Appraisers Want Restrictions on AVMs, BPOs

Professional appraisers are campaigning for restrictions on the use of alternative or computerized valuation methods when estimating a property value for mortgage origination purposes. Broker price opinions and automated valuation models may be used as "additional due diligence or data confirmation," not as the basis of a lending decision, said president of the Appraisal Institute, Jim Amorin in his testimony on H.R. 1728, "The Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act." Speaking before the House Financial Services Committee on behalf of the Appraisal Institute, American Society of Appraisers, American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers and National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers, Mr. Amorin stressed there is an inherent conflict of interest when "an agent's primary role is to facilitate a sale of real property, not objectively develop an opinion of its value." Often real estate agents are not licensed as appraisers and have minimal training and education in appraisal methodology, he said.