Aprraiser Death Clock

Last week, Housing Wire’s Jacob Gaffney posted a report titled “Did little-known Arizona law start the appraiser death clock?”

Mr. Gaffney notes that a provision in the just passed Arizona 2016 budget “eliminates the Arizona Board of Appraisal…making Arizona one of just a few states that do not have an appraiser board or commission”. Mr. Gaffney goes on to say:

“It seems that fewer appraisers begets fewer appraisers.

States appraisal boards long stood in the way of Appraisal Management Companies. The boards remain one final barrier to in-state AMC operations.

With the passage of the law, AMCs are emboldened to make a move towards pushing for more technology and fewer humans being involved in the appraisal process.

One AMC owner I spoke with discussed issues that arise with appraisers sitting on state appraiser boards.

Understandably, appraisers wish to stand in the way of the AMCs, as they often feel they are in competition. And they’re right to feel that way.

‘We've experienced this when dealing with regulators as it's very much a kangaroo-type court and you have to basically drop a mini atomic bomb to get anything done,’ the AMC owner told me.

What Gov. Ducey did was hand a victory to AMCs inadvertently. Admittedly, the dwindling number of appraisers in the state hastens their collapse in market share.

It may not be a death clock, but the times, they are a changin’.

‘As far as the appraisers themselves… they're about 10 -15 years from being out of the main arena of lending, they'll never be completely gone but just less involved,’ my source said”.

“Appraiser death clock” certainly catches a reader’s attention in the same way that “zombie houses” does. The Housing Wire article, however, creates a simplistic picture of obstructionist appraisers fading into the background as AMCs flex their muscles.

AppraiserNews.com spoke with Joanna Conde, an independent fee appraiser who is past President of the Arizona Association of Real Estate Appraisers (AAREA) and current legislative liaison. Joanna reports that “all of the professional organizations are coming together to make things better” and that they are working closely with the Superintendent of the Department of Financial Institutions.

Housing Wire can (and usually does) do better.