By Robert Freedman, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
Since taking effect on May 1, the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) has been a source of considerable concern among NAR members, both sales professionals and appraisers. The new rules were forged in an agreement between the New York State Attorney General and the two secondary mortgage market companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two companies’ federal regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, weighed in on the agreement, too.
By now the main concern is widely known. The rules create a hard firewall between those who underwrite loans and those who hire appraisers. So, many lenders, even though they can hire appraisers themselves if they put appropriate safeguards in place, are choosing to work with appraisal management companies (AMCs) to select appraisers.
A survey of NAR members finds that, as a result of the increased use of AMCs, fees to appraisers are going down, appraisals are taking longer, and, perhaps most importantly, deals are falling through when appraisers are chosen who aren’t familiar with a market area.
In the video above, Jerome Nagy, NAR’s policy analyst on the issue says it’s crucial for sales associates to let appraisers know when they perceive an appraisal is missing information or contains errors. There’s nothing in the HVCC rules that prohibits such communication.
Nagy also explained what NAR and other industry groups are doing to resolve the issues. Quite a few things are in the works. Watch to find out more.
[...] on May 1 of this year, look no further than this blog. Back in July, my colleague Rob Freedman published this post featuring a video interview with NAR policy analyst Jerome Nagy, which set off a firestorm of [...]
[...] HVCC Issue Summary – 2009 Conference Expo (PDF: 253K)Video: HVCC – Appraisal Rules Are Posing a ChallengeOne-Page Summary: REALTORS® Concerns with HVCC (PDF: 130K)NAR HVCC State Action Info Pack (PDF: [...]
[...] HVCC Issue Summary – 2009 Conference Expo (PDF: 253K)Video: HVCC – Appraisal Rules Are Posing a ChallengeOne-Page Summary: REALTORS® Concerns with HVCC (PDF: 130K)NAR HVCC State Action Info Pack (PDF: [...]
[...] HVCC Issue Summary – 2009 Conference Expo (PDF: 253K)Video: HVCC – Appraisal Rules Are Posing a ChallengeOne-Page Summary: REALTORS® Concerns with HVCC (PDF: 130K)NAR HVCC State Action Info Pack (PDF: [...]
[...] HVCC Issue Summary – 2009 Conference Expo (PDF: 253K)Video: HVCC – Appraisal Rules Are Posing a ChallengeOne-Page Summary: REALTORS® Concerns with HVCC (PDF: 130K)NAR HVCC State Action Info Pack (PDF: [...]
[...] HVCC Issue Summary – 2009 Conference Expo (PDF: 253K)Video: HVCC – Appraisal Rules Are Posing a ChallengeOne-Page Summary: REALTORS® Concerns with HVCC (PDF: 130K)NAR HVCC State Action Info Pack (PDF: [...]