Appraisals

Its "enhanced" oversight procedures now include a multilayered review process and if discriminatory bias is confirmed, an appraiser "will be subject to removal," the department said

During a hearing on racial bias in home valuation, the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau questions the Appraisal Foundation's "weird" regulatory structure.

The department wants to make changes to its reconsideration of value process by giving Federal Housing Administration borrowers the opportunity to seek a second appraisal

Methods to combat the discrimination include lender disclosures explaining the process, industry guidance around reconsiderations of value, uniform 3D property scans and more automated valuation models easier to audit than manual valuations.

The option can be efficient but companies have to figure out who will handle the additional property data collection, panelists at the Digital Mortgage Conference said.

A contested home valuation was based on the professional's "racist beliefs" and eschewed industry standards with comparisons of properties away from the majority-white neighborhood, according to the lawsuit.

Automating rent-based underwriting for single-family loans and offering incentives for multifamily borrowers who accept housing vouchers are just two ways Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are tackling the challenge of equitable housing.

Terminated consultants told a news outlet they received mixed messages on bank policy while committing the conduct in question.

The pending budget reconciliation legislation should retain measures meant to support minority homebuyers writes the President of the National Association Of Real Estate Brokers.

But the amount relative to housing costs actually decreased from the previous year.

Lawmakers also asked officials to include more perspectives from Veterans Affairs and USDA representatives and increase focus on manufactured home valuations.

The actions involved are based on findings by an interagency task force first convened last year by Marcia Fudge, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The researchers found that the disparities that emerged from the analysis of 1.8 million appraisals from 2019 and 2020 were statistically significant.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency found several comments that could lead to fair lending concerns in the “neighborhood description” section of reports.

In areas prone to natural disasters, first-year premiums could rise between 10% to 15% annually, but many appraisers are inaccurately calculating renewal hikes.

Some states are increasing their requirements for home valuation professionals as housing officials warn that they consider mortgage lenders responsible for equitable practices too.

Solidifi will team up with the initiative originally launched by the National Urban League and Fannie Mae.

After permitting remote appraisals on an interim basis during the pandemic, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will accept them outright starting in early 2022, the acting head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency said.