Complaint Review: Countrywide Lending - Full Spectrum Lending - Landsafe Appraisal

I have noticed that there are many homeowners who are unaware of the appraisal process and most importantly the appraisal fee.

Most appraisers are independant, we work for ourselves and are self employed we have not benefits from the the mortgage companies whom contract us to complete real estate appraisal services.

It is illegal for us to accept an appraisal order with a pre-determinded value.

It is illegal for us to accept an order that is contingent on the appraisal report hitting a certain value.

It is illegal for us to accept an order as fee contingent.

Many times when orders are completed without payment upfront we dont get paid if the deal doesnt close. So essentially we work for free. We take a loss every year for unpaid appraisal fees, if you pressure the lender to pay up they will stop using you. I personally am very tired of working for free and a law needs to be passed to protect appraisers from this happening.

The appraisal fee is a third party fee once the report is completed the fee is not refundable under these terms or conditions. Of which are put in place for consumer protection.

If any homeowners or consumers would like to find out more about the appraisal process they can go to the appraisal foundation web site, or type in USPAP regulations which also outlines the appraisal process and regulations.

In Washington state appraiser are required to complete a min. 24 month apprenticeship, of with 2500 hours of appraisals must be completed we also complete several hundred hours of courses and continuing educational hours, and pass a state exam.

So if you are posting a complaint on here about your appraisal comming in too low or too high, there are reasons.

If your home appraised for 77k more before, maybe the last one was a pushed value and this one is a true value, or the market has changed and the sales in the area have dropped. At this point in time all lenders want the most recent sales to be used regardless of the conditions of sale (ie forclosure or bankowned or distressed) they also want all of the sales to be within 3 to 6 months. This is a very tough time to be an appraiser as stated before alot of us are working for free as lenders and brokers close there doors with outstanding debt owed to appraisers. And the harsh lender guidelines for the appraisal process.

Also your appraisal was ordered through Landsafe an appraisal managment company (AMC), so if you paid 495.00 towards an appraisal the appraiser is lucky if they saw 200.00 of that fee. Check out HVCC (home valuation code of conduct) once this goes into place it will only get worse. I personally do not want or have any desire to work for the AMC's they do not work in the best interest of the appraisal process, they rip off the appraiser, hire appraisers based on who will take the lowest fee, which does comprimise the quality of the appraiser you received. Most appraisers in this situation are going to complete the appraisal as quickly as possible with little effort which again will result in poor quality.

I hope this helps you to understand why the appraiser would not refund your appraisal fee and the appraisal process.

If you want to fix this vote NO HVCC.

I have noticed that there are many homeowners who are unaware of the appraisal process and most importantly the appraisal fee.

Most appraisers are independant, we work for ourselves and are self employed we have not benefits from the the mortgage companies whom contract us to complete real estate appraisal services.

It is illegal for us to accept an appraisal order with a pre-determinded value.

It is illegal for us to accept an order that is contingent on the appraisal report hitting a certain value.

It is illegal for us to accept an order as fee contingent.

Many times when orders are completed without payment upfront we dont get paid if the deal doesnt close. So essentially we work for free. We take a loss every year for unpaid appraisal fees, if you pressure the lender to pay up they will stop using you. I personally am very tired of working for free and a law needs to be passed to protect appraisers from this happening.

The appraisal fee is a third party fee once the report is completed the fee is not refundable under these terms or conditions. Of which are put in place for consumer protection.

If any homeowners or consumers would like to find out more about the appraisal process they can go to the appraisal foundation web site, or type in USPAP regulations which also outlines the appraisal process and regulations.

In Washington state appraiser are required to complete a min. 24 month apprenticeship, of with 2500 hours of appraisals must be completed we also complete several hundred hours of courses and continuing educational hours, and pass a state exam.

So if you are posting a complaint on here about your appraisal comming in too low or too high, there are reasons.

If your home appraised for 77k more before, maybe the last one was a pushed value and this one is a true value, or the market has changed and the sales in the area have dropped. At this point in time all lenders want the most recent sales to be used regardless of the conditions of sale (ie forclosure or bankowned or distressed) they also want all of the sales to be within 3 to 6 months. This is a very tough time to be an appraiser as stated before alot of us are working for free as lenders and brokers close there doors with outstanding debt owed to appraisers. And the harsh lender guidelines for the appraisal process.

