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My good friends and associates, Brian Woody and Ian Coates of First Colonial Appraisals, Richmond, VA, traveled with the guys from www.thinkbigworksmall.com to present the petition to rescind the HVCC to Attorney General Cuomo in New York City.  Watch this clip http://www.thinkbigworksmall.com/mypage/player/tbws/20174/953322 or watch the interview later that day of Marc Savitt, President of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers on Fox News http://www.foxbusiness.com/search-results/m/27463034/home-valuation-fraud-s-impact-on-housing.htm#q=home+valuation+code+of+conduct.

As a mortgage broker, I have worked with numerous appraisers over the years and, like any other industry, while a few may not be as diligent as you’d like, most are good, honest and hardworking individuals committed to providing good service to their customers.  The HVCC implemented earlier this year has cost consumers millions in extra fees and, many times, the ability to achieve their home financing goals.  What was supposed to protect the consumer has only created more bureaucracy and higher fees. 

In addition, since HVCC regulations often prevent the appraiser from being able to use common sense and knowledge of a market, values of properties all across the country have been further depressed.  For a great overview of the issues surrounding the HVCC regulations, see Reuters article “Petition to Rescind HVCC Strikes Hot Button with Real Estate Industry and Consumers”.  The petition was presented to New York’s attorney general, Andrew Cumo, this past Wednesday with approximately 120,000 signatures.  It’s time for legislators to realize they need to really look at the problems and issues we are facing as a nation and seek appropriate solutions rather than passing ‘off the cuff’ legislation that does nothing to address the problem or protect consumer but merely creates more bureacracy. 

Last night, in a vote of 98-0, the Senate approved legislation that will extend the first-time buyer tax credit through next year and, as a bonus, is proposing a $6500 tax credit to current homeowners that have owned their homes for at least 5 years.  The legislation has been sent to the House for vote.  Other measures to meet the growing need of jobless Americans include extensions of unemployment benefits.  In states hardest hit by jobless claims, benefits could extend up to 99 weeks, a significant increase over the 65 week maximum benefit period during the 1970s.

The updated first-time homebuyer tax credit benefit also increases the income limit on a single borrower to $125,000 annually and qualified home values up to $800,000, so the new legislation not only extends the benefit, it increases the number of Americans that will qualify.