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.

Friday, January 12, 2024

McKissock Learning Will No Longer Offer PAREA Due to Costs by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

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PAREA is the Practical Applications of Real Estate Appraisal. In order to become a licensed appraiser you currently need about a year or two and 1,000-1,500 hours of training experience as a trainee with another licensed and generally certified appraiser. You also need basic classes and other requirements. Because it was so difficult to find mentors willing to train trainees for free the government allowed the PAREA training alternative to hours with a live mentor. Real Estate Appraiser education provider McKissock Learning was going to be one of the government approved companies, organizations offering PAREA training. The Appraisal Institute is another organization offering the training.

Yesterday January 12, 2024 McKissock emailed people who were interested in the program that they would no longer be offering the PAREA program. See below email.

"Happy New Year to you and yours. We hope this letter finds you well. With a strong commitment to responsibility and transparency, we want to inform you about a significant decision regarding the McKissock PAREA (Practical Applications of Real Estate Appraisal) project.

After careful consideration and thorough evaluation of various factors, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the McKissock PAREA project. We understand that this news may be unexpected, and we want to provide you with a clear understanding of our reasoning and the steps we are taking moving forward.

One of the primary factors contributing to the cancellation is the substantial resource cost required to provide a product of the quality we envisioned. In our pursuit to deliver a premium solution, the associated costs exceeded initial estimates, resulting in a higher-end price to our customers. Regrettably, we recognize that this higher cost would inadvertently create a new barrier to entry into the appraisal profession – specifically, a financial obstacle."

The cost of the program was always a major issue and hurdle to entrance in the field. You couldn't even start the program without first paying for and taking $1,700 worth of McKissock classes. The Appraisal Institute stated the PAREA program would cost about $10,000 per a July 19, 2023 webinar. All of the training would be online. There would be no in person mentorship.

From a monetary point of view the expensive cost of the training might be a total waste without real mentorship. This is not a trial an error occupation. You need someone training you in the beginning. You won't make any money if you don't know what you're doing. The only people who could end up making money from the training were possibly the training organization. They'd make money from government grants, nonprofit grants and class fees from paying students. It'd be like those worthless online degrees.

Another main problem is the real estate appraisal market today is at its absolute lowest point. There's very little lending work. The main cause is our current high interest rates. No one is selling if they have to buy another home. Why lose a 2.5% interest rate and triple your monthly mortgage at 7.5% or so. No one would want to refinance for the same reason. Sales volume is at its lowest in about 20 years per Ryan Lundquist's fantastic statistics. I've seen the same in Los Angeles, California.

Another even bigger issue is the use of live appraisers has been decreasing recently because of appraisal waivers, AVMs (Automated Valuation Methods) and hybrid type appraisals. Even though a live appraiser is used for part of the hybrid appraisal they aren't being paid as much as a full appraisal, i.e. $75-$165 vs $300-$500. The few full inspection appraisals done by live appraisers are very complex appraisals which only appraisers with many years experience are allowed to do. There's just not as much work today for anyone.

Previously the government said there were not enough appraisers and now there are definitely way too many. If you look at Facebook appraiser groups, everyone is hurting. Many have retired or had to get side gigs. If a fully trained and experienced appraiser of 20 years can't get work, a newbie has no chance at making enough money to survive. Even people with 20-40 years of experience are quitting due to lack of work.

You'd have to really be an idiot to shell out $1,700 for basic classes, $10,000 for PAREA, $6,000 appraisal costs first year just to make no money. Few can afford that upfront cost even if they could make the money back in a year or two. Another huge hurdle is lenders only use appraisers with three years minimum experience. No one would hire you fresh out of PAREA.

I believe that McKissock realized there probably won't be enough people willing to pay for the classes at the moment to justify their training costs. They couldn't make enough profit off the program today. Even if the government and nonprofits offered grants to pay for the training the students probably wouldn't get any work from the program. No one would be happy. There would be a lot of online complaints.

I'm actually glad McKissock is not continuing with the program at this time for the sake of the potential new appraisers. Now is not the time to start out as an appraiser because of the market conditions. I would at a minimum wait until things rebound when rates go down. Maybe by then there will be an affordable PAREA program maybe subsidized by the government for people who can't afford it. You'd still need live experience and will have to deal with all the other issues noted above but it'd be better than what we have today.

*FTR I've been taking classes with McKissock since they first started around 1990. Back in the day they only offered in person classes taught by the McKissock's out of a small classroom in Orange County, California. Today I take bundled classes with Calypso because they're cheaper.

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

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

History of Realtor Boards and Multiple Listing Services by Mary Cummins Real Estate Broker, Appraiser

board of realtors, mary cummins, real estate appraiser, mls, multiple listing service, beverly hills, los angeles, california, history, real estate, sales, agent, department of real estate

Real Estate is one of the largest industries in the United States. It began with the first land grants and settlers of the New World starting in the late 1400's. Many countries including Spain, Portugal, Britain, France, Russia, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden laid claim to the New World making and selling land grants. Over time individuals and speculators bought, sold and traded the land grants, plots and deeds.

Originally there were handwritten land grants with vague land surveys using physical landmarks. They were recorded with the cities, counties or states as they formed. These were later also recorded in newspapers. The land grants were later replaced with grant deeds and surveyed numbered land plots with assessor numbers as the nation grew and government and real estate became more formalized and regulated.

Back in the day anyone could become a real estate dealer. This led to some charlatans and con men becoming land swindlers. Everyone knows about people accidentally buying worthless swamp land in Florida or someone selling the same piece of land to multiple people. This gave the real estate industry a very bad image. A few in the industry decided to form Realty Associations in order to control who could deal in real estate and how properties were planned, built and transferred.