Also your appraisal was ordered through Landsafe an appraisal managment company (AMC), so if you paid 495.00 towards an appraisal the appraiser is lucky if they saw 200.00 of that fee. Check out HVCC (home valuation code of conduct) once this goes into place it will only get worse. I personally do not want or have any desire to work for the AMC's they do not work in the best interest of the appraisal process, they rip off the appraiser, hire appraisers based on who will take the lowest fee, which does comprimise the quality of the appraiser you received. Most appraisers in this situation are going to complete the appraisal as quickly as possible with little effort which again will result in poor quality.

I hope this helps you to understand why the appraiser would not refund your appraisal fee and the appraisal process.

If you want to fix this vote NO HVCC.

I have noticed that there are many homeowners who are unaware of the appraisal process and most importantly the appraisal fee.

Most appraisers are independant, we work for ourselves and are self employed we have not benefits from the the mortgage companies whom contract us to complete real estate appraisal services.

It is illegal for us to accept an appraisal order with a pre-determinded value.

It is illegal for us to accept an order that is contingent on the appraisal report hitting a certain value.

It is illegal for us to accept an order as fee contingent.

Many times when orders are completed without payment upfront we dont get paid if the deal doesnt close. So essentially we work for free. We take a loss every year for unpaid appraisal fees, if you pressure the lender to pay up they will stop using you. I personally am very tired of working for free and a law needs to be passed to protect appraisers from this happening.

The appraisal fee is a third party fee once the report is completed the fee is not refundable under these terms or conditions. Of which are put in place for consumer protection.

If any homeowners or consumers would like to find out more about the appraisal process they can go to the appraisal foundation web site, or type in USPAP regulations which also outlines the appraisal process and regulations.

In Washington state appraiser are required to complete a min. 24 month apprenticeship, of with 2500 hours of appraisals must be completed we also complete several hundred hours of courses and continuing educational hours, and pass a state exam.

So if you are posting a complaint on here about your appraisal comming in too low or too high, there are reasons.

If your home appraised for 77k more before, maybe the last one was a pushed value and this one is a true value, or the market has changed and the sales in the area have dropped. At this point in time all lenders want the most recent sales to be used regardless of the conditions of sale (ie forclosure or bankowned or distressed) they also want all of the sales to be within 3 to 6 months. This is a very tough time to be an appraiser as stated before alot of us are working for free as lenders and brokers close there doors with outstanding debt owed to appraisers. And the harsh lender guidelines for the appraisal process.

Also your appraisal was ordered through Landsafe an appraisal managment company (AMC), so if you paid 495.00 towards an appraisal the appraiser is lucky if they saw 200.00 of that fee. Check out HVCC (home valuation code of conduct) once this goes into place it will only get worse. I personally do not want or have any desire to work for the AMC's they do not work in the best interest of the appraisal process, they rip off the appraiser, hire appraisers based on who will take the lowest fee, which does comprimise the quality of the appraiser you received. Most appraisers in this situation are going to complete the appraisal as quickly as possible with little effort which again will result in poor quality.

I hope this helps you to understand why the appraiser would not refund your appraisal fee and the appraisal process.

If you want to fix this vote NO HVCC.

I have noticed that there are many homeowners who are unaware of the appraisal process and most importantly the appraisal fee.

Most appraisers are independant, we work for ourselves and are self employed we have not benefits from the the mortgage companies whom contract us to complete real estate appraisal services.

It is illegal for us to accept an appraisal order with a pre-determinded value.

It is illegal for us to accept an order that is contingent on the appraisal report hitting a certain value.

It is illegal for us to accept an order as fee contingent.

Many times when orders are completed without payment upfront we dont get paid if the deal doesnt close. So essentially we work for free. We take a loss every year for unpaid appraisal fees, if you pressure the lender to pay up they will stop using you. I personally am very tired of working for free and a law needs to be passed to protect appraisers from this happening.

The appraisal fee is a third party fee once the report is completed the fee is not refundable under these terms or conditions. Of which are put in place for consumer protection.

If any homeowners or consumers would like to find out more about the appraisal process they can go to the appraisal foundation web site, or type in USPAP regulations which also outlines the appraisal process and regulations.

In Washington state appraiser are required to complete a min. 24 month apprenticeship, of with 2500 hours of appraisals must be completed we also complete several hundred hours of courses and continuing educational hours, and pass a state exam.

So if you are posting a complaint on here about your appraisal comming in too low or too high, there are reasons.

