After 4 years of heightened focus on the issue of appraisal discrimination, HUD has issued its first Charge of Discrimination in relation to one of the 200+ appraisal-related complaints HUD has received from consumers. The legal significance of a Charge of Discrimination is that it means HUD has determined after Read more…
A federal court says the answer is “yes” in a decision reached earlier this month. In the case, two residential mortgage borrowers are suing Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union (“TVFCU”), as well as an appraisal firm and its two appraisers. The case involves a “recycled” appraisal of a home in Read more…
Unresolved complaints filed with HUD alleging Fair Housing Act violations about appraisals have become a serious problem – the lack of resolution is a concern for the parties involved (on all sides), fair housing advocates and defense counsel. HUD has received 200+ complaints regarding appraisals since 2020, but has not Read more…
You’ll find below: Upcoming California-Specific CE Classes If you are licensed/certified in California and need to take either: (1) Elimination of Bias/Developing Cultural Competency (3 hours total) or (2) Federal and California Laws and Regulations for your renewal with BREA, I have classes scheduled with Appraiser eLearning May through October. Read more…
Connolly and Mott v. Lanham, 20/20 Valuations, and loanDepot.com, U.S. District Court, Maryland. This is one of the appraisal discrimination cases that has received significant attention – among appraisers, the media and government agencies. A Black couple in Baltimore – Dr. Connolly and Dr. Mott, both university professors – filed Read more…
Efforts to regulate the provision and use of “property data collectors” in connection with appraisals are being made in some states. In Mississippi, a bill was introduced last month that would have required the state’s appraiser board to license and regulate the field of property data collectors. Under the bill Read more…
Registration: Webinar Link. I’m hosting a free webinar with Eval.com and its CEO Deb Clark, MAI about “Solving the Mystery of Evaluations.” Eval.com is a national provider of evaluations – and I serve on its corporate board. In this 30-minute webinar, we’ll solve some mysteries and give real-world information about Read more…
On October 7, I presented a 4-hour class entitled “Appraisal Discrimination Investigation Training” to state appraiser regulators (board members, administrators and counsel) at the Association of Appraiser Regulatory Officials (AARO) meeting in Salt Lake City. My goal was to offer guidance as specifically relevant to investigating alleged appraisal discrimination as Read more…
Updated to reflect new “guidance” from the Appraisal Subcommittee on September 27, 2023. What if a state dropped its appraisal management company law and no longer regulated AMCs? That’s exactly what’s happened in Hawaii – maybe by accident. The state has a regulatory “sunset law” (Hawaii Revised Statutes section 26H-4), Read more…
How many discrimination cases have been filed against appraisers? What’s really happening in the courts and in investigations with respect to alleged bias? Those are questions I cover in my presentations and classes for appraisers. But, I will tell you here that the most significant pending case about alleged appraisal Read more…