Archive for April, 2011

Urgent – Sign the Petition to the Federal Reserve Board to Clarify Customary and Reasonable Appraisal Fees

Federal Reserve Board to Clarify Customary and Reasonable Appraisal Fees

Read and Sign Here

Overview of Petition:

This petition is intended to collect and forward as one voice the sentiments of as many appraisers and “white hat” AMCs as are willing, to respectfully ask the Federal Reserve Board to publicly clarify their intent as to the use of AMC fees as the basis of customary and reasonable appraisal fees. All versions of the Dodd-Frank Financial Overhall bill, from inception to passage of the Truth In Lending Act (TILA), include specific mention of the exclusion of AMC fees in identifying the amount of appraisal fees that are customary and reasonable. It is one of the core principles in the appraisal-related sections of TILA as passed.

The Federal Reserve Board released their interim final rule back in October that included two mechanisms for identifying customary and reasonable fees. Neither of those alternatives (Presumption One or Presumption Two) includes language that conflicts with or contradicts the prohibition of the inclusion of AMC fees in those deliberations, and in fact the interim final rule includes several references to that prohibition.

Some of these AMCs believe they have found some gray area to misinterpret the term “recent appraisal fees” as used in the Presumption One paragraph to mean “recent AMC appraisal fees”. We consider such an interpretation to be in gross conflict with both the stated intent of TILA and the letter of the law with respect to C&R fees.

We are requesting the Board to clarify their intent with respect to “recent appraisal fees” as referenced in the Presumption One passage. If, as we believe, the Board did not intend to contradict the law (TILA) then that’s something these AMCs need to hear from the Board directly and unequivocably.

On the other hand, if the Board did intend to issue rules that effectively gut this section of TILA that Congress signed into law then that’s a position they should be prepared to explain and defend to the public. And possibly to Congress and/or the Courts as well.

This petition is not intended as a magic bullet or a panacea for our current C&R difficulties, but as a next step in a logical sequence of events. It probably won’t solve the problem but if we can gather sufficient support it may set the stage for additional efforts.