News By Edition

William Trombly, a Texas appraiser (Trombly Appraisal, LLC) spoke to Valuation Review about a topic prevalent within the appraisal industry.

Trombly, in an article he authored, said racial bias in the appraisal profession is unacceptable.

Read on for more of Trombly’s thoughts about this hot topic.

With many COVID-19 restrictions being lifted by the CDC and the various states, appraisers, like everyone else, eagerly await a return to some “normalcy.”

Still, there are precautionary measures in place within the real estate industry.

Realquantum CEO Jeff Weiner shared a few of those with Valuation Review.

Valuation Review’s monthly insight from Dustin Harris, “The Appraiser Coach,” focuses on what may be circulating around the profession regarding Fannie Mae introducing new appraisal forms.

Harris shared with us his thoughts on this.

Read on to find out more.

The Appraisal Institute (AI) is encouraging homeowners to focus on cost-efficient improvement projects when seeking to improve their property’s value during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to a release on the AI website. Read on to learn more.

A housing discrimination complaint filed by a Black Indianapolis homeowner alleges appraisers’ valuations of her home more than doubled after she removed items that identified her race and asked a white male friend to be there during an appraisal, according to the Associated Press. 

Carlette Duffy and the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana filed complaints with the federal government, alleging appraisers violated fair housing laws.

Read on to learn more.

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. and GeoPhy expanded the footprint of its multifamily appraisal business, Apprise, with the addition of two regional leaders and managing directors, according to a press release. Read on to learn more.

Bryce Long has been promoted to chief executive officer of Salt Lake City-based mortgage lender Veritas Funding, the company announced. Read on to learn more.         

The Change Co. has acquired Connect Escrow, a woman-owned and operated real estate escrow services company. The Change Co. was represented in the transaction by law firms Gaynor Law Group, P.C. and Michelman & Robinson, LLP. Connect Escrow was represented by Relaw, APC. Read on to learn more.

Fannie Mae issued Lender Letter (LL-2013-10) regarding the Appraisal Quality Monitoring process to remind lenders of its appraiser selection requirements, highlight several data quality issues, and describe new processes that Fannie Mae has implemented to identify and monitor individual appraisers. Read on to learn from a few of the frequently asked questions addressed by Fannie.

Valbridge Property Advisors, the largest independent commercial appraisal and advisory firm in the U.S., announced a strategic partnership with Coverlease, a cloud-based commercial real estate (CRE) lease data collection and aggregation platform, the company announced in a press release.

Nations Lending welcomed industry veteran Tim Dowling to its team as Midwest regional manager. Read on to find more about this new hire.

Swift Mortgage, LLC, a nationwide mortgage lender, will be joining the AppraisalVision network to utilize their SMARTOrder + Encompass by Ellie Mae integration, SMARTReview, and Vision Analytics, the companies announced in a release. Read on to learn more.

Reggora recently appointed Jonathan Corr to its board of directors, the company announced. Read on to learn more.

BBG recently announced its expert in ligation support services played a significant role in a recent New York State Supreme Court condemnation case that awarded more than $15 million to the owner of a Queens, N.Y. retail building, the company stated in a press release.

New York Supreme Court Queens County Judge Carmen Velasquez ruled in April that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which took possession of the property through an eminent domain action six years ago, must pay $15.43 million, plus interest, for the property located in the Flushing, Queens neighborhood.  

The Appraisal Institute of Canada (AIC) has taken a significant step in its equity, diversity and inclusion efforts with the launch of its President's Council on Diversity and Inclusion. Read on for more from the AIC.

ATTOM Data Solutions’ second-quarter 2021 Vacant Property and Zombie Foreclosure Report found 1.4 million residential properties in the United States are vacant this quarter, representing 1.4 percent of all homes, ATTOM announced in a release.

The report analyzes publicly recorded real estate data collected by ATTOM Data Solutions — including foreclosure status, equity, and owner-occupancy status — matched against monthly updated vacancy data.

A perceived endless demand and low supply have driven record-breaking home value appreciation over the past year, according to Zillow’s latest market report.

April pushed the envelope even further with an annual home value growth for a typical U.S. home at 11.6 percent, the highest seen since 2005.

Read on to learn more.

Black Knight, Inc. has acquired eMBS Inc, which provides performance data and analytics on agency-backed securities to market participants for critical insights to inform better investment decisions.

The move will also and enhance the yields on their mortgage-backed securities portfolios, the company announced.

Read on to learn more.

Cherry Creek Mortgage announced that David Arnett has been promoted to chief marketing officer, according to a company release. Read on to find out more.

Around 17.8 million residential properties in the first quarter were considered equity-rich, meaning that the combined estimated amount of loans secured by those properties was 50 percent or less of their estimated market value, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ first-quarter 2021 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report. Read on to learn more.

NewRez LLC, a national mortgage lending and servicing organization, announced that Rajinder Singh has joined its executive team as chief risk officer, effective immediately. Read on to learn more.

With real estate inventory down by more than half compared to last year, the personal finance website WalletHub recently released its report on 2021’s Best Places to Be a Real Estate Agent. Read on to find out which areas made the list.