April 1

To comply with the new Guidelines we have replaced the Property and Condition Report with a new more enhanced report called the Property And Condition Report.(click to see a sample report).

Currently these reports do not have 100% coverage so we are working with our leading national vendors to create a more total coverage solution.

Dec 10

On Dec 10, 2010, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and the NCUA jointly issued the Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation Guidelines.

In the guidelines, the agencies addressed the usage AVMs as valuable with the following condition.

“A valuation method should address the property's actual physical condition and characteristics as well as the economic and market conditions that affect the estimate of the collateral's market value. It would not be acceptable for an institution to base an evaluation on unsupported assumptions, such as a property is in “average” condition, the zoning will change, or the property is not affected by adverse market conditions. Therefore, an institution should establish criteria for determining the level and extent of research or inspection necessary to ascertain the property's actual physical condition.” - Section XII Evaluation Development

As a result, we are advising all clients who use AVMs to strongly consider also purchasing evidence of actual physical condition to accompany those AVM reports.