Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser, Real Estate Appraisal, Los Angeles, California, Mary Cummins.

Mary Cummins is a real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California with 38+ years of experience. Cummins provides real estate appraisals for banks, lenders, mortgage brokers, Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs), lawyers, Courts, factors and private parties for lending, lawsuits, probate, estate planning, divorce and all types of litigation. Cummins provides 1004, 1073, 1025 and other form reports, narrative reports and historical appraisals besides real estate research and appraisal advice.

Saturday, September 7, 2024

Mandatory Cultural Competency Elimination of Bias Class for Real Estate Appraisers by Mary Cummins

I completed my California real estate appraisal continuing education "3-hour Cultural Competency and Elimination of Bias in Appraisals" class last month. While I agree all humans have implicit bias I don't believe that many, most or all appraisers act on it. Appraising is a math formula. 2+2=4. You could be the most evil racist unhinged person on earth and 2+2=4. 2+2 ≠ 3 or 5. You would have to intentionally work extremely hard to contort hard data and a basic math formula. The review robots, AMC, Lender would catch your error and reject your report before a client saw it. And for what? To lose your license, career, go broke, get sued, have all your colleagues and everyone else despise your racist behind...?

I was upset to see the course falsely promote some of the false cases in the media about bias as fact. The cases were mainly the false Maryland and Florida cases which I covered in this blog. There was no lowballing at all. I also didn't like being forced to view racist propaganda videos. One included known "research" fraud Andre Perry and his fake paper. It's a fact that whites make more money than blacks, Latinos. If you make more money, you have more money and you're more likely to buy a more expensive home in a more expensive area. That's why white owned homes are worth more than black, Latino. No one lowballed the appraisals. Those appraisals were done by robots, AVMs and not appraisers.

The class even promoted the hugely misinterpreted Fannie Mae anecdotal data on race, contract price and appraisal values as true. AEI debunked it with research. There are more concessions in lower priced areas which are more likely to be black, Latino because of lower income, wealth. This is why appraisal values are lower than contract price in those areas. This means blacks, Latinos were paying over market value because they were conned by real estate agents. They should have made up fake case studies as examples without using color, race and real cases that have not been settled on the merits. Using these frivolous cases was actually bias and racism.

The class also included false information on the term "redlining." I wrote an article about redlining here with facts and dates. The class itself was biased, racist and promoted false narratives about appraisers and the appraisal industry. It could have easily explained bias in a more neutral manner without involving specific people, races, colors, lawsuits and organizations. I'm assuming promoting the false narrative is the only way the courses would be approved by the powers that be. So ironic that the government deals with the issue of bias, racism, and discrimination by actually being biased, racist and discriminatory. There's enough real bias, racism and discrimination in this country that we need to fight. Ridiculous to waste time, energy and money fighting nonexistent racism. I believe the government does this so people won't look at the real cause of income inequality and the wealth gap among white, black and Latinos. It's easier to blame appraisers than to fix the income gap.

Home appraisal is a math formula. Robots, AVMs can do a home appraisal of an average home if they had all the data which they don't. That's how exact the math formula can be. In fact I pull my comps based on math formula alone which I've posted here a million times. I then type those comps into a form. I choose adjustments based on more match i.e. matched pairs analysis and regression theory. My software then adds/subtracts the adjustments and that's the value. I don't control the value.

Some may say why not just use robots and AVMs. The problem is they don't see or inspect the property. They don't have all the data. GIGO, garbage in garbage out. They don't know if it exists, actual size, permitted number of bedrooms, condition, upgrades, actual age, view type, topography, lot type, home style.... They only know what's on the tax roll which isn't always accurate. Some like Zillow also include MLS data which is generally incorrect. Most MLS sizes, bed counts are larger than actual. Zillow and others also let the public edit the data which makes it even more inaccurate. Zillow also doesn't do a proper comp search or adjustments. If Zillow can't find similar recent comps, it goes so wide that it's in a totally different neighborhood which could be worth twice as much. In fact most of the false media cases about lowballing fell into that category. Zillow is probably the reason appraisers were frivolously sued for bias, racial discrimination and alleged lowballing.

Appraisers use numbers, facts and data. We're aren't interpreting the finer possible meaning of ancient translated words in poetry or the Constitution. There is no interpretation. It's basic math! You'd have to work harder than Justices Samuel Alito or Clarence Thomas when they twist, contort and misinterpret the words of the 1788 Constitution. There is no room to twist number of square feet, number of bedrooms, number of garages, location, recent local sales... Facts are facts.

This class is now mandatory because of recent regulatory changes caused by the false narrative of the "racist appraisers." So far no lawsuit has shown or proven any bias, racism or discrimination in appraisals. "Those applying for appraisal license renewal in California must complete at least one hour of Cultural Competency and two hours of Elimination of Bias, which can be combined into a single three-hour course. These changes to the education requirements are key components of California Assembly Bill 948."

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate is a certified residential licensed appraiser in Los Angeles, California. Mary Cummins is licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate appraisers and has over 35 years of experience.

Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary, Cummins, #marycummins #animaladvocates #losangeles #california #wildlife #wildliferehabilitation #wildliferehabilitator #realestate #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #lawsuit real estate, appraiser, appraisal, instructor, teacher, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Brentwood, Bel Air, California, licensed, permitted, certified, single family, condo, condominium, pud, hud, fannie mae, freddie mac, fha, uspap, certified, residential, certified resident, apartment building, multi-family, commercial, industrial, expert witness, civil, criminal, orea, dre, brea insurance, bonded, experienced, bilingual, spanish, english, form, 1004, 2055, 1073, land, raw, acreage, vacant, insurance, cost, income approach, market analysis, comparative, theory, appraisal theory, cost approach, sales, matched pairs, plot, plat, map, diagram, photo, photographs, photography, rear, front, street, subject, comparable, sold, listed, active, pending, expired, cancelled, listing, mls, multiple listing service, claw, themls, historical appraisal, facebook, linkedin

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Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate Services has been in real estate since 1983, over 35 years. She is licensed by the Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers. Mary Cummins was an agent and broker licensed with the California Department of Real Estate selling residential income, commercial buildings, raw land and homes for Merrill Lynch Realty in Beverly Hills and Westside Properties in Los Angeles before concentrating on appraisals. Mary Cummins currently provides real estate appraisals, expert witness testimony, historical research, legal real estate research for mortgage brokers, banks, lawyers, factors, insurance companies, financial consultants and private individuals. Mary Cummins was born and raised in Southern California. Cummins attended Beverly Hills Good Shepherd Catholic School and Beverly Hills High School. Besides being on the Dean's list, Mary Cummins was a top ten national swimmer and competed on the men's water polo team. Mary Cummins began college at the age of 15 attending the University of Southern California on scholarship, majoring in Psychology/Sociology. http://www.animaladvocates.us http://www.facebook.com/AnimalAdvocatesUSA

Friday, August 23, 2024

RealPage YieldStar Sued by Justice Department for Alleged "Price Fixing" - Doesn't Really Make Sense, by Mary Cummins

RealPage was sued by the Department of Justice for alleged "price fixing" of apartment rents. DOJ stated RealPage was "attempting to illegally decrease pricing competition between landlords and deprive renters the benefits of that competition." I find it hard to believe that a rental database is "price fixing." What about Zillow, MLS, stock market, Kelly Blue Book...? They all show list and sales prices which people use to set prices for similar goods. An an appraiser I do sales and rental analysis all the time with MLS, CoreLogic, Realty, Google... data. Is that price fixing? People hire me to find out what the market rate sales price or rent is for their home or apartment. Am I a "price fixer?"

RealPage offers a host of software and services to help property managers. One of those services is a software called YieldStar. YieldStar uses rental data from software users and more to suggest list rent prices for apartment building owners. Apartment owners have been using rental data to set prices since the beginning of time. Sometimes the rental prices are public and sometimes you have to do some research to find out the list and sales rent. Back in the day we had to get on the phone and call people. Some do the research and sell the reports. In this case property owners were submitting their own rents anonymously into the database. They don't want to do it publicly because then tenants could see their bottom rent, max rent concessions and only offer to pay rock bottom rent. Car dealerships do the same. Do we even know if they were inputting real rental rates? Doubt it was verified. RealPage said managers only used the data half of the time. Only 10% of some markets use their software. You would need 70% of apartment managers using the data and recommendations to affect the market. Here at most you had 5% considering market rate rent based on the data. They were given market rent data and not an inflated agreed upon value by all apartment building owners. That's the big difference here.

The real issue is rents have risen and it's an election year. Rents correlate directly with home prices which have risen at the same exact rate. The underlying cause is people aren't making enough money to pay the rent because wages are stagnant and there are not enough housing units. They need to help people make more money and build more units. Because it's an election year one party has to instead blame the government's problem on private individuals and businesses. "Vote for me and I'll lower your rent by suing a data company!" Getting rid of RealPage won't lower the rent. They never want to fix the real problem because it's too big and complex.

The last election cycle Joe Biden said blacks and Latinos were being lowballed by "old white racist male" appraisers devaluing their homes. We appraisers were the scapegoat for blacks, Latinos not having as much money as whites and owning less valuable homes. Biden said if elected he'd make sweeping changes with appraisers to increase property values. He didn't change anything but increase government meetings and paperwork. Again the real problem is income. In this situation whites make more than blacks, Latinos. If you make more money you have more money and can afford to buy a more expensive home in a more expensive area. Appraisers report values. We don't set them. Guess what? Whites also own more expensive cars than blacks, Latinos. Are real estate appraisers to blame for that also?

I will try to find the lawsuits and read them closely to see if there was any real "price fixing." The timing right before the election with Kamala Harris talking about high rents and "price gougers" makes me think this is just an election year issue. I'm just glad it's not another made up problem with appraisers. We've been through enough with the false lowball narrative smeared all over the media and internet.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/justice-department-suing-realpage-over-163534773.html

This article goes more into the specifics of the lawsuit. It still doesn't make sense. What about Kelly Blue Book algorithm for car values? They suggest market rate values for cars. It's based on car sales and listings. This is feeling like election year politics. It reminds me of the DOJ, HUD getting involved in a private alleged real estate bias lawsuit in Marin, California. DOJ filed a Statement of Interest in a fake racial discrimination case in appraisal values. It was 100% political so the government can say "see, we're doing something. Vote for us!"

https://natlawreview.com/article/justice-department-sues-software-maker-realpage-enabling-rent-collusion

Below are CoreLogic and Zillow rent reports on a property. Will they and MLS be sued next? I assume the value is being pulled from MLS and Zillow rental database. Apartments.com also shows rental prices for various areas. There are so many rental databases offering suggested rents. Maybe RealPage should have made the rental database non anonymous. It could just be based on general area and not specific building addresses.

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Mary Cummins

Monday, August 5, 2024

National Fair Housing Alliance NFHA and HUD Promote False Racist Narrative About Real Estate Appraisers, Lenders For Money by Mary Cummins

mary cummins, real estate appraiser, real estate appraisal, aei, hud, nfha, national fair housing alliance, race, discrimination, bias, settlements,

National Fair Housing Alliance NFHA Promotes False Racist Narrative about Real Estate Appraisers for MONEY, mary cummins, real estate appraiser, real estate appraisal, aei, hud, nfha, national fair housing alliance, race, discrimination, bias, settlements,

UPDATE: Appraisal Institute just posted about this issue here.

