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March 2008 |
A Publication of ELLIOTT®
& Company Appraisers |
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APPRAISAL CONSIGNMENTS
OR APPRAISAL CONSULTING? |
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 QUESTION: At what point does an appraisal assignment
become an appraisal consulting assignment?
MARTITIA: According to USPAP, appraisal consulting
is, "the act or process of developing an analysis, recommendation
or opinion to solve a problem, where an opinion of value is a
component of the analysis leading to the assignment results."
Therefore, if the sole purpose of the assignment is to come up
with an opinion of value, then it is an appraisal assignment. If
the client, however, is asking the appraiser to analyze,
recommend or solve a problem, based on the opinion of value then
it is an appraisal consulting assignment.
Martitia Mortimer, Elliott's
executive vice president, will be answering appraisal questions
on a regular basis in Elliott Appraisal News.
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FANNIE
MAE, FREDDIE MAC, OFHEO AND CUOMO
REACH AGREEMENT |
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 In
response to a lawsuit New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo initiated
against eAppraiseIT last fall, which escalated to a subpoena of Fannie Mae
and Freddy Mac, the two GSEs, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise
Oversight, which oversees them and Cuomo. The result of the March 3
agreement is the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, which is slated to take
effect on January 1, 2009.
Among other important changes, this new Code of Conduct prohibits mortgage
lenders from using appraisers employed by the lender, or one of its
affiliates or any company that owns or is owned by the lender.
"Accurate, independent appraisals are very important to ensuring the
safety and soundness of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the mortgage market,"
James Lockhart, director of OFHEO, said as the agreement was announced.
"These agreements should help restore confidence in the mortgage market by
enhancing underwriting practices, reducing mortgage fraud and making home
valuations more reliable."
To read the Home Valuation Code of Conduct in full, go to:
www.ofheo.gov/media/agreements/3308homevaluationcodeofconduct.pdf.
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LOAN
WORKOUT PROGRAMS FAIL
TO SLOW DOWN FORECLOSURES |
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According to RealtyTrac, a California firm that keeps up with foreclosure
activity, the amount of homes in jeopardy of foreclosure rose 57% in
January from that of January 2007. Throughout the country, borrowers of
233,001 homes received at least one notice from lenders or servicers of
their mortgages, regarding past-due payments. Furthermore, there was a
whopping 90% increase in the number of repossessed properties from that of
a year earlier.
"You have more people going into default and a higher percentage of
properties going back to the banks," said Rick Sharga, vice president of
marketing for RealtyTrac. "The loan workout modification programs aren’t
having a significant material effect on keeping properties from going back
to the banks." |
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 QUOTES OF WIT &
WISDOM
"The chief obstacle to the
progress of the human race is the human race." --
Don Marquis
"Psychiatry enables us to correct our faults by confessing
our parents’ shortcomings." -- Laurence Peter
"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is
knowing which ones to keep." -- Scott Adams
"The outcome of any serious research can only be to make two
questions grow where one grew before." -- Thorstein
Veblen
"Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a
dog, it’s too dark to read."
-- Groucho Marx
"Popularity is glory’s small change." -- Victor
Hugo
"The charity that hastens to proclaim its good deeds ceases
to be charity and is only pride and ostentation." --
William Hutton
"I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report
the facts." -- Will Rogers
"Horse sense is the one thing a horse has, which keeps it
from betting on people."
-- W.C. Fields
"The world stands aside to let anyone pass who knows where
he is going."
-- David Jordan
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