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News By Edition
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Valuation Review Edition
January 20, 2014
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Data security is top priority in 2014
Posted Date: Monday, January 6, 2014
Complying with increasing regulations is a focal point for appraisal industry professionals as we head into 2014. More than ever, regulators are pressuring lender clients to ensure that their outsourced service providers, especially those providing critical services such as those related to real estate settlement services, are also complying with consumer protection and privacy related laws, rules and regulations.
At the same time, more dependence on technology has led to almost every step of the valuation process being automated or moved online, bringing with it an increased interconnectedness and attendant risk.
Because the world of regulation is merging with the world of technology, data security isn’t just an industry talking point anymore; it has become a legal obligation.
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Data security is top priority in 2014
Posted Date: Monday, January 6, 2014
Complying with increasing regulations is a focal point for appraisal industry professionals as we head into 2014. More than ever, regulators are pressuring lender clients to ensure that their outsourced service providers, especially those providing critical services such as those related to real estate settlement services, are also complying with consumer protection and privacy related laws, rules and regulations.
At the same time, more dependence on technology has led to almost every step of the valuation process being automated or moved online, bringing with it an increased interconnectedness and attendant risk.
Because the world of regulation is merging with the world of technology, data security isn’t just an industry talking point anymore; it has become a legal obligation.
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Valuation reviews can prevent short sale fraud
Posted Date: Thursday, January 9, 2014
Most appraisers and valuation professionals understand how a typical short sale process works, but many may not be as familiar with the ways that short sale fraudsters are breaking into the system for their own gain. Short sale fraud is one of the fastest growing fraud types, with excess losses to lenders and investors estimated by CoreLogic to be more than $350 million annually. Until recently, short sale fraud was one of the more challenging types of valuation fraud to detect. But now, new analytics and tools in the hands of trained appraisers and professional valuation experts can help lenders and mortgage servicers turn the tables and detect more short sale fraud schemes before they cause financial damage.
A short sale, though obviously not ideal for the homeowner, can make sense in the current market in a variety of different scenarios. One such scenario would be if homeowners are experiencing difficult financial circumstances that prevent them from qualifying for options that would allow them to keep their home. Alternatively, an individual may need to move in order to keep or obtain employment, even though their property value is less than the mortgage they hold and they can’t sell at a price that would cover the outstanding mortgage amount. Buyers benefit because the property is often sold at a reduced price, though repairs may be necessary due to the seller’s inability or potential unwillingness to handle them prior to listing or selling the home.
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Wells Fargo prepares to make loans outside of new qualified mortgage framework
Posted Date: Monday, January 13, 2014
Wells Fargo, the largest U.S. home lender who was responsible for roughly 20 percent of all mortgages in 2013, is gearing up its staff to originate loans that do not conform to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) new qualified mortgage (QM) rules, Bloomberg has reported.
Wells Fargo has said that they have assembled a staff of 400 underwriters to originate mortgages that the bank will hold in its portfolio. And according to bank officials, up to 40 percent of the mortgages that the bank originates may fall outside of the QM provisions.
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New qualified mortgage rules could stifle smaller lenders’ willingness to lend
Posted Date: Monday, January 13, 2014
New qualified mortgage (QM) rules enacted Jan. 10 could have the unintended consequence of impeding smaller lenders’ willingness to issue some home loans, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
The qualified mortgage rules defined by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) were developed in response to the housing collapse of the Great Recession. Lax lending requirements resulted in prospective homeowners being issued home loans that they ultimately were not financially able to repay. New lending requirements attempt to prevent negligent lending in the future by placing the onus of the borrower’s ability to repay on the lender, with legal implications possible should a borrower default on loans that do not adhere to the qualified mortgage requirements.
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FHFA appointment causes speculation on future credit availability
Posted Date: Thursday, January 9, 2014
The Jan. 6 appointment of Mel Watt as the new head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency has many in the mortgage industry speculating on how Watt’s appointment could affect credit availability in the housing sector.
As reported by Reuters, the appointment of Watt signals a new approach to U.S. housing policy that is anticipated to result in the FHFA — the regulating entity of mortgage finance firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — helping ensure access to credit to more homeowners.
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Metro-West appoints new chief real estate appraiser
Posted Date: Thursday, January 9, 2014
Metro-West Appraisal Co., the largest independent appraisal firm in the nation, has announced the hiring of a new chief real estate appraiser. Continue reading to see who will take over the chief appraiser duties for Metro-West.
