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From the Appraisal Institute

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has delayed implementation of a key component of the Uniform Mortgage Data Program for the fourth time since the program was initiated three years ago, the agency announced Dec. 14.

Lenders and appraisers now have until July 23, 2012, to implement the UMDP’s Uniform Loan Delivery Dataset, according to the agency’s news release. ULDD implementation, previously scheduled to go into effect March 19, 2012, now allows for voluntary implementation April 23, 2012.

UMDP was designed to streamline loan and appraisal data collected by government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The ULDD will replace the current 2,000-character flat files that Fannie and Freddie require from lenders and appraisers. Loan origination system vendors have been working to update processes and functionality to meet the new requirements for more than a year.

FHFA indicated that the revised ULDD deadline will not impact deadlines for the new Uniform Appraisal Dataset electronic data report and its associated delivery module, the Uniform Collateral Data Portal. Lenders and appraisers must submit appraisal reports in the new format for any loans sold on or after March 19 that have application dates on or after Dec. 1.

In California, all appraisers are licensed, including trainees, so the stats are useful for computing changes. Stats in California were available from 1/1/07 (the peak) to 9/2/11.

Who left? Mostly new appraisers in the past 5 years who didn't get certified

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=fmsbw4bab&v=001T4YSeKItteWgPWpIl63dubPQWKlxGqJxWszWDeJknXMfi7IzNfuVtoMb98EnoVojSINiO4zn4uZVXgwxn9BtTE3qHWwZiB47jj-uLOcQyGhq7LLK1-lPphxqvjBUJxSBai1C6DnFhCO2RiebRMMPfg%3D%3D

The FDIC is now contending that independent contractor appraisers are the legal agents of appraisal management companies (AMCs) in both of its cases against LSI Appraisal and CoreLogic. Based on this contention, the FDIC asserts that the AMCs should be liable for all damages attributable to the alleged negligence of their panel appraisers. The FDIC first asserted this argument in a brief filed in its case against Lender Processing Services and its AMC LSI Appraisal (see the update on that case here). It is now making the same argument in its case against CoreLogic, parent of the AMC formerly known as eAppraiseIT. In sum, the FDIC's contention is that an AMC "is vicariously 'responsible and liable' for the torts committed by the individual appraisers it retain[s] as a matter of black letter principal/agency law." While this is just one of many claims by the FDIC against the AMCs, this issue would have the most wide-ranging impact on the appraisal industry, if the FDIC prevails on it.

http://www.appraiserlawblog.com/2011/09/update-on-fdic-v-clgx-corelogic.html

Attorneys Jim Bordas and Jason Causey took on a large national lender, Quicken Loans, in the matter styled Brown v. Quicken Loans, Inc., et. al. The case began when Bordas and Bordas set out to defend Lourie Jefferson and Monique Brown from foreclosure proceedings initiated by their mortgage lender, Quicken Loans. During the course of this defense, Bordas & Bordas discovered abusive and predatory conduct on the part of Quicken Loans. Bordas & Bordas filed a twelve-count Complaint on behalf of Ms. Jefferson and Ms. Brown detailing predatory lending practices against Quicken Loans and its appraiser in the Circuit Court of Ohio County, West Virginia.

Circuit Court Judge Arthur M. Recht of Ohio County, W.Va. concluded an 8-day trial that spanned 17 months by awarding punitive damages, attorney fees and costs in the amount of $2.7 million to these Wheeling homeowners. This award brought the total verdict in the case against Quicken Loans, Inc. to over $3 million. Bordas & Bordas also obtained a settlement for a confidential amount with the real estate appraiser. The case encapsulates much of what lead to the collapse of the housing market and economy as a whole. In particular, the Court found the lending practices of Quicken Loans to be unconscionable based in part upon Quicken's utilization of a highly inflated appraisal in making the loan. The Court went on to find that Quicken Loans defrauded the homeowners by misleading them into paying excessive loan origination fees; falsely promising to favorably refinance the loan in the near future; and concealing an enormous balloon payment from its own borrowers.

Economists, builders and mortgage analysts are predicting the weakened economy will depress home prices for years.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904194604576583093513770536.html?mod=WSJ_RealEstate_LeftTopNews

When Leslie Hutchison, a Realtor with Fall Properties in Falls Church, listed a single-family home in Falls Church that included a parklike lot on a cul-de-sac, the land assessment was $80,000 higher than for three comparable homes because of the property’s oversized lot.

The home sold with a full-price offer of $635,000 the day after it was listed. When the appraiser for the sale arrived from Fredericksburg, Va., he valued the home at $600,000 and refused to add value for the additional land and the property’s location. He told Ms. Hutchison that he does not adjust for land unless the difference is more than an acre

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/aug/18/cover-story-low-appraisal-blocks-loan-what-to-do/#.Tm_uT7ChIeA.email