March 14, 2008

Dear Colleague:

Last week, we informed you about the agreement between the Attorney General of New York, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) to establish the "Home Valuation Protection Program" scheduled to take effect January 1, 2009.  A Fact Sheet is available for your review and information summarizing the Agreements and the proposed Home Valuation Code of Conduct.

Today, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and OFHEO announced a 45-day comment period on the implementation of the Code of Conduct. Appraisers and others are welcome and encouraged to comment directly to each organization. Presently, we have received information only from Freddie Mac, as follows: http://www.mmsend2.com/ls.cfm?r=61762501&sid=3646074&m=452663&u=Appraise&s=http://www.freddiemac.com/singlefamily/home_valuation.html. Additional links will be posted on our Web site as they become available. Following the comment period, the parties are expected to review and consider modifications to the Code of Conduct and/or its implementation and deployment. 

The Appraisal Institute will provide a formal response to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and OFHEO regarding the agreement they reached with the Attorney General's office. We believe changes that occur under these proposals should be designed to foster accurate and independent appraisals in support of mortgage transactions in the United States. To assist the Appraisal Institute in preparing an official comment letter, we ask members to submit comments, concerns and potential solutions for any identified problems to appraisalcomments@appraisalinstitute.org. Given the relatively short duration of the comment period, please submit your comments to us by March 31. Further, we will survey the membership on this issue to glean additional insight and input. Based on your feedback, we then will prepare and submit our official comments to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and OFHEO, as well as post our comment letter on the Appraisal Institute's Web site. 

The Appraisal Institute also is preparing a series of "Webinar" information sessions to be held during the weeks of March 17 and 24 to answer questions and keep our members informed about this issue. Additional written updates on this issue will be posted on our Web site at: http://www.mmsend2.com/ls.cfm?r=61762501&sid=3646075&m=452663&u=Appraise&s=http://www.appraisalinstitute.org/cuomofanniefreddie. Our guiding principle will be to communicate the facts to you as quickly as possible, updating information regularly as circumstances change, and ensuring that our members are well informed. We will use multiple mediums to reach as many members as possible with accurate, timely information.

The Appraisal Institute will use its Web site as the primary source of updates, linking from there to other pages and sources for detailed information. Other communication channels will include a lead story in the second quarter issue of Valuation Magazine, the AI's flagship publication; regular informational updates via Appraiser News Online or e-mail; and through national and regional sponsored meetings such as the Leadership Development and Advisory Council Meeting in Washington, D.C. and upcoming AI spring regional meetings.

We strongly encourage you to get involved in this historic opportunity to help shape the future of the appraisal profession. Thank you, in advance, for responding to this call to action.

R. Wayne Pugh, MAI

2008 Appraisal Institute President