"Recently, a HUD-funded billboard campaign stated, “Home appraisals should be based on property, not people.”

We wholeheartedly agree. Bias in appraisals is not only unethical—it’s illegal. However, this campaign unfairly targets a profession built on independence, impartiality, and consumer protection. In a powerful response, Sandra K. Adomatis, SRA, President of the Appraisal Institute, clarifies the critical role of appraisers, addresses misconceptions, and highlights the need for meaningful policy change to support housing equity.

Read Sandra’s full letter and learn why appraisers are key advocates for fair and objective valuations 👉 https://bit.ly/490vHl6 "

11/16/2024 I was in the market and picked up Essence magazine because Serena is on the cover and I love her. It's a black women's lifestyle magazine. Inside was another targeted racist ad against appraisers. I then decided to look at the white women's lifestyle magazines. No racist ads in there. This was targeted to black women.

10/16/2024 Just found the PSA and script for the new NFHA ads. This is disgraceful! HUD, NFHA is basically defaming all real estate appraisers calling them racist. This has to be unconstitutional for the government to spend money making, promoting these "ads" to spread racist falsehoods against nonblacks, nonLatinos. It's unconstitutional for the government to give preference or money to specific races. It must be unconstitutional to harm specific races. Research based on their own data proves this is false. AEI's research showed there is no racism in appraisal values.

Radio spot script

"Robbed" (:60)

WOMAN V/O: My husband and I were ready to sell our home of 25 years,

so we got it appraised. We thought we knew what to expect, but when our

home appraisal came back, we felt…robbed. Compared to a similar home

right around the corner, our appraisal was $80,000 less. That’s a big

difference. It was the same type of home, in the same neighborhood, in

the same condition and age.

NARRATOR V/O: A recent study found that Latino and Black

homeowners are about twice as likely as white homeowners to get low

appraisals. For example, one Black homeowner received an appraisal

more than double the original, after removing family photos, Black art, and

books from her home.

If you believe your home has been unfairly appraised because of race or

national origin, that could violate the Fair Housing Act. Contact HUD at

HUD.gov/fairhousing – that’s HUD.gov/ fairhousing. Everyone has a right

to fair housing.

A public service message from HUD in partnership with the National Fair

Housing Alliance."

Radio spot 2 "Hide" (:60)

HUSBAND V/O: After getting my promotion, the time had come to sell our

home. So we got an appraisal.

WIFE V/O: But it was much lower than we expected. Before we had it

appraised again, a friend suggested we make some changes.

HUSBAND V/O: I put my framed vintage Negro League Baseball shirt,

our African art, and family photos into storage. And that second appraisal

came back much higher!

WIFE V/O: It’s a shame we had to hide who we are to get a fair home

appraisal.

NARRATOR V/O: A recent study found that Black and Latino

homeowners are about twice as likely as white homeowners to get low

appraisals. For example, one Black homeowner received an appraisal

more than double the original, after removing family photos, Black art, and

books from her home.

If you believe your home has been unfairly appraised because of race or

national origin, that could violate the Fair Housing Act. Contact HUD at

HUD.gov/fairhousing – that’s HUD.gov/fairhousing. Everyone has a right

to fair housing.

A public service message from HUD in partnership with the National Fair

Housing Alliance"

https://causewaypsa.com/EPK/65056_HUD_Radio_EN/HUD_EPK.pdf

HUD, NFHA is basically defaming all real estate appraisers calling them racist. This has to be unconstitutional for the government to spend money on these "ads" to spread racist falsehoods. Reseach based on their own data proves this is false. AEI's research showed there is no racism in appraisal values.

ORIGINAL: The private nonprofit group National Fair Housing Alliance NFHA promotes the false narrative about alleged racist, biased real estate appraisers, lenders, AMCs to get donations, grants and millions in legal settlements per year. They falsely promote fake debunked papers about race and home values. Currently they're running advertisements falsely stating that real estate appraisers lowball blacks and Latinos. Private NFHA brings in $30,000,000 a year in donations and has $23,000,000 in assets in 2021. They're probably bringing in double that today in 2024 because of a recent 2022 $53,000,000 settlement from Fannie Mae and 2022 $4,000,000 settlement from Redfin. EIN 521676364 Phone (202) 898 1661

Here is their main profile in Guidestar. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/52-1676364

Here is their most recent IRS form 990 for 2021.
https://pdf.guidestar.org/PDF_Images/2022/521/676/2022-521676364-202322239349301757-9.pdf

2023 audit shows $28M assets.
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_audit/2023-09-GSAFAC-0000045422

They became a nonprofit in 1990. Lisa Rice is the CEO. They're headquarters are in Washington, D.C. but they're not part of the government. HUD refers people to NFHA to do their work filing complaints but they aren't a contractor. HUD runs ad campaigns about fair housing with NFHA. HUD did award over $30,000,000 in Fair Housing grants in 2024 alone to NFHA type programs. In 2021 they got a huge increase in litigation settlements i.e. $17,000,000 with legal costs of about $500,000. I wonder if they get pro bono lawyers to help them for free so they make more profit. In 2022 they got $53,000,000 from Fannie Mae racial discrimination settlement. They are clearly motivated to shake down appraisers, lenders and AMCs for money. It's been a huge financial boon to sue people to get them to cough up a settlement to end litigation, harassment, defamation and bad press caused by NFHA and their national press releases, conferences and misleading articles and videos. NFHA gets donations and press just from the press releases about their frivolous meritless lawsuits. They include a donation link in the press releases.

