very creative.
Interesting article: http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_12433681
HVCC. It’s alive and well. Definitely causing a slight delay in turnaround times.