Appraiser Income

Conforming loan limit has now increased by nearly $100,000 since 2016

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Tuesday that it is raising the conforming loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to more than $510,000.

In most of the U.S., the 2020 maximum conforming loan limit will be raised to $510,400, up from 2019’s level to $484,350.

This marks the fourth straight year that the FHFA has increased the conforming loan limits after not increasing them for an entire decade from 2006 to 2016.

In 2016, the FHFA increased the Fannie and Freddie conforming loan limit for the first time in 10 years, and since then, the loan limit has gone up by $93,400.

Back in 2016, the FHFA increased the conforming loan limits from $417,000 to $424,100. Then, the next year, the FHFA raised the loan limits from $424,100 to $453,100 for 2018. And in 2018, the FHFA increased the loan limit from $453,100 to $484,350 for 2019.

And now, loan limits will top $510,000.

Date And Time

Mon, Mar 2, 2020, 9:00 AM –

Wed, Mar 4, 2020, 5:00 PM PST

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Location

San Diego Gas & Electric Energy® Innovation Center

4760 Clairemont Mesa Blvd

San Diego, CA 92117

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Earth Advantage describes that the purpose of this training is to “educate appraisers about sustainable building practices and appraisal strategies for valuing the energy efficient and green features of a home.”

The new strategic plan has been posted, you can find the whole plan here: http://www.brea.ca.gov/pdf/19-352_BREA_Strategic_Plan_2020-25_ForWeb.pdf

Message from the Bureau Chief

The Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers 2020-2025 Strategic Plan is the result of participation by a broad range of stakeholders including consumers, licensees, registrants, and education providers. Survey results were insightful on both the current position of the Bureau and the state of the environment in which we operate.

The Bureau’s staff contributions were instrumental in identifying opportunities relating to dayto-day operations and mission-critical objectives.

With this input, and guidance from the Department of Consumer Affairs’ SOLID staff, the Bureau executive team developed a strategic plan that is both responsive and actionable. The plan will allow the organization to respond to change while remaining faithful to our mission.

Services provided by the appraisal profession are integral in business and the everyday life of consumers. California, with the largest number of licensees in the nation, plays a critical role in partnering with the federal government to implement requirements supporting a high level of public trust in the appraisal industry.

The Bureau must respond not only to a changing regulatory climate but also to real estate market conditions and trends which impact program processes and workload. This plan positions the Bureau to be flexible and excel in a leadership role protecting the public and consumers of appraisal services in California and nationwide.

I am proud of the work and contributions of my executive team and staff, and grateful to the survey participants for their vital input. With that I offer this road map to guide our vision of real estate appraisal excellence in California.

Sincerely,

James S. Martin, Bureau Chief

Read the entire plan here: http://www.brea.ca.gov/pdf/19-352_BREA_Strategic_Plan_2020-25_ForWeb.pdf

You can find the whole newsletter here: https://www.fanniemae.com/content/news/current-appraiser-newsletter.pdf

This year has been a busy one. In addition to our policy work and appraisal modernization testing highlighted in earlier editions of this newsletter, we’ve been building stronger relationships with you. We’ve had thousands of conversations, answered hundreds of questions through our mailbox, listened to feedback — positive and negative — at the 25+ industry events we’ve attended, and even launched a new continuing education class through our partnership with The Columbia Institute. We’re also especially proud of our collaboration with the National Urban League to promote appraisal careers, and we’re thrilled that the Appraisal Institute has recently signed on as well. So, we want to celebrate the season by dedicating this newsletter to our partnership with you. This edition includes an overview of our mission, appraisal tool tips, a summary of the most frequent appraisal defects, and responses to common questions, including multiple parcel properties and appraisal waivers.

We hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful holiday season!

Collateral Policy Team Fannie Mae

You can find the whole newsletter here: https://www.fanniemae.com/content/news/current-appraiser-newsletter.pdf

I received an email from Spot Value regarding the need for appraisers to join their panel by “invitation only” last month. Since I sign up to all the AMCs out there to test them and see if they are a good fit for the Appraisal Management Company Directory that I publish annually, I started the process and stopped immediately when they asked for payment.

ANY COMPANY THAT ASKS FOR $ TO JOIN THEIR PANEL IS A SCAM!!!!

After further research, I came across an excellent post I found over at AppraiserBlogs. Beware of Spot Value Solicitations was republished with permission from AppraisersBlogs below.

Many appraisers have gotten invitation letters in the mail from Spot Value to join their panel. The letter states that the appraiser was recommended by one of their clients and that their panel is by invitation only!

They have a website which makes them look legit. Their address at 2601 Main St, Irvine, CA 92614 is to Century Centre building but they do not provide a suite number. The domain is registered to a Michael Miller who is also the CEO and sender of the invitation letters. We were unable to reach Michael Miller at 919-404-4889. Their greeting message is computer generated and there is no voicemail setup to leave a message.

We researched the name Michael Miller and found the following:

“Mehdi Moarefian, also known as “Michael Miller,” 37, Irvine, California, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to 52 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for participating in an extensive mortgage loan modification scheme. Moarefian also was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,390,496.59.”

Per HousingWire, he was the ringleader of a massive mortgage modification fraud scheme.

..falsely purported to provide home mortgage loan modifications and other consumer debt relief services to numerous homeowners in Connecticut and across the United States in exchange for upfront fees…Homeowners were charged fees that typically ranged from approximately $2,500 to $4,300 for their services.

In order to induce homeowners to pay these fees, the group made a series of false representations, including: stating that the homeowners already had been approved for mortgage loan modifications on “extremely favorable” terms;

If this is the same person as the CEO of Spot Value, then it is clear that he is using the same type of tactics to scheme appraisers.

Spot Value appears to be operating as a portal, meaning they just provide a central repository of appraisers the lenders can access.

Per Spot Value website:

Spot Value makes the appraisal process quick and efficient. Appraisal orders will be assigned via email and text message and based on your member profile coverage areas and good standing within our performance rating system. You may accept or decline appraisal orders as your schedule allows, but we will continually expect a high standard of quality and timely work.

Appraiser fees: Spot Value operates with full transparency and with an ethical business model: Cost Plus. 100% of the appraisal fee goes to the appraiser, who completes the assignment. Spot Value charges a separate fee to the client for using our uniquely developed SaaS (Software as a Service) platform . Each appraiser is required to enter the fees for areas and products and are paid that amount for each order completed.

Application Fee: The application processing fee is $39.00. Application processing fee is a one-time fee for processing your application and checking against our customers blacklist. Please note that we will not review your application until your application processing fee is received.

Not an AMC: platform as a non-biased means to introduce appraisers to lenders and facilitate the flow of information and files between them.

Sounds like another pay to pay scam. Beware!

…continue reading the rest of this post: New 2020 AMC Directory