Nonprofit doesn't mean there are no profits or they aren't motivated by money. The main employees and sometimes board members generally get generous salaries, bonuses and perks. They are motivated by the money, power and prestige. The nonprofit sometimes donates to other groups which are generally friends of the main employees. They sometimes hire friends of the CEO, husbands, wives, children. Many nonprofits are actually just for profit businesses in disguise who don't pay taxes. A prime example is Shedd aquarium vs Sea World. They're both aquarium business with sea animals doing tricks which bring in about a billion per year. Shedd is a nonprofit and Sea World is a business doing the exact same thing. Here's an article I wrote about that.

Lisa Rice CEO makes almost $300,000 a year. Catherine Cloud the COO makes almost the same. They spend $3,000,000 in wages. They spend $500,000 on conferences and $250,000 just at the Hyatt Hotel. They receive grants from the government after paying $500,000 to lobby the government.

Have you seen these ads which NFHA, HUD run in major magazines, websites and on TV? They are very deceptive. American Enterprise Institute AEI proved that appraisers don't lowball anyone let alone blacks and Latinos. First time buyers in lower income areas buying lower priced homes are more likely to be black and Latino because of the income gap. The real estate purchases are more likely to have concessions for repairs and closing costs in these areas. This is why some appraisal values are sometimes 3% lower than contract value. The contracts include the concessions for repairs and closing costs which pads the sales price by about 3%. Appraisers have to adjust for concessions which lowers appraisal value by the concession amount for repairs and such.

I just realized that NFHA has done advertisement campaigns in the past with HUD. I just saw a full ad with HUD disclaimer on the bottom of one ad.

https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/NFHAHUDWHEELCHAIR_EN.PDF

https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/FHEO/documents/HUD_NFHA_Discrimination_ENG_508.pdf

https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/FATHER_SON_ENG.PDF

I couldn't read the fine print in the ad I originally posted above. HUD is working with NFHA on these misleading ads. The block of text after "Everyone has a right to fair housing" could say "A public service message from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in partnership with

the National Fair Housing Alliance. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status or disability. For more information, visit www.hud.gov/fairhousing." It still makes it seem that private NFHA is part of the government when it's not.

Here is their income from settlements, shakedowns.

NFHA stated that appraisers lowball blacks and Latinos in the US. This is false. AEI proved with the government's own data that appraisers aren't lowballing anyone, see links below. The data NFHA used for this false statement was based on robot appraisals. No appraisers were involved. AEI debunked Andre Perry's false and misleading paper. It was not peer reviewed research. This is again correlation and not causation. Blacks, Latinos make less money than white people. If you make less money, you have less money and you will buy/own a lower priced home in a lower priced area. It's the income gap. Same thing happens to lower income whites, Asians ... everyone. Blacks, Latinos own lower priced cars for the same reason. Will they also blame that on real estate appraisers? If they really care about the issue, they should fix the income gap which has nothing to do with housing.

NFHA and HUD are lying to the public about appraisal bias. FTR anyone can use the HUD logo. HUD clearly states this in their website. I could use the HUD logo in my website and falsely state all non Latino appraisers lowball Latinos so Latinos should only use me, a Latina, for their appraisal. I could probably make money lying like that but I'd never do that because it's dishonest and racist. NFHA makes money being dishonest. They know they are promoting a false racist narrative for their own agenda which is money.

I just noticed that NFHA has different ads for different publications based on most likely race of viewer based on subscriber statistics. Some are Latinos, blacks, Asians and whites. Is this racist? Should they be sued for racism, targeted racism, colorism like they are suing lenders? They're doing the same exact thing they are accusing others for money. The ad in Sports Illustrated showed white people. The one in a mainly a black magazine showed black people. Who is the racist here?

Just found one of the ads blown up so I can see the text. It is from NFHA and HUD. Click to view larger to read the text.

Great article by Jeremy Bagott on this same issue. He shows the bigger picture which is the use of the false narrative of the racist biased appraiser to get rid of appraisers to make lenders, AMCs more money. Lenders have lobbied the government to use AVMs, appraisal waivers, value acceptance, hybrid appraisals, desktop appraisals to get rid of appraisers in favor of free robots. These robots are more biased than any appraiser because they don't know or consider all factors in appraisal. Robots don't know condition, view, lot type, actual size, actual bed/bath count, permitted size, upgrades, amenities, specific location...which are main factors in valuation. https://mailchi.mp/c5f09f56ce7f/regulatory-capture-hud-and-a-crony-nonprofit-9382139

References

How Common is Appraiser Bias?
https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/How-Common-is-Appraiser-Racial-Bias-An-Update-May-2022-FINAL-corrected-1.pdf?x91208

Exploring Alternative Explanations for Appraisal Under-Valuation
https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/exploring-alternative-explanations-for-appraisal-under-valuation/

The Impact of Race and Socio-Economic Status on the Value of Homes by Neighborhood A Critique of the Brookings Institution’s “The Devaluation of Assets in Black Neighborhoods”
https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Impact-of-Race-and-Socio-Economic-Status-on-the-Value-of-Homes-by-Neighborhood-Presentation-8.5.21-FINAL-v4.pdf?x85095

Racial Bias in Appraisals: New Research
https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Racial-Bias-in-Appraisals-New-Research-FINAL_revised.pdf?x91208

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Mary Cummins

Thursday, August 1, 2024

Appraisal Institute AI, National Association of Realtors NAR Zoom Webinar on NAR Settlement

amy frink, mary cummins, woody fincham, jared preisler, beth graham,national association of realtors,appraisal institute,ai, nar, nar settlement, commission, concession

"The NAR Settlement: What appraisers need to know and watch for

On August 17, 2024, REALTOR® MLSs (multiple listing services) will be required to make practice changes in accordance with the National Association of Realtor (NAR) settlement, including (1): prohibiting offers of compensation on the MLS (though such offers “could [be] pursue[d] off-MLS through negotiation”).

