Ask Henry
12/07/10 Categories: Ask Henry
Change of Address vs. Transferring an Appraisal
Dear H2,
Recently, I received a request from a mortgage company to change an address on an appraisal that had been ordered by an AMC for a major bank. A few days later, I received another message, with a copy of a memo from the Lender, saying that they were sending the appraisal over to the mortgage company but "assumed no liability for the content." The Lender had received the appraisal over one year ago. I spoke with a representative at the AMC and confirmed that since the issue had changed from a request for an address correction to a transfer of the appraisal to a new lender, the new lender would need to order a new appraisal. When I informed the contact person at the mortgage company that she would need to order a new appraisal, she said "no other appraiser has ever told them that since the HVCC took effect." It was my understanding from a CE class a few years ago that it is misleading to change the name of the Lender and that a new appraisal must be done. Please advise!
Dear H2,
Recently, I received a request from a mortgage company to change an address on an appraisal that had been ordered by an AMC for a major bank. A few days later, I received another message, with a copy of a memo from the Lender, saying that they were sending the appraisal over to the mortgage company but "assumed no liability for the content." The Lender had received the appraisal over one year ago. I spoke with a representative at the AMC and confirmed that since the issue had changed from a request for an address correction to a transfer of the appraisal to a new lender, the new lender would need to order a new appraisal. When I informed the contact person at the mortgage company that she would need to order a new appraisal, she said "no other appraiser has ever told them that since the HVCC took effect." It was my understanding from a CE class a few years ago that it is misleading to change the name of the Lender and that a new appraisal must be done. Please advise!
Kathy Vogt
vogtb001@hawaii.rr.com
Dear Kathy,
The USPAP has a lot of rules about changing the name of the lender/client on a report. The essence is that the lender and the appraiser together develop a scope of work for the appraisal. Therefore if all you do is change the name of the lender, you have not complied with the Scope of Work development process with the new lender. Changing a delivery address for the same Lender would probably be okay. Transferring an appraisal to a new lender would clearly violate the USPAP requirements.