A request for customary and reasonable fees takes a minute

Here is a petition to sign which may help the cause. Joshua Walitt has spearheaded a campaign to create an online petition to send to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to have them re-investigate and evaluate customary and reasonable fees and how the laws are being followed. Subsequent to the original Dodd-Frank Act, the Federal Reserve enacted the “Interim Final Rule” allowing AMC’s to base customary and reasonable fees on what they are currently paying instead of what is reasonable. The link below will take you to the petition which in summary says:

http://www.appraisalbuzz.com/online-petition-to-make-a-difference-in-customary-and-reasonable-appraisal-fees

In summary, by electronically signing this web page, you are firmly providing your support to petition the CFPB and its related regulatory bodies to repeal or amend the Interim Final Rule language related to Customary and Reasonable Fees based on the following principles:

  • The original Dodd-Frank Act is intended to protect Consumer Interests
  • Appraiser Independence is an important Consumer protection
  • The original Customary and Reasonable Fee provision clearly identified the need for an environment that eliminated an unhealthy incentive to engage the lowest cost provider at the expense of the most competent and ethical provider
  • The Interim Final Rule has rendered the original intent unenforceable
  • The Customary and Reasonable Fee language in the Interim Final Rule should revert back to the original Dodd-Frank language and intent
  • A “Cost-Plus” fee structure for Lenders that engage AMCs will preserve the Customary and Reasonable intent

oThis provides enhanced Consumer protection

  • Since the Consumer is precluded from selecting an Appraiser, it is imperative to enforce an environment that encourages the Lender or its Agent to select of the highest caliber professional

oThis provides Regulatory transparency

  • The “Appraisal Fee” on the HUD1 settlement form was never intended to include co-mingled fees with other services provided by a third party for the Lender (which is also misleading to the Consumer)

oThe services of the Appraiser are distinct from the services of the AMC

  • As such, their costs should be segregated

oA Cost-Plus fee structure will allow the Customary and Reasonable Fee provision, a component of Appraiser Independence, to be more readily adopted

You put in your name, email, state, and any comments you want. That is it. It takes longer to read it than it does to do it. You can read the following article and the information on the petition to learn more about the issue. There is link on the survey to view the signatures. There are currently 618 signatures. I do not particularly have much trust in Joan Trice, who is founder of Allterra Group LLC, the founder and CEO of Clearbox, LLC, publisher of Appraisal Buzz, and host of the annual Valuation Expo, which is where this is coming from. Honor dies where interest lies. In the end Joan wants you to join one of her groups so she can get some money from you and you may get some advertising from it, but you can add it to junk mail if you are not interested. It is worth signing the petition and passing this on to every appraiser that you know just to let the CFPB know that they are in the wrong boat.

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