NCAB 2/15 meeting notes

[Peter Gallo]

Hello everybody!

 

Just some quick notes from the NCAB meeting I attended yesterday...

 

There have currently been 96 AMCs which have registered with the NCAB.  91 are current, 3 have been rejected and 2 are currently being reviewed.  There have been no formal complaints yet, but there have been several informational requests.  Appraisers have notified the Board that having information for a compliance manager has been helpful.  Alternately, AMCs have commented that NC appraisers are the most knowledgeable and informed appraisers that they have run into.  It appears we have done a good job getting info on rules and requirements to our clients/AMCs on these issues.

 

The Board Members voted and approved adoption of the Customary and Reasonable Fee rule that had been tabled at the 11/10 meeting.  This means that the rule will now go to the Rules and Review Committee, where there is a good chance that it will NOT be approved...so do not get your hopes up yet!  I will let you know when I hear something either way.

 

Some interesting discussions occurred during "probable cause" summaries..."typical adjustments" were discussed as the result of a response from one complaint by an appraiser.  Whether or not there is such a thing as a "typical" adjustment and if this is an acceptable justification for an appraiser to use as an explanation.  A lot of time was spent discussing the measurement of structures.  It has been noted that issues with measurement have been the basis of many complaints and the Board considered whether or not a standard of measuring should be adopted, taught and enforced.  The Members noted that a course is not currently being offered that addresses measuring and that there should be further discussion about requiring this as it could possibly eliminate a good number of problems and it would give appraisers a unequivocal standard to follow.

 

Along these lines, The Chair (John Lyon) addressed the issue of creating a 3.5 hour class that would be a required course similar to the NC Association of Realtors required update course.  This would be an NCAB developed course.  It would address current/timely issues that NCAB feels appraisers need to be educated on in a consistent and uniform manner.  The idea would be to couple the 3.5 hours with another 3.5 hours of other material to develop a full 7 hour course. 

 

There appeared to be many probable cause summaries to be voted on, so if you have been waiting to hear from the Board on a case, you might be receiving something in the mail soon...uuggh!

 

Pending Cases showed only 16 complaints have been filed so far for this year which is well below the average, but a comment was made by the Director that this could be a result of the lack of work being completed right now by appraisers as it has been a slow time for us.  Also noted was that consumers/homeowners were, by far, the primary source of complaints and this was followed by lenders.

 

It was also noted that the Director, Don Rogers and Deputy Director Thomas Lewis will be sitting in on some classes as monitors.

 

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions,

(704-578-8205cell/[e-mail])

 

Pete