MLS participants working with buyers must enter into written agreements with their buyers before the buyer tours a home.

What does all this mean for appraisers, the data they collect from MLSs, and the verification and reporting of that data? The unfortunate answer is that all the implications of these changes are not completely clear yet. However, our panelists are here to help make sense of what is known now and what you might be able to expect.

Panelists will discuss:

What are concessions and why they are not commissions

How are MLS Forms and policies changing in local markets and how to understand these changes

Obtaining data to verify sales in light of MLS changes

How to reflect changes in data collection in your report

What to look for in and what to ask your MLS going forward"

My notes which are super brief as I was a little busy.

Buyers and buyers agents should have been using existing buyer commission and representation contracts before the settlement. Now they are mandatory.

Sales concession vs repair cost. Sales concessions are rate buy downs, closing costs payments, anything related to finance, escrow. They are not repair costs to the property.

Homes prices and commissions will not be going down because of NAR settlement. It basically just makes things more confusing with more paperwork.

Commissions have not been 6% in many, many years. They are 1-3% since homes prices have doubled in value. The idea that the NAR Settlement will reduce commissions and home prices is false. It won't.

A few slides. Presentation was recorded. I'll post the link if it's public. I suggest watching the one hour Zoom presentation.

The slides below are in reverse order. Sorry.

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Mary Cummins

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

HUD Bias Complaint Against Appraiser by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

UPDATE 12/05/2024: Rocket Mortgage just sued HUD in a new lawsuit 24-cv-03368. They claim they are not responsible for third party AMCs and appraisers. The DOJ provided the borrower named of Francesca Cheroutes. Rocket gave Francesca Cheroutes two chances to do a Reconsideration Of Value ROV or appraisal appeal. She declined. The address provided by DOJ is 749-751 Ash Street, Denver, Colorado. Owner lives in one unit and rents out the other.

Rocket Mortgage's main argument is that Rocket did not have a duty to "correct" the appraisal. Appraisers, AMCs are independent third parties. The government is the one that mandated that appraisers, appraisals be independent. They don't want lenders pressuring appraisers. Legally Rocket is not allowed to "correct" an appraisal. They are not allowed to even try to influence an appraiser, appraisal per the law. They further argue that they told borrower they could send in an ROV to the AMC which gives it to the appraiser but borrower refused. Failure to mitigate a claim. Lender can't send in the ROV. I agree with Rocket Mortgage.

*Everything in this article is based on public records such a building records, public MLS/rent listings, the public filed lawsuit and the public DOJ report.

Per DOJ, borrower and Zillow subject is two units, six beds, four baths, 3,550 sf and each unit is two floors. That's almost double the actual finished GLA and bed/bath count. The units are 2 beds, 1 bath 1,500 or so sf total with full basements which are not 100% finished. There is one floor and a basement level. Credit was given for the basement. Duplex comps with similar basements used. This is an area where properties would all have full basements. Zillow/Trulia value today December 2024 after three years of appreciation $826,000 based on 6+4 3,500 sf. Then I doubt it was worth $860,000 in January 20, 2020. RedFn says $797,000 with same wrong bed/bath. I obviously put no weight in Zillow, RedFn values. Clearly the borrower wanted the incorrect Zillow bed/bath count and value. Borrower claims she had a no inspection "valuation" March 2022 for $885,000. Sounds like an AVM or free broker CMA BPO for listing which would be higher than market value.

Multifamily properties are different than SFR. They generally include GBA Gross Building Area. That can include other areas if it's 100% finished. The most important thing is to compare apples to apples. In this area most duplexes, SFRs have full basements. Some are finished, some have "legal" beds/baths and some don't. The appraiser used similar comps and included basement adjustments.

I did not do the original appraisal. I live in an area where basements and especially full basements are very uncommon in Los Angeles, California. They are never in GBA of 2-4 units. They are generally never 100% finished. At most they are crawl spaces or small utility basements. We have/had a high water table and basements would flood which is why we don't have them. Most of them have no windows or legal exits from all rooms. You need a legal sized window exit from bedrooms to legally be a bedroom. You don't want to get trapped in there in a flood or fire.

It turns out the black female attorney was happy with a few previous refinances of the property. They still have their mortgage with Rocket including the servicing. They didn't go get another loan with a new lender. This appears to be another false claim of bias and discrimination. This woman filed complaints in a few places. Read the documents and come to your own conclusion.

Per DOJ January 2021 $640,000 appraisal value. Appraisal from previous year was allegedly $860,000. It appears the previous value was perhaps too high. Francesca lied to the DOJ about requesting a reconsideration of value. She didn't request one. She should have requested a ROV. Then the issue of GLA, GBA could have been clarified. Borrower stated she merely complained about racial discrimination and demanded a higher value. It would have taken her half an hour to submit a ROV. She should have done that. Failure to mitigate damages, if there were any damages. We also don't know if her credit score, debt ratio, income levels, job history, judgments, liens, payment history ... affected her credit rating. There are many reasons to be denied a loan. The appraisal value is just one of them. If you have great income, great credit, little debt, long time job history ... a lower appraisal value wouldn't matter as much especially as this is owner occupied.

