AMC split needs regulated...AMC who pays full fees....

[Timothy Shawn Lentz]

Ken, do you have any hope that AMC's will be regulated to not profit from us? Regulators of AMC's will see what they are doing and regs should follow. I will continue to research and update our Cooler, as I find out progress regarding this matter. (AMC's splits, have to end....let the lenders profits suffer, now that AMC are in the mix!) Someone has to pay the AMC's...not the appraisers!) It is so obvious what has been happening by AMC over the years, why has this been acceptable practices? Charging the consumer a mark-up is annoying especially now that AMC's are here to stay. Free market, I get, but 3rd party profits need to be monitored and regulated, especially in the industry. Consumers hands are even more tied!

[Ken]

Timothy, I feel that if the bill before congress for a moratorium on the HVCC is passed then there will be a window of opportunity to have AMC regulation as the overall concept is reviewed. However, I'm a skeptic when it comes to our illustrious legislators. The faces have changed, but the rhetoric is the same. If there is no benefit to them, nothing will happen as is evidenced by current events - the housing industry, health care, swine flu, political action committee regulations - the list goes on. So to answer your question - slim hope.

[Timothy Shawn Lentz]

I feel so uncomfortable depending on only AMC's for my income! Years back, I did a lot more advertising in the yellow pages, online with appraisal directories (expensive) and direct marketing with local lenders. Now, local lenders won't talk to us, they know they need to go through a third channel, AMC. I like consistent work from AMC's, but other than LSI, all others are wanting to pay us 60% or less of what we charge! Will be targeting private home owners and attorneys, for diversity! I would prefer our clients to be AMC's, 50% and 50% private, but the volume of work just may not be there! We aren't taking those AMC who are requesting us to accept split fees....not yet anyway...and we too are starving! What is your mix of where your clients come from?

[kevin malesis]

Good luck. The biggest AMC's are all lender owned by the biggest banks. They have too much power and way too big a lobby to allow any regulator to take their profit. The banks will simply charge the borrower the same they do now but do one fee as the appraisal fee and the other fee as a service, management, convience fee, review fee, quality control fee or whatever they want to call it.

[Joker]

The last thing appraisers cried about was "lender pressure." That resulted in the HVCC. I don't think we need any more of that kind of government regulation. The best thing that appraisers need to do is learn to say "no." If appraisers would have said no to the lender pressure, we wouldn't have the HVCC and the economic situation of the entire US may very well be better today if they would have. If appraisers would say no to the low fees offered by AMCs, then the AMCs would have to pay more.

Appraisers are supposed to understand economic principles but unfortunately, many of them don't. The factors of supply and demand work in the appraisal business much in the same way as in the real estate market. However, the law of diminishing returns does not impact an appraisal business unless you only do one style of house in one small area. The point is, know what you are worth, what the market will bear, and know what your operating costs are.

First and foremost, I am an economist. I apply the theories to real and personal property as an appraiser. I also own a small AMC. The appraiser determines his/her fee and we charge the client a small flat rate over and above the appraisal fee. We never ask an appraiser for a lower fee. It's not necessary when so many of them work so cheap. Even though we don't operate like a typical AMC that keeps the difference between two negotiated fees, I struggle with paying appraisers $350 for an appraisal when several are doing them for $225.