Appraisal

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in West Virginia dismissed the majority of a $10.6 million judgment against Rocket Mortgage and its affiliate, Amrock LLC. The case involved claims questioning the companies’ handling of certain home value estimates included in refinance applications. Read on »

Regulators at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Administration listened to feedback from lenders requesting additional time to implement the necessary policies and procedures to comply with new reconsideration of value requirements. Read on »

Six federal agencies approved a new rule to regulate advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence tools used by an increasing number of appraisers when estimating home values. The rule aims to promote accuracy and prevent unintended bias in automated valuation models. Read on »

October Research, LLC debuted its new “Keys to Real Estate” podcast, hosted by Chief Knowledge Officer Mary Schuster, on May 16. Industry professionals can now hear from some of the most knowledgeable thought leaders on topics impacting the real estate transaction while on the go delivered weekly via various podcast platforms and YouTube. Read on »

One thing all segments of the real estate transaction have in common is a major reliance on data. Multiple agencies released information about data collection requirements and the organizations that provide that data. Read about these matters and more in this roundup. Read on »

Five federal regulatory agencies issued a request for public comment on proposed guidance addressing reconsiderations of value for residential real estate transactions. Read on for more details. Read on »

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., National Credit Union Administration, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, issued a joint notice of proposed rulemaking related to automated valuation models (AVMs). Read on for more details. Read on »

The Mortgage Bankers Association filed an amicus brief in a lawsuit alleging an appraiser and a lender violated federal law by lowering the valuation of a home because the owners were Black and by denying a mortgage refinancing application based on that low appraisal. The amicus brief seeks to respond to a statement of interest filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice. Read on for more details. Read on »

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Appraisal Subcommittee released the names of the individuals who are providing testimony during its second public hearing on May 19. Read on for more details. Read on »

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau hosted the Appraisal Subcommittee’s first public hearing to discuss issues relating to appraisal bias. Testimony from experts offered insight from scholars, appraisers, economists, and consumers on the issues permeating the industry and recommendations they had to help rectify some of the problems. Read on for more details. Read on »