If your home appraised for 77k more before, maybe the last one was a pushed value and this one is a true value, or the market has changed and the sales in the area have dropped. At this point in time all lenders want the most recent sales to be used regardless of the conditions of sale (ie forclosure or bankowned or distressed) they also want all of the sales to be within 3 to 6 months. This is a very tough time to be an appraiser as stated before alot of us are working for free as lenders and brokers close there doors with outstanding debt owed to appraisers. And the harsh lender guidelines for the appraisal process.

Also your appraisal was ordered through Landsafe an appraisal managment company (AMC), so if you paid 495.00 towards an appraisal the appraiser is lucky if they saw 200.00 of that fee. Check out HVCC (home valuation code of conduct) once this goes into place it will only get worse. I personally do not want or have any desire to work for the AMC's they do not work in the best interest of the appraisal process, they rip off the appraiser, hire appraisers based on who will take the lowest fee, which does comprimise the quality of the appraiser you received. Most appraisers in this situation are going to complete the appraisal as quickly as possible with little effort which again will result in poor quality.

I hope this helps you to understand why the appraiser would not refund your appraisal fee and the appraisal process.

If you want to fix this vote NO HVCC.

He was not an independant appraiser. The "comparable" houses that were used has much less land, and the land value in Seattle is often the most valuable part of the property. It is my belief that my house was undervalued, so that Countrywide would be able to collect the PMI to the tune of 12,000 dollars.

He was not an independant appraiser. The "comparable" houses that were used has much less land, and the land value in Seattle is often the most valuable part of the property. It is my belief that my house was undervalued, so that Countrywide would be able to collect the PMI to the tune of 12,000 dollars.

He was not an independant appraiser. The "comparable" houses that were used has much less land, and the land value in Seattle is often the most valuable part of the property. It is my belief that my house was undervalued, so that Countrywide would be able to collect the PMI to the tune of 12,000 dollars.

I am a Real Estate appraiser. You can go to the Department of licensing under the appraiser section. In the appraisal section you can file a report with the state or contact them directly and they will investigate the appraiser. The appraiser will more than likely be sanctioned by the state as well as a fine. You will receive a refund in the next 30 days. :)

I recognize that the lender cannot influence the appraiser. The problem that I have with the lender is that after they determined that the appraisal did not represent the true value of the property (they admitted this), they refused to order another. I did not pay or hire that appraiser, full spectrum/countrywide did. Unfortunately, they used my money.
Multiple real estate professionals in the area have run a market analysis for me and they verify that real estate in the area is appreciating at around 6 percent. The house was purchased for much less than the value of comparable homes in the neighborhood and none of those homes show a drop in value. The gloomy attitude that pervades the real estate industry right now is a result of the hype generated by hard hit areas like California, Florida and Las Vegas. Not all areas of the nation experienced the price bubble or burst. Any appraiser who cites a generally bad real estate market as the reason for a price drop but can't back that up with information pertaining to his locale is obviously relying on emotions or sensational news media rather than facts. Numbers don't lie-it might be best for people in his line of work to use those from now on.
As for fraud, maybe the lenders unwillingness to order a new appraisal after admitting that the first one was not acceptable, is not criminal. At the very least, it is a poor business practice and is indicative of questionable ethics. If this is business as usual at countrywide/full spectrum, I am sad to say I ever associated with them. Likewise for Landsafe and George Sauer Appraisals.
Todd

I know the frustration that the borrower in the article feels with the appraisal process with landsafe however there is no illegal business taking place. Landsafes relationship to the appraiser is vendor management. The appraisers do not work for landsafe and because of the appraisal independence policy as promoted by the appraisal subcommittee in congress, lawsuits from consumers due to inflated appraisals, and the rise in errors and ommisssions policies to appraisers all appraisers are being more conservative as well as lenders in the review of the appraisers work. It is pretty common knowledge that the market has changed for the worse six months in the real estate market is an eternity . It could be that the first appraisal was inflated and the second appraiser did more research. I would venture to say that most appraisers do not look to kill a loan but they are not given any guidance by the lender on what value to look for because that would be illegal to influence the value opinion of said appraiser. The consumer can relay any thing they want about amenities and value of the property but the lenders hands are tied. Beleve it or not landsafe appraisal is well regarded in the industry and many other banks and lending institutions use their services. However like any other business customer service to its internal clients at countrywide could be better so we can better inform the customer. The appraisals are a huge write off for most companies and no one is willing to take that loss because it is a risk. It is not uncommon to pay for an appraisal upfront. Landsafe is pretty impartial as their concern is in a quality product. Two appraisals, during different times in the market cycle with two different appraisers are literally clear cut black and white differences. I hope this provides clarity in that regard.