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…
The Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board (LREAB) has followed through on its previously signaled plan to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court of a key Federal Trade Commission (FTC) determination against it in the FTC’s price-fixing case. On January 22, 2021, LREAB filed a Petition for a Writ Read more…
How do deals come together for the sale of appraisal firms and appraisal management companies? Many of the biggest deals have resulted from the work of my investment banking friends John Guzzo and Jason White at the firm Berkery, Noyes & Co., LLC. So, it was fun to write an article with them about the Read more…
The New Jersey assembly member who introduced an appraisal anti-discrimination bill last week has introduced a second bill with more detailed requirements to be imposed on appraisers, appraisal management companies (AMCs) and real estate agents/brokers – including a requirement that they provide sellers of residential property with a pamphlet about Read more…
Believe it or not, cases are still being litigated in relation to events during the mortgage meltdown years. After nearly seven years of litigation, a settlement has been reached in the borrower class action filed in 2013 regarding appraisals managed by defendant LandSafe Appraisal Services between January 1, 2003 and Read more…
It’s been now been a decade since the market relevance of appraisal management companies surged in connection with the procuring of appraisals for residential lending. Since then, interesting recurring legal issues have arisen relating to AMCs’ potential liability for the work of contractor appraisers: when and how may AMCs be Read more…
A consumer class action complaint has been filed against a lender and its AMC relating to the subject matter of a prior CFPB investigation and settlement. Last August, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had taken action against Amerisave Mortgage Corporation, its affiliated AMC Novo Appraisal Management Company, and one Read more…
[Please note the author has no involvement with this case, other than reporting about it here. If you have questions about the case, please direct them to the attorneys representing the plaintiff, for whom contact information from the complaint is provided below.] On December 2, 2013, three law firms in New Read more…
We see it again and again: AMCs and lenders demanding that appraisers attach E&O insurance information to the back of their appraisal reports. It’s not just a bad idea for the appraiser; it’s a bad idea for the AMCs and lenders themselves because they risk getting themselves dragged into litigation filed by borrowers Read more…
As a direct result of the recent financial failure of appraisal management companies like Evaluation Solutions and ES Appraisal, the State of Washington recently enacted a new law raising the state’s AMC bond requirement from $25,000 to $100,000. As of July 28, 2013, all AMCs registered in Washington will be Read more…