Quote:
“…………….. In instances where their opinion is sought, or where REALTORS® believe that comment is necessary, their opinion is offered in an objective, professional manner, uninfluenced by any personal motivation or potential advantage or gain.”
………………….. “Accepting this standard as their own, REALTORS® pledge to observe its spirit in all of their activities whether conducted personally, through associates or others, or via technological means, and to conduct their business in accordance with the tenets set forth below. ”

The appraiser should ask the agent to respect the Code of her trade and for her to appreciate the objectivity required by her own Code. It can’t be uninfluenced by lack of any personal gain…and she certainly seems to be seeking to gain $omething.

Now look at the appraiser ethics:

Conduct:
An appraiser must perform assignments with impartiality, objectivity, and independence, and without accommodation of personal interests.

An appraiser:
???? must not perform an assignment with bias;
???? must not advocate the cause or interest of any party or issue;
???? must not accept an assignment that includes the reporting of predetermined opinions and conclusions;

As you see, appraisers cannot allow themselves to be pressured into being biased, advocating for the RE agent’s cause, or reporting the opinion of someone else as if it is their opinion. The agent is held to a Code of Ethics, just as appraisers are. You (and the appraiser) should insist that that any and all future communications regarding this matter be solely through the lender. There are avenues they can take if they don’t agree with the appraisal. It’s called a reconsideration of value. They present their evidence (comps) to the lender, the lender presents them to the appraiser to look at as see if they are better indicators of value then the ones he picked. Typically, they are not. They typically would necessitate even larger adjustments, or greater distance than the current comparables, possibly producing a misleading value.

As far as pressure from an agent…that’s a joke. They have nothing to pressure the appraiser with. They didn’t hire the appraiser and they have no influence on future jobs. Yelling at an appraiser – not something I would do, if I were an RE agent. You familiar with the phrase, don’t bite the hand that feeds you?

With that being said, is there something about what the Listing Agent is saying that should be listened to? Is she offering better comps, a more accurage measurement or something in the blueprints that has been ignored? Hopefully the appraiser really took the time to take into consideration anything that was put his/her way.

You bring up a good point. Would a Realtor behaving like this potentially put pressure on the appraiser to “hit the number” or change his value opinion?

Have a great day of business and life!!!

I’ve been very lucky to build up good business relationships with Lenders that pay full fees. I won’t work for these blood sucking AMCs that take a huge chunk of the appraiser’s fee for themselves. It is no wonder that there are so many RE Agents getting upset because of low ball appraisals ruining their sale. What do you expect when the appraisers are getting paid 1/2 fee? These are desperate newbies doing anything for work. These desperate appraisers (aka “Skippy”) are skipping appraisal steps so they can rush out 3 appraisals a day. Typically the use REOs and Short Sales as comps without any consideration to the variance from a fair sale defined in Market Value. They can fill out a form without clerical errors so that it makes the AMC’s silly QC phone monkeys happy, but they aren’t appraising. I realize I am painting with a broad brush here. I’m sure there are appraisers out their doing good appraisals for 1/2 fee. This is the exception to the rule.

It will be interesting to see the affect of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Bill, which has just passed. It states there is a $10,000 fine PER OFFENSE for failure to comply in regards to a Lender or AMC not paying what is normal and customary for appraisal services. This should match the complexity of the assignment. Fees are set according to the scope of work and complexity of assignment. Minimal fee for a 1004 here in the Twin Cities is $350. This does not include the additional $25-$50 for 1004MC. This is typical, customary and reasonable for this area, according to all credible reports. Each State/City will vary.

I have a feeling we’ll be seeing some class action suits against these AMCs. I won’t shed a tear, either.

Are you an appraiser? You sound like one. Where are you based out of?