Appraisers applaud stiffer state regulations

October 15, 9:41 AMReal Estate News ExaminerBroderick Perkins

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States are once again stepping up to the plate to address some housing issues federal efforts often fall short on.

Following in the footsteps of Arkansas, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah, the state of California, effective Jan. 1 2010, will impose regulation and oversight on appraisal management companies (AMCs) working in California.

AMCs will have register with the Golden State's Office of Real Estate Appraisers (OREA) and comply with standards that require management companies operating in the state to identify, and provide contact information for all officers and directors who own 10 percent or more of the company, as well as for all individuals who perform management functions.

The individuals will have to submit to criminal background checks and may not have had their licenses or certifications as appraisers or a real estate agents or brokers refused, denied, canceled or revoked in any other state in order to practice in California.

AMCs, companies that comprise networks of independent appraisers, gained a higher profile beginning May 1 with the onset of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC).

In an effort to put uniformity in the property valuation process, an agreement between New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, HVCC, among other provisions, made AMCs the go-to appraisal stop for certain loans.

But appraisers, home builders, mortgage brokers and real estate brokers all have had their qualms about the HVCC and AMCs.

In general, critics say AMCs are largely inexperienced, drive honest appraisers and mortgage brokers from business with low prices and reduced competition, all while increasing costs to consumers and reducing state revenues.

AMCs' trade group, the Title/Appraisal Vendor Management Association, has cried "smear" and fired back earlier this year, claiming they are getting the job done and at a fair cost in the brave new world of housing.

The feds did toughen regulations with some HVCC clarifications and the removal of a cap on appraiser fees, but not before appraisers and others took the fight to the state level.

"This new law will help to protect both consumers and appraisal professionals in California, and we eagerly anticipate the positive effects it will provide to the state's real estate market and its residents," said Appraisal Institute President Jim Amorin.

The new law is based heavily upon legislative guidelines developed by the Appraisal Institute in conjunction with the American Society of Appraisers, the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, and the National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers. It's what the industry would like to see a federal level.

The flurry of state laws, and the federal HVCC, represent dramatic changes in the appraisal industry as a result of questionable housing market ills that contributed to the housing bust.