Here is the property per Zillow with size of 3 bed, 2 bath1,550 sf. That value is $557,000 today. It shows only one unit. The actual units are about 2 bed, 1 bath 700-800 sf GLA each with additional basement. One place even lists this as four units. I think they took the data from a rental offering of one unit. See how inaccurate Zillow can be.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/749-N-Ash-St-Denver-CO-80220/2067840283_zpid/?

Zillow value adding basement. It shows two units adding basements to first floor. Basement was given credit in the appraisal. There were no beds, baths in the basement per original appraisal. It's just laundry, exposed water heater, exposed furnace, electrical outlet on outside of wall, pipes on outside of ceiling. Maybe the owner has since updated the basement. It's listed as full basement but not 100% finished.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/749-751-Ash-St-Denver-CO-80220/2054732090_zpid/

Property data https://www.denvergov.org/property/realproperty/summary/0606314009000/

One unit was offered for rent for $3,000 October 2024. Looks like it had upgrades in 2022. It was previously listed for $3,500 then $3,400 then $3,200. It states recent renovations. https://www.trulia.com/home/749-n-ash-st-denver-co-80220-2067840283

One unit was offered for rent for $2,800 November 2021. You can see the basement level. Photo from that listing. Half size windows so a lot less light. Legal basement egress windows must be at least 24 inches tall and 20 inches wide. I can't tell if that is 24 inches but maybe it isn't. The window must be minimum 5.7 sf area and no more than 44" off the floor. Again, it may not be big enough. As I look at interior, exterior photos I don't know if the windows meet those minimums. People need to be able to escape in a fire or flood. I don't see the current basement bedroom windows. These pics are recent after a remodel with new carpet, paint... I see exposed plumbing, electrical so not 100% finished. I see some wonkiness in an interior wall under the window which looks like water damage. Again, I'm not the appraiser and haven't seen the property.
https://www.zumperrentals.com/apartments-for-rent/12060314p/3-bedroom-hale-denver-co?gallery=#media-447399980

Here is the racial bias accusation. She had a Black Lives Matter BLM sign on the property and appraiser walked by it. Sounds like the woman just wanted the lender to give her a higher value so she could refinance her loan again. She may have tried to go to another lender with another appraisal and that appraisal was probably also low so she didn't refinance. Perhaps she was able to pressure the previous appraiser. It sounds like she was trying to pressure the appraiser in this case.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rocket-mortgage-sues-united-states-department-of-housing-and-urban-development-302323839.html

Link to the complaint.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YY7L-lJ-8nQBsBEJA9H7U-K0Y1i3deWP/view?usp=sharing

Below is the court docket for the current case.

U.S. District Court - District of Colorado

District of Colorado (Denver)

CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 1:24-cv-03368-REB

Rocket Mortgage, LLC v. United States Department of Housing and Urban Development

Assigned to: Judge Robert E. Blackburn

Cause: 05:0706 - Judicial Review of Agency Action

Date Filed: 12/04/2024

Jury Demand: None

Nature of Suit: 899 APA Review/Appeal

Jurisdiction: U.S. Government Defendant

Plaintiff

Rocket Mortgage, LLC represented by Angelica Rankins

Goodwin Procter LLP

1900 N Street NW

Washington, DC 20036

202-346-4000

Email:

ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Brooks R. Brown

Goodwin Procter LLP

100 Northern Avenue

Boston, MA 02210

617-570-1000

Email:

ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Keith Eric Levenberg

Goodwin Procter LLP

1900 N Street NW

Washington, DC 20036

202-346-4000

Email:

ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Jeffrey Brian Morganroth

Morganroth & Morganroth, PLLC

344 North Old Woodward Avenue

Suite 200

Birmingham, MI 48009

248-864-4000

Fax: 248-864-4001

Email:

ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Defendant

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development

Date Filed # Docket Text

12/04/2024 1 COMPLAINT against United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (Filing fee $ 405,Receipt Number BCODC-10018454)Attorney Jeffrey Brian Morganroth added to party Rocket Mortgage, LLC(pty:pla), filed by Rocket Mortgage, LLC. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Summons, # 3 Summons, # 4 Summons)(Morganroth, Jeffrey) (Entered: 12/04/2024)

12/04/2024 2 CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT identifying Corporate Parent Rocket Companies, Inc., Corporate Parent Rocket, LLC for Rocket Mortgage, LLC. (Morganroth, Jeffrey) (Entered: 12/04/2024)

12/04/2024 3 NOTICE of Related Cases by Plaintiff Rocket Mortgage, LLC (Morganroth, Jeffrey) (Entered: 12/04/2024)

12/04/2024 4 NOTICE of Entry of Appearance by Brooks R. Brown on behalf of Rocket Mortgage, LLCAttorney Brooks R. Brown added to party Rocket Mortgage, LLC(pty:pla) (Brown, Brooks) (Entered: 12/04/2024)

12/04/2024 5 NOTICE of Entry of Appearance by Keith Eric Levenberg on behalf of Rocket Mortgage, LLCAttorney Keith Eric Levenberg added to party Rocket Mortgage, LLC(pty:pla) (Levenberg, Keith) (Entered: 12/04/2024)

12/04/2024 6 NOTICE of Entry of Appearance by Angelica Rankins on behalf of Rocket Mortgage, LLCAttorney Angelica Rankins added to party Rocket Mortgage, LLC(pty:pla) (Rankins, Angelica) (Entered: 12/04/2024)

12/05/2024 7 Case assigned to Judge Robert E. Blackburn. Text Only Entry. (agryan) (Entered: 12/05/2024)

