Appraisal

A proposal to exempt residential real estate transactions of $400,000 or less from appraisal requirements could help alleviate industry concerns about the time and cost associated with completing such transactions.

Federal banking regulators issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to raise the residential appraisal threshold, stating that they believe doing so could provide meaningful relief from appraisal burdens without posing safety and soundness threats. 

Find out what the proposal could mean for banks if implemented.

To stem the rise in what it called appraisal bias in reverse mortgage applications, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) recently announced that it will require a second appraisal any time it suspects a home’s value has been overestimated when being considered for a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM).

The agency was scant on details about its evaluation methodology during a media conference call. However, FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery said the agency would be looking for patterns among individual lenders, using unique attributes of its assessment tools.

Find out more about findings that led to the FHA’s new appraisal requirements and what Montgomery had to say about the move. 

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will start requiring second independent appraisals for Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) originations, commonly known as reverse mortgages, in cases where the agency suspects inflated property values. 

The new requirement will apply to case numbers assigned on or after Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2019 but did not include details on what might trigger FHA to require a second appraisal. 

Read on to find out more details about the new requirement.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board has proposed a rule that will decrease the number of properties requiring appraisals among non-residential properties and in rural areas, and clarify certain requirements for completing appraisals.

Some of the changes implement provisions of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155).

Find out more about the proposed rule and the credit union industry’s reaction to it.

After helping build more than 200 bikes and Big Wheels for local youth over the past six years, attendees at the National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) took time Wednesday to provide a different kind of summer fun for Michigan children.

The seventh annual “Make a Child Smile” community service event, sponsored by Adeptive Software, saw attendees put together Summer Fun Supply Kits, which will be delivered to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan.

Read on for more from the event and presentation.

With a record crowd set to invade the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, the 14th annual National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) brings a packed lineup featuring a live eClosing with remote online notarization, the CEO of the fifth-largest bank mortgage originator in the country, federal and state regulators, and much more.

Read on for more about the industry’s leading event, headlined by keynote speaker Alessandro DiNello, president and CEO at Flagstar Bank.

Doubling down on one of four recommendations included in his first semi-annual report to Congress as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Mick Mulvaney emphasized to the House Financial Services Committee that he believes the bureau should be put under congressional appropriations.

Mulvaney also fielded questions regarding the bureau’s recent dismissals of cases against payday lenders, the bureau’s structure, his decision to move the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity into the director’s office and the bureau’s remittance rule, among other topics.

Find out more details about what was discussed during the House committee hearing.

Responding, in part, to concerns from the financial industry that the current threshold for commercial real estate transactions requiring an appraisal has not kept pace with price appreciation, the federal banking agencies have finalized a rule doubling it.

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency proposed to raise the threshold in July 2017, and pumped up their initial proposed increase by $100,000 in the final rule.

Find out more details about why the industry supports the threshold increase.

New appraisal alternatives could pose new risks that could affect loans that are later sold and securitized, according to a recent report by Moody’s Investors Service. 

The report highlights potential risks lenders should be cognizant of relating to the use of hybrid appraisals, broker price opinions and automated valuation models.

Read on to learn what lenders should know about the risks related to each method.

Federal banking regulators have issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would significantly raise the threshold for commercial real estate transactions requiring an appraisal. Financial trade organizations have called for relief from the current appraisal threshold. Read on to learn more.