McLean, V.A. – December 24, 2008 – The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) today announced its disappointment with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Government Sponsored Enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSEs) and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) for issuing its revised Agreement on the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) for appraisals. This agreement, in response to an initial investigation into business practices conducted between Washington Mutual and appraisal management company E-AppraiserIT, once again fails to address the appraiser fraud problem. NAMB today issued the following statement from NAMB President Marc Savitt:
“This agreement amounts to a de facto regulatory action which avoids the appropriate process. The law provides for a process to implement regulatory and policy changes such as those contemplated and specified in this agreement.
This agreement will increase costs to consumers and remove thousands of small business competitors from the marketplace. This will create a severe disadvantage to small business mortgage brokers, and prevent them from engaging competitively in the mortgage marketplace.
The HVCC severely threatens small businesses and our respective professions by preventing real estate, mortgage broker, and appraiser professionals from participating in the independent appraisal process. It is critical for mortgage brokers and real estate agents to maintain an appropriate level of contact with appraisers to ensure appraisal quality and appraiser independence.
Read the fine print here.
