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 On January 16th, NAMB President Marc Savitt, CRMS issued a call to all NAMB members and members of the real estate and appraisal industries to support NAMB's efforts against the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) as agreed upon by the GSEs (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. NAMB urges you to join the fight to prevent the HVCC from taking effect. With your support, NAMB will be taking legal and legislative action to stop the HVCC. Should the HVCC take effect, lenders will no longer accept any appraisal report completed by an appraiser selected, retained, or compensated in any manner by any third party, including mortgage brokers. Please make a donation today to protect your profession! Click here to donate today! For a copy of the e-mail sent to all NAMB Members, click here. For a copy of the e-mail that can be sent to real estate agents, click here. For a copy of the e-mail that can be sent to appraisers, click here. |
New York Attorney General, GSEs Release Revised Appraisal Agreement
McLean, V.A. - December 24, 2008 - The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) today announced its disappointment with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Government Sponsored Enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSEs) and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) for issuing its revised Agreement on the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) for appraisals. This agreement, in response to an initial investigation into business practices conducted between Washington Mutual and appraisal management company E-AppraiserIT, once again fails to address the appraiser fraud problem. NAMB today issued the following statement from NAMB President Marc Savitt:
"This agreement amounts to a de facto regulatory action which avoids the appropriate process. The law provides for a process to implement regulatory and policy changes such as those contemplated and specified in this agreement.
This agreement will increase costs to consumers and remove thousands of small business competitors from the marketplace. This will create a severe disadvantage to small business mortgage brokers, and prevent them from engaging competitively in the mortgage marketplace.
The Attorney General and GSEs disregarded many letters submitted by industry associations citing numerous laws and regulations already in place and for failing to make the necessary revisions in the new agreement to accurately address the problem of appraiser fraud. The solution to appraiser fraud is to hold responsible those that commit the fraudulent acts: appraisers. Regulators have failed to reprimand appraisers committing similar acts to those committed during the Savings and Loan Crisis, and instead held small business mortgage brokers accountable.
As always, we are ready to work with these agencies to achieve the objective of eliminating appraiser fraud without disrupting the marketplace or hurting consumers. As it stands now, the National Association of Mortgage Brokers intends to consult with our legal advisors and to take appropriate legal action if necessary."
For a copy of the revised agreement, please click here.
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