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Foreclosures and delinquencies down significantly, report shows
Posted Date: Monday, January 13, 2014
CoreLogic, a residential property information, analytics and services provider, released its November National Foreclosure Report on Jan. 9 with a supplement featuring quarterly shadow inventory data as of October 2013. Continue reading to see the results of the report.
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Commercial, multifamily lending expected to increase in 2014, survey shows
Posted Date: Monday, January 13, 2014
Commercial and multifamily mortgage lending is expected to increase in 2014 as lenders’ appetites to place new loans grow even stronger, according to a new Mortgage Bankers Association survey of the top commercial and multifamily mortgage origination firms. Read on for the survey details.
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A la mode’s Mercury Network offers compliance tools for new ECOA Valuations Rule
Posted Date: Monday, January 13, 2014
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act Valuations Rule becomes effective Jan. 18. Mercury Network, which is the flagship product of a la mode for the lending industry, has been updated with automated compliance tools for lenders and appraisal management companies (AMCs) to add to its Vendor Management Platform; the software creates a full audit trail to prove compliance with the new regulation.
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Accurate Group announces new compliance software platform
Posted Date: Monday, January 6, 2014
The Accurate Group, a provider of national real estate transaction services to the financial services industry, announced on Jan. 6 that it has rebranded its proprietary software platform following a significant investment to enhance its rules-based client portal and compliance software platform. Keep reading to learn about the changes.
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Watt gets down to work at FHFA
Posted Date: Monday, January 13, 2014
Mel Watt has had a busy first few days in his new role as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The former Democratic congressman from North Carolina was sworn in on Jan. 6 and has already delayed an agency policy change that was set to take effect this year. He also named four members to his team of advisers.
On Jan. 8, Watt made good on an earlier promise to delay a recently announced guarantee fee (g-fee) increase.
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Home prices increase throughout the nation, index show
Posted Date: Thursday, January 9, 2014
CoreLogic, a residential property information, analytics and services provider, released its November CoreLogic Home Price Index report on Jan. 7, which shows how home prices fluctuate monthly throughout the U.S. Keep reading to see what the report showed.
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Housing markets continue to show gradual improvement
Posted Date: Thursday, January 9, 2014
The National Association of Home Builders announced on Jan. 7 that, according to its monthly National Association of Home Builders/First American Leading Markets Index, markets in 56 out of the approximately 350 metro areas surveyed returned to or exceeded their last normal levels of economic and housing activity. Keep reading to see the full details of the index.
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Webinar series offers in-depth training on mortgage disclosure forms
Posted Date: Thursday, January 9, 2014
RESPA News and Dodd Frank Update have teamed up to provide industry professionals with two training webinars that will deliver in-depth instruction on the impactful provisions of the new regulations. Sponsored by WFG National Title Insurance Co., Part 1 of the Mortgage Disclosure Forms Training Series airs Thursday, Jan. 16 at 2 p.m. ET, followed by Part 2 on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. ET.
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Industry experts give opinions on 2014 (pt. 2)
Posted Date: Thursday, January 9, 2014
Valuation Review asked industry experts the following: “How do you see the appraisal industry changing/growing in the next year?”
Here are some of the responses in part two of our 2014 preview:
Paul Doman, president/ chief executive officer, Accurate Group
I see lenders and mortgage servicers, big and small, continuing to outsource valuation and compliance management to quality companies who have technology that promotes full and complete compliance transparency to meet the new regulatory guidelines and to produce high-quality values. Most lenders and servicers do not currently have, or do not want to invest in, the technology to meet the new compliance requirements.
I also see lenders and servicers continuing to struggle with a growing problem — the lack of well-qualified, new appraisers entering the marketplace. The aging population of available appraisers will, in the longer term, negatively affect service levels and the quality of values. Lack of appraiser supply, along with questions about the use of real estate brokers to develop broker price opinion (BPO) products, will continue to drive a demand for high-quality appraisal and BPO alternatives that are compliant and use technology to leverage the available appraisers in the marketplace.
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Industry experts give opinions on 2014 (pt. 1)
Posted Date: Monday, January 6, 2014
Valuation Review asked industry experts the following: “How do you see the appraisal industry changing/growing in the next year?” Keep reading to see what experts said in part one of our 2014 preview.
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Forecasting the appraisal industry in 2014
Posted Date: Monday, January 6, 2014
As the appraisal industry moves into 2014, the new year brings with it new questions of how the industry is changing and what direction it’s moving in.
Of course, to understand what is on the horizon, it is imperative to look back at the prevailing trends of the past several years.
The industry is in a period of transition. The impacts of the Great Recession have reverberated throughout the industry — the aftereffects of which are still being felt.
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