Letter I just sent to Appraisal Foundation in Washington, DC

They finally answered the problem. More bullshit and nothing about the AMC’s. Since I have nothing to loose and they are talking about how to bring in new people, but nothing about the loss of appraisers who can no longer afford the AMC… they asked for opinions, so I gave mine and here it is directly copied from my original email I sent 1 minute ago, 2/11/2016 at 7:20 Eastern Time:

Who’s Certification is it, the AMC’s or mine? Congress is ineffective and AMC’s are the only reason there is no money in this. I do the same good work if you pay me or not, but after all of these 7 years of pain just due to having to deal with the AMC’s, even the nice ones, there is no need for a responsible appraiser to deal with anyone other than the Bank or Mortgage Company. To think how stupid our Congress is.

Maybe the Movie “The Big Short” should be shown at the Capital. They did not tell the whole truth. They said thousands of loans A and B Paper were there. There was also C and D. I reviewed many that had comparables that were totally Made up. The homes did not exist. These were loans that had already sold on Wall Street. An appraiser named “Scruggs” sold his name and allowed this to happen.

I am making other arrangements for money as you no longer are in business as a self employed person. Appraisers are non paid employees of the AMC. One day, if they do not go, there will not be appraisers at least in the Residential Sector as I lost all 7 of my appraisers as there is no time to do 5 appraisals myself at $275 to $325 paid in 1 to 2 months after I hand it in. Funny, they rush us without caring about quality and are not appraisers, but pay us too late to live.

This is the problem, not what you are talking about. When I started looking at what you were writing, I knew you are also a part of this problem. You are dealing with issues that will have no impact on people that are professional appraisers having been here before Licensure. It was only 7 years ago that I made $350 and quickly after having enough time and not being bothered and pestered and then cut from work due to taking more than 1 week.

Either the Qualifications Board and everyone else in Washington are liars, or just have their eyes closed. I am 55 years old and cannot start working for a job. So, I am asking for help from people. I know the Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey area 1 to 4 family like the best of what there is and I have been taken down to defeat.

It is bad enough that the market is soft having nothing to do with us, it is the Lender’s issues. But when a borrower calls me angry that after paying me $500 on his credit card, that he now has to pay me $150 for a final inspection, this means the appraiser is again being blamed for money that is the AMC’s money. The AMC’s treat the money like it is theirs and the appraiser has nothing to do with it.

Here is the last part as I am sure you will never handle the problem that is real. You will deal with those other issues that won’t work. If the laws were taken down to say that AMC’s were no longer a requirement, they will NEVER leave. The Banks and Lenders will say they are happy not to deal with the appraiser when that is a bold face lie. It has to do with money that the appraiser is being blamed for taking, when we are being starved out. How many people are making money in AMC’s that is really the appraiser’s? I say Billions. If I made $500 for an appraisal, I would only have to do 2 per week and I would be fine and maybe even be able to work into my older age. So many older people are fed up with the extra work of the 1004MC that is averaging, against all of our training. The name was changed from “Downward Market” to whatever you have on their now. It takes me 4 to 8 hours per appraisal and I am then being rushed by a non-appraiser who only cares about getting his boss angry. What ever happened to the time it takes to do professional work? The problem is not bringing new people in, it is the people who cannot live with this AMC thing that are refinancing their homes and going broke. Thanks for your time, even though, I know, nothing good will come from you. David Gross.