Appraisers in 'HVCC hell'

Re: 'New guidelines for choosing appraisers, comps' (July 8)

Dear Editor:

Perhaps with the sunsetting of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, and newer regulations about to be enacted to protect established appraisers' fees to at least the "norm" for the local area, we may be on the way to getting back to normal.

Also in the works, restricting appraisal management companies (AMCs) from hiding the true fee paid to the appraiser as they add their own fee to each appraisal and make it look like that is what was paid to the appraiser.

The fact most AMCs are now owned by the lenders from which the AMCs were supposed to protect the anonymity of appraisers is the biggest insult of all.

There are, overall, a very small percentage of bad appraisers out there, versus a lot of long-term, honest and accurate appraisers desperately trying to survive this second year of HVCC hell.

HVCC was a misdirected attempt to do good for the public, and in effect ended up costing buyers a lot more for inaccurate appraisals from (mostly) out-of-town appraisers who didn't know the local markets but allowed the lenders to glean more fees for questionable cheap appraisals.

I urge everyone to use local appraisers; refuse an appraiser whose offices are miles and counties away from the subject property; and let the established, honest and accurate local appraisers do their jobs well, get paid an honest fee, and bring the profession back to the integrity it once had.

It wasn't the appraisers' fault -- it was the lenders who used them to try to manipulate values. The good appraisers knew how to NOT be manipulated, and I for one am one who has never adjusted a value to suit a lender, in 20-plus years.

Even so, as I struggle to survive the HVCC nightmares and AMC fee manipulations, I still have hopes I won't have to give up the profession I love and go back to brokering sales.

Barry Noble
Broker, certified residential appraiser
Barry Noble & Associates
Palm Springs, Calif.

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