The president of the Appraisal Institute, the nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers, encouraged Congress to act on valuation topics during yesterday’s hearing on Capitol Hill.

Stephen S. Wagner, MAI, SRA, AI-GRS, told the House Financial Services Committee’s Housing, Community Development and Insurance Subcommittee that the Appraisal Institute supports passage of H.R. 2852, which would allow licensed appraisers to perform appraisals for Federal Housing Administration loans.

We have the opportunity to support two of our chapter members as they seek a position on the North Carolina Appraisal Board. There is no group more qualified to represent appraisers on the appraisal board than members from the North Carolina Chapter of the Appraisal Institute. Our organization has historically had members on the board. Please join in the effort to promote our organization on this vital regulatory board. Help promote our members who have volunteered to be nominated to the board; Lynn Carmichael, MAI, from the Asheville Area, and Claire Aufrance, MAI, SRA from the Greensboro Area. 

To support the chapter please click the button below to send the governor a supportive recommendation for these members.

Pledger M. (Jody) Bishop III, MAI, SRA, AI-GRS, of Charleston, South Carolina, was nominated for 2020 Appraisal Institute vice president by the AI National Nominating Committee at its May 8 meeting in Chicago.

National Nominating Committee Chair James L. Murrett, MAI, SRA, submitted the committee’s nomination to the AI Board of Directors at its May 9-10 meeting in Chicago. Board members may file petitions for additional nominees in accordance with the Appraisal Institute Bylaws. The AI Board of Directors is expected to elect the 2020 vice president at its July 25-26 meeting in Denver.

The Appraisal Institute designated 40 members in April, including; and 20 who received MAI designations; 5 who received SRA designations; 10 who received AI-GRS designations; 5 who received AI-RRS designations. Special congratulations to NCAI members, David Ivey, AI-GRS and Thomas Lott, MAI, AI-GRS.

View list here.

 

Appraisal Institute Among Organizations Opposing Residential Threshold Increase

The Appraisal Institute on Feb. 4 was one of six organizations signing a comment letter that "strongly opposed" a proposal from the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to raise the residential appraisal threshold from $250,000 to $400,000. 

Read more.

---

 

The Appraisal Institute on April 17 announced that its 2018 Annual Report is available. The report highlights AI's accomplishments during the previous year in education, professional services, international activities, government relations, meetings, financial performance, professional practice and other areas.

View the report.

The Appraisal Institute’s National Nominating Committee is scheduled to interview two candidates for 2020 AI vice president in Chicago May 8, and the committee is expected to nominate one or more individuals for 2020 vice president at the Board of Directors’ May 9-10 meeting.

The candidates are, in alphabetical order, Pledger M. Bishop III, MAI, SRA, AI-GRS and Eric Schwartz, MAI, SRA, AI-GRS.

AI professionals may view the candidate biographies and questionnaires (login required) and provide input by 5 p.m. CDT May 6. Correspondence should be addressed to Jim Murrett, MAI, SRA, chair, 2019 National Nominating Committee, and emailed to Joan Barngrover, board secretary and special assistant to the CEO, at [email protected].

The Appraisal Institute designated 25 members in March, including 11 who received their MAI designations, five who received their SRA designations, four who received their AI-GRS designations and five who received their AI-RRS designations. 

Click here to read more.

The Appraisal Institute on April 3 announced the recognition of 15 individuals as a "Volunteer of Distinction" for the first quarter.

Click here to read more.

The Appraisal Institute designated 29 members in February, including; and 12 who received MAI designations; 7 who received SRA designations; 9 who received AI-GRS designations; 1 who received AI-RRS designations.

View the list here.

On March 6, the Appraisal Institute and Freddie Mac announced a partnership targeted to help real estate appraisers when valuing manufactured housing, meeting an important need for homebuyers, lenders, appraisers and homebuilders.

The Appraisal Institute’s partnership with Freddie Mac will provide practical appraisal training to all appraisers, as well as specifically-targeted training and case studies to address manufactured housing valuation assignments for Freddie Mac’s CHOICEHome^SM. CHOICEHome brings conventional mortgage financing to factory-built homes to help increase the availability of quality affordable homes that borrowers want while providing lenders with the innovative financing options they need.  

On Monday, February 26, 2019, the North Carolina Appraisal Board voted to summarily suspend the registration of CoesterVMS. Coester has failed to respond to seven complaints filed against it and has failed to maintain a surety bond after its surety bond was cancelled. Effective March 1, 2019, Coester’s registration is suspended and they shall cease all activities which constitute appraisal management services in North Carolina. The suspension shall remain in effect until the Board issues a Final Decision in this matter or until the parties enter into a Consent Order that is a final determination in this matter.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Feb. 12 released its 2019 list of rural and underserved counties, which those entities can use to determine if they are exempt from certain appraisal and ability-to-pay rules.

Click here to view the list.

AI periodically surveys real estate appraisers to capture the current state of the real estate appraisal profession. We welcome you to take part in this important survey. Your answers will help AI serve all real estate appraisers, and increase public awareness of the appraisal profession.

This survey is anonymous and will take about 4-5 minutes to complete.