So why is an appraiser from Victorville doing an appraisal on your Rancho Santa Fe home?
At issue is the “Home Valuation Code of Conduct,” or HVCC, a four-page document that outlines appraisal-related practices to which lenders must adhere with respect to so-called “conventional” or “conforming” loans that they want to sell to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The code became effective May 1 2009.
Below is a letter to the editor of Inman news regarding the code of conduct for appraisers and how hopefully we will not see negative negative effects on our appraisals, purchases, and re-fi’s.
Buyers, sellers, agents and mortgage brokers do have recourse against an out-of-area appraiser, other than paying for additional appraisals. I am appalled that no one seems to know this: Appraisal standards PROHIBIT an appraiser from appraising in an area where he or she is unfamiliar with the nuances of the local market, (per the Competency Rule of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice).
Such an appraisal violates standards and therefore violates the Home Valuation Code of Conduct. Thousands of lenders are making loan decisions based on non-HVCC-compliant appraisals.
The minute it is discovered that an out-of-area appraiser is scheduled to do the inspection, ALL parties (seller, buyer, listing agent, selling agent, mortgage broker) should immediately contact the lender (with written follow-up) to demand that a local appraiser be used. Otherwise, the appraisal will not comply with the HVCC.
Barb Torres
Barb Torres Appraisals
Palm Desert, Calif.
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I can understand why there should be a buffer between the mortgage industry and appraisers. This is one of the factors that contributed to our current real estate market. The inflation of values by appraisers is what the market is so desperately trying to correct. Having said this I don’t agree with the new set of guidelines that might assign an out of area appraiser. This makes no sense either. The system is reluctant to change to a format that is both respectable and just to consumers and congruently allowing facilitating the creation of a reasonable profit for companies. This to me is just another example extremism. It’s apperant that in todays society all things are either way to one side or the other.