12/05/2024 8 SUMMONS issued by Clerk. (Attachments: # 1 Summons, # 2 Summons, # 3 Magistrate Judge Consent Form) (agryan) (Entered: 12/05/2024)

DOJ case which lists name of owner and address. We now have address, values and dates.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1374081/dl?inline

Below is heading of DOJ v Rocket case 24-cv-02915 Denver, Colorado. Francesca is listed as a Plaintiff intervenor with attorney andy@newman-mcnulty.com So far the case was reassigned a few times then Rocket filed the Motion to Dismiss 12/04/2024. Below is Francesca's complaint. Francesca publicly shared her identity and home address. She shares misinformation and articles about the false narrative of the alleged "racist white appraiser" in her complaint. October 2024 USA Today, NY Times mentioned her in their articles about the case. Here is one article with a photo of Francesca. She shared this information publicly so she is legally liable for defamation. There is no litigation privilege when you share false information publicly. This is why the Maryland appraiser sued the property owners. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/06/realestate/rocket-mortgage-lawsuit-appraisals.html

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1REwJ4TECl1g_1JzcVytpBAMK3i6k2hTw/view?usp=sharing

U.S. District Court - District of Colorado

District of Colorado (Denver)

CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 1:24-cv-02915-GPG-TPO

USA v. Rocket Mortgage, LLC et al

Assigned to: District Judge Gordon P Gallagher

Referred to: Magistrate Judge Timothy P O'Hara

Cause: 42:3612 - Civil Rights in Housing -- Enforcement by Secretary

Date Filed: 10/21/2024

Jury Demand: Plaintiff

Nature of Suit: 440 Civil Rights: Other

Jurisdiction: U.S. Government Plaintiff

Plaintiff

As I read the DOJ complaint the borrower believed maintenance items were improvements. They also did the craziest "appraisal" math using cost per bedroom of final value to give value to basement areas. They used average price per square foot of Denver area, average appreciation...many things an appraiser would not use. They mention the 10, 15, 25% guideline adjustments. Those are not mandatory. The issue was she could not refi her apx $550K loan with a value under $860K. Borrower does mention GLA, GBA issue. She complained about racial discrimination but did not file a ROV even when offered twice. She should have filed a ROV to deal with her issues.

ORIGINAL 07/16/2024: "HUD Charges Appraiser, Appraisal Management Company, and Lender with Race Discrimination WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that it has charged multiple entities with housing discrimination for issuing a biased appraisal and then denying a refinance loan application in Denver, Colorado. HUD’s Charge against the appraiser, M* M*; appraisal company, M* Appraisal Group; appraisal management company, Solidifi U.S. Inc.; and lender, Rocket Mortgage, LLC, alleges that the appraiser issued a discriminatory appraisal that undervalued a Black homeowner’s property on the basis of her race. The Charge further alleges that, when the homeowner complained to Rocket Mortgage, Rocket Mortgage would only proceed with her refinance loan application based on the appraised value that she alleged was discriminatory."

This is the first complaint HUD has investigated in years. The lack of finished investigations is probably one reason why Marcia Fudge was shown the door. As usual there is no property address or borrower/owner name so we can't ascertain if the appraisal values were accurate or not. Of course there are no appraisals just values and dates. When we know the name or address we appraisers have been able to tell if the appraisal values were accurate or not. This is intentional so the public will never know and we must just believe the HUD press release.

This case sounds a lot like the Oakland case. Sounds like an area going through revitalization. Some homes are fully renovated and some are not. Values vary greatly based on specific location and condition per the data we have. HUD again brings up race of area. Appraisers never look at census records or race data. Race of area is from census records. Census has to do with who lives there and not who owns the property. There is the race income wealth correlation which means areas with more white occupants are probably worth more because they are probably fully renovated and in slightly better locations. This is an assumption based on research which shows white areas are worth more than black or Latino areas. I really wish they'd include the address so we wouldn't have to just guess and speculate. We will probably never know but based on my experience the higher ones are generally wrong. Lower ones are generally correct.

I predict the lender, AMC will settle for a slap on the wrist without admitting or denying guilt. They'll release a press release saying that have always been and always will be committed to fair housing. The appraiser will sadly settle without paying money because he can't afford to litigate. He will be forced to watch the mockumentary Lowballed strapped to a chair and attend a bias class by a private fair housing organization who was a friend of ex HUD chief Marcia Fudge. HUD will release news of the settlement stating they are helping POC obtain fair housing and loans. No one will ever know which appraisals were correct and which were not. No problems are solved. No one is helped. Things haven't changed. The PAVE task force was just a lot of talk and more administrative paperwork for lenders and appraisers.

https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/HUD_No_24_181

The charge

https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/FHEO/documents/Charge_08-21-3530-8.pdf

DISCLAIMER: https://mary--cummins.blogspot.com/p/disclaimer-privacy-policy-for-blogs-by.html

Mary Cummins

Monday, July 8, 2024

Apprasal BuzzCast with Hal Humphreys, Peter Christensen - Two Case of Alleged Appraiser Bias, Malpractice by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

jim morrison, hal humphreys, peter christensen, appraisal, real estate appraisal, appraiser, los angeles, california, mary cummins, lawsuit, bias, discrimination, hud

Appraisal Buzz has a good video on their The Appraisal BuzzCast with real estate appraiser Hal Humphreys and lawyer Peter Christensen talking about recent real estate appraisal lawsuits. The episode is July 3, 2024.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQQ2gbWj5x0

The video discusses two recent appraisal lawsuits and Peter Christensen's upcoming class in August at Valuation Expo. Peter Christensen said right now there are about 11 real estate appraisal bias lawsuits. HUD hasn't decided on 200 plus investigations.

