In response to Bill Black’s recent articles (here and here) on appraisal issues surrounding the financial crisis, the following comes to NEP from an Appraiser via creditwritedowns.com.
Dear Mr. Black,
I am one of those 11,000 original appraisers who signed the Appraisers Petition. I went back to check and can’t find myself, but I was in the first few hundred in 2001. If memory serves, Bob Ipock from North Carolina was the author. He posted it attached to Wayne McKerley’s Appraiser’s Forum. www.appraisersforum.com. I am not positive, but I believe a well respected appraiser named Frank Gregoire from Florida was involved in bringing the petition to the attention of Senator Paul Sarbanes at one point, and I think we were told that it basically got bottom drawered and forgotten.
There is also a colossal thread on that forum called ‘Housing Bubble Bursting?’ begun by an appraiser named Austin Jones from Virginia. Austin called it in 2006, long before anyone of notoriety in the industry would admit such. Loads of interesting information there. I’ve been a member at that forum since 2000, and we watched and discussed the whole scenario as it unfolded before us. It was amazing.
The AMC that Cuomo began investigating was called eAppraiseit and at the time was owned by First American Title. One of our more vocal forum members, Pamela Crowley had gone public accusing eAppraiseit of illegally opening appraiser’s secured reports and altering them. eAppraiseit filed suit on her to cease and decist, however they ended up dropping it as I believe she had them. The corruption was stated to be vast and she was actually in fear for her safety.
I commend you for your fantastic research and writing. Thank you, from the bottom of this appraiser’s heart. We as an industry were blamed for the S & L crisis, and the powers that be are well on their way to hanging this one on us as well. We are weak in organization and lobby power, thus it is easy to do. It is a crime that the only prosecution I know of that has taken place was the CEO of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker. Why is Angelo Mozillo still roaming free? Why did Franklin Raines and James Johnson get off with nothing more than civil penalties? How does Jamie Gorelick keep ending up with high paid appointee positions?
There is so much left to uncover, fix, etc. and I just wanted to thank you sincerely for your well written article.
Blessings to you,
Caterina Platt
Los Lunas, NM
Bill Black would like to express his appreciation for all of the appraisers who signed the petition and fought to create a competition in integrity that would spread throughout the profession.
I called it in 1993. Nothing has changed and it’s probably worse now than before. Lenders are still pulling the same stunts, the same coercion, the same tantrums, the same stupidity, the same fraud, the same lies, the same threats, the same manipulation, the same everything. It’s just hidden behind layers of pointless protocol and AMC’s with their infinite bullsh*t. And, oh, the real estate agents and brokers are still just as stupid. Welcome to the new pretend not-bubble.
Thank you Caterina for expressing the views of many appraisers. It took 13 years for anybody to pay attention to what appraisers were saying in 2000. Will it ever have any effect? The mess is starting to repeat itself, when will it ever be recognized the danger that is developing? Maybe the financial world needs to start listening to appraisers, we see it from the trenches. Appraiser’s report the market, we do not create the market. So the reports we prepare for individual properties are an extremely part of the financial picture. So we have to tell the truth–not fabricate something so that another individual can earn a big commission, which turns hurts the whole economy.
Another early signer of the Appraiser’s Petition in 2000.
Caterina: You are here on national list & here on the North Carolina list. Ipock is #1 on both, so your memory seems to serve well.