Dear Stewart Leach

January 9th, 2006

This is an open letter to the Who's Who mailing list.

Freddie Mac Talks Tough

On Friday 11/18/05 I spoke with an investigator at Freddie Mac. He seemed like a sincere individual, and he offered up some very tough talk about how Freddie comes down hard on mortgage fraud. Very tough talk. When I asked how many complaints Freddie filed against appraisers in the past 3 years, he did not hesitate. He said they never file any complaints against appraisers.

In the past 6 months, I spoke with 100's of people in the mortgage industry. The policy of "we don't file complaints" is ubiquitous. People consistently say they consider it a waste of time. It's not just me, and it's not just Freddie. There is widespread disrespect/disgust/frustration of the appraisal complaint process.

Dear Stewart Leach

This is a follow-up to my letter dated November 29th, 2005. To refresh your memory, I notified you that I had filed 20 complaints in September and I had received a form letter confirming your receipt of 3 complaints. I respectfully requested that you "please confirm receipt of the 20 complaints so that I know they did not get lost in the mail". This is a reasonable question - did you receive my complaints? Or not? Are you unable to answer, or unwilling?

In the month since I wrote that letter, I received one form letter from your office, dated 12/08/05 and signed by Chris Stanley. Amazingly, this letter states:

the "complaint involving Norm [sic] Settles, was received by the Colorado Board of Real Estate Appraisers on November 28th, 2005."

The complaint was mailed on or about September 15th, 2005. It is beyond my comprehension how it can take 2 1/2 months to receive a letter. I filed 20 complaints. 3 1/2 months later your department has confirmed receipt of 4. What about the other 16? Did you receive them, or not?

The ASC wrote a letter dated 10/17/03 which was critical of the Colorado Board of Real Estate Appraisers. The letter states:

Colorado's complaint investigation and resolution program needs substantial improvement. ASC policy statement 10 specifies that States should investigate and resolve complaints within one year of their receipt.

Stewart - ASC is holding your feet to the fire, and your department is fudging the date of receipt - this makes you and your department look bad. Do I need to start using certified mail? I now understand from personal experience why there is widespread disrespect/disgust/frustration of the appraisal complaint process. Stewart Leach - clean up your act.

Illinois Fast Track

This article appeared in the Chicago Tribune 12/14/05. Of particular importance is:

Illinois State officials say they want the power to suspend an appraiser's license temporarily and to "fast-track" hearings that would discipline or clear those appraisers. And they hope to introduce criminal sanctions tailored to appraisers who engage in fraud.

My comment:
The article gives some good examples of what happens when it takes 3 years to revoke an appraiser's license. So far this is just Illinois talking tough to sound good in the newspaper. The reporter (dyjackson@tribune.com) failed to mention any names (who are the State Officials?). But at some point, if things get bad enough, State Officials get past the lip service and get serious. Hello Colorado "State Officials" -- how bad does it have to get?

-- End of Letter --

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