The first case is in Chattanooga, Tennessee. An appraiser appraised a house for a purchase borrower. The home was under renovation and not complete. The value came in below contract so the borrower couldn't buy the home. A month later after the property was complete and finished another borrower tried to buy the property. He was given a copy of the old appraisal. The new potential lender was a credit union. They ended up hiring the same appraiser who just appraised it a month earlier. That appraiser did not reinspect the now finished property. They just changed the effective date and lender. They stated they reinspected the property when they didn't. They came in at the same older value.

The borrower contacted the credit union who basically said just deal with the low value. Borrower went to another lender, got a new higher appraisal, got the loan and closed on it. That borrower then sued, complained about the appraiser and the lender. Appraiser was sued for of course lying about inspecting besides a million USPAP and other violations. The lender was sued for not reporting the appraiser to state board.

That appraiser was absolutely in the wrong and deserved to be sued. He must have been pressured by the lender. Otherwise why not go back out especially when it wasn't finished a month earlier. Of course it will look different. Stupid appraiser. I didn't know lenders could be sued for not reporting an appraiser.

The second case is in Los Angeles, California which I'd heard about. It involves a black ex football player and his wife a retired accountant. It involves four appraisers in a reverse mortgage. There were two "acceptable to the borrower" higher appraisals. Home must be valued over $1,000,000 to need two appraisals Then there were two review appraisals which came in 25% lower. Then there were two more review appraisals which also came in 25% lower. All the lower appraisers are being sued for racial discrimination and bias.

I haven't seen any appraisals but I heard about the values. Based on my experience the lower appraisals are more likely to be accurate. There is no reason to lowball an appraisal value. You could be sued for bias by the borrower. This is why appraisers are more likely to come in higher than market value. Maybe the higher appraisers were biased positively because the guy was an ex football player? Maybe they came in higher because the borrowers are black? The review appraisers don't see the people. They don't see any personal photos because they're all blurred. How would they ever know race, color, gender...of the borrower? How can they be biased based on factors they don't even know? I wish I knew more about the case.

Just found this on Peter Christensen's LinkedIn page.

"In this new case, a retired NFL player and his wife have filed fair housing discrimination legal claims. The claims involve multiple appraisals/appraisal reviews for the purpose of a proposed reverse mortgage. There are 9 appraisals/reviews performed by different appraisers from November 2020 to August 2021 identified in the case. The value opinions of the suburban home range from $1.5m to $3.15m.* The borrowers allege that the low values in that range, which prevented their reverse mortgage, stem from bias based on their race and on the predominant race in their neighborhood. As reflected in the snippet below from their court complaint, they filed a HUD complaint in January 2022 and waited for a result for more than 2 years - until finally withdrawing the HUD complaint in April 2024 to pursue a civil action in state court.

* For the curious, here are the values/dates of value in the 9 different appraisers' reports:

> 11/18/20: $3.1m

> 1/13/21 (4 reports with same date of value): $3.1m, $2.6, $2.5m, $1.5m

> 1/26/21: $2.5m

> 6/3/21: $3.15m

> 6/20/21: $3.1m

> 8/20/21: $3.1m "

That's a huge range of values. I definitely see why they were concerned. Looks like some appraisers used bad comps? I'll update this if I find out more about the case.

Hal Humphreys had some good and obvious suggestions so you don't get sued as an appraiser. Peter agreed with him. Be nice, receptive to person's input and do the absolute best and most thorough appraisal possible. Peter said sometimes if an appraiser is rude, short or rushed, it may come across as biased or racist even if the appraiser treats everyone that way. Peter said "kindness matters." If they tell you, you got the sf wrong, listen to them. Make changes if warranted. Talk to them about the process. This will eliminate a lot of problems. I absolutely agree. I must state that some AMCs instruct appraisers not to "chit chat" with borrowers, people at the property.

I've thought about how to avoid problems as an appraiser. Obviously, be nice, courteous and receptive. When I'm in a situation where I'm appraising a complex appraisal say in an area going through revitalization, near an area with much higher prices or where home values vary greatly, I explain things in layman's terms. I will state why I didn't use certain comps and why. If the home next door sold for 50% more, I will mention it and why I didn't use it, i.e. double the size, fully remodeled, pool, ADU... If the subject is on a busy highway and homes nearby on cul-de-sacs sell for 50% more, I'll mention them and state why I didn't use the comps. Not all borrowers are incredibly real estate savvy. As it is our appraisal forms are confusing even with the definitions page. There's a lot of abbreviations, codes, rating numbers/letters... Some sections like "condition" are confusing. I always tell them to call me if they have any questions. Make sure you reply to their calls.

DISCLAIMER: https://mary--cummins.blogspot.com/p/disclaimer-privacy-policy-for-blogs-by.html

Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser, Animal Advocates, Los Angeles, California

Saturday, September 7, 2024

Mandatory Cultural Competency Elimination of Bias Class for Real Estate Appraisers by Mary Cummins

Friday, August 23, 2024

RealPage YieldStar Sued by Justice Department for Alleged "Price Fixing" - Doesn't Really Make Sense, by Mary Cummins

Monday, August 5, 2024

National Fair Housing Alliance NFHA and HUD Promote False Racist Narrative About Real Estate Appraisers, Lenders For Money by Mary Cummins

Thursday, August 1, 2024

Appraisal Institute AI, National Association of Realtors NAR Zoom Webinar on NAR Settlement

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

HUD Bias Complaint Against Appraiser by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

Monday, July 8, 2024

Apprasal BuzzCast with Hal Humphreys, Peter Christensen - Two Case of Alleged Appraiser Bias, Malpractice by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser