To those "Suspended" within the past few weeks, any luck?

Has anyone "Suspended" from Lendervend's Real Estate Appraiser Panel in the past few weeks received any response to a rebuttal yet? I have a few really good friends that were suspended that were able to submit "letters of explanation", basically to plead their case to stay on the list.  None has received word back yet, but I am curious to see if anyone has been let back on.  If you are one of the unlucky ones that got Suspended off the AMC list, but feel you were done so without merit, get those letters in, because I get the impression that as they make final decisions this month the list will be locked down for a while after wards. Send me a message to lendervendorders gmail com or post a comment here and let us know your story, good or bad. maybe we can help or learn from what you have going on.

Things picking up in your area too?

Has anyone else noticed a recent uptick in activity in there area?  Hopefully it is the indication of another small upswing in transactions. I have noticed that orders have been ramping up over the past week or so.

FHA Approved Status for Lendervend

Something has popped up on the "My Account" screen in the past few weeks. If you are FHA Approved make sure you select "Yes" in your account. My guess is that starting February 15th when all FHA appraisals have to be "HVCC Compliant" some orders may be filtering through the Lendervend system. Since Lendervend does not like to announce ANY changes to its site, most people did not even know this new option existed. Why do they not give us any information?

Lendervend "no railing on porch or deck" Condition

Every once in a while I run into a property where the owner is mid-construction or repair on a deck or porch. This ranges from; no railings on the deck, to the back door being a 20 foot drop to nowhere. In this case Provident Funding requires that the borrower either permanently seal the door or finish the deck/porch. The "permanent seal" can be as simple as disabling the locking mechanism so that the door cannot be opened, or a permanent seal of some kind (which makes no sense because NO ONE would ever do this method). Then Provident orders a "final inspection" from the appraiser to go out and check to make sure the work is done. It makes me cringe to think of the borrower paying $100-$150 for me to come back out and look at a disabled lock that took them less than 5 minutes to do.  I have made it a habit to educate the borrower on the Provident guideline and then give them a chance to disable the lock while I am completing the inspection.  This serves 2 purposes:

1. The borrower is happy to be given the information and chance to save money
2. It makes me look more professional and proficient in my job, adding credibility to the appraisal itself

If I leave the borrower with a "teaching moment" they remember that they were treated with respect by the appraiser who knew the guidelines, and saved them money by giving them information, so must have been extremely knowledgeable.  If the appraised value is less than they had "hoped for" (in this market? never . . . ) they would be less likely to accuse me, the appraiser, of incompetence and my opinion carries more weight.

By saving the borrower money (especially after they have paid the "higher than last time" appraisal fee) they have less of a feeling of being "nickel and dimed" and will be more likely to insist on Provident Funding next time (or the same mortgage broker who is sending deals to Provident).  When they use Provident next time that is another job for us, Lendervend's appraisal panel.

Yes, I know that by not requiring the final inspection I am losing money. Getting a mortgage loan is hard enough these days without us, the appraisers, trying to squeeze every penny out of the transaction ourselves. Lendervend is paying more than any other AMC I have come across and, although we have no control over market conditions and values, we can help keep Provident's customers happy in the small ways that we are able. Especially when it is something so simple as letting them disable a lock while we finish the inspection.