|
Center Real Estate Professional
For decades, far too many real estate
agents, often without realizing they were participating in
an improper activity, have demanded that lenders cooperate
in transactions by obtaining valuations that supported the
purchase price arrived at between seller and buyer. Many good
and honest agents believe that, "whatever a seller and
buyer agree" must constitute fair market value.
There are many reasons this is not true,
first and foremost is the Federal law known as FIRREA, which
dictates that valuations are made by independent appraisers
who have been appropriately certified by the states in which
they practice and are totally independent of the transaction.
Were the simple agreements of sellers and buyers dispositive
of market value, for purposes of lending transactions, FIRREA
would not exist.
The impending liability of this issue
for realtors is similar to that faced in the past from seller's
misrepresentations of condition of their homes. Billions of
dollars of liability could be involved where it can be proven
that a real estate agent knowingly influenced a valuation
result that was materially inaccurate.
The Center for Responsible
Appraisals and Valuations
The National Community Reinvestment
Coalition (NCRC) is the nation's largest consumer interest
group that focuses on real estate lending. A coalition of
over 600 local consumer groups, we are dedicated to ending
the valuation abuse, that has become a major form of predatory
lending. We have formed the Center For Responsible Appraisals
and Valuations to accomplish together what legislators and
regulators have failed to do.
The center has created a code of conduct,
within voluntary compliance agreements for industry participants,
that reinforces the federal and state laws, rules, regulations
and guidelines and gives signatories a means of alternative
dispute resolution when they claim that they have been harmed
by a breach of that code. By becoming an center signatory,
a realtor agrees to that code of conduct and to the alternative
dispute resolution method that has been created through the
American Arbitration Association (AAA). That method offers
complainants an online, quick and inexpensive means of reaching
voluntary resolution with a respondent. Where necessary, specialized
mediators will be chosen to assist in the settlement of disputes
online and by phone in an inexpensive and time efficient manner.
Finally, if all efforts fail, the parties can choose to have
a more formal arbitration of the dispute, under modified commercial
guidelines of the AAA.
Participation and Benefits
to Real Estate Professional
The Center will be creating
a substantial national campaign to inform the public of the
problems posed by improper appraisal and valuation practices
and will promote dealing with realtors who are signatories.
Lists of signatories will be published and promoted in major
media, websites and press releases on a regular basis; as
will those non-signatories against whom unresolved complaints
have been filed. Becoming a center signatory real estate broker
gives the consumers confidence that they will not be the victims
of valuation abuses by anyone in the home buying process.
- The ability to file claims against
third party referral sources that have improperly retaliated
against them for refusing to give in to improper influence
of the valuation process.
- Publication of their signatory status
in the center signatory lists that will be promoted in national
and local media, press releases, web listings and to all
600 plus center local affiliates.
- The ability to respond to claims of
improper influence and retaliation under the alternative
dispute resolution methods. Non-signatory lenders will be
placed in the position of having to respond to complaints
through regulators, organized consumer and center local
affiliates' activities. Alternative dispute resolution can
only create injector relief and not monetary damages and,
thus, the realtor need only remediate instances of improper
conduct rather than face claims of monetary damages from
center signatories.
- The ability to compel review of what
is believed to be poor appraisal results through the center
review process.
Cost of Signatory Status
for Real Estate Professional
Less than 10- $500 per
year
11 to 100 - $5,000 per year
101 to 500 - $25,000 per year
501 or higher $50,000 per year
Cost of Complaints
File a new dispute: $125
To
Find Out More click here or call us at 866-244-9708
Center
Methodology | Agreement
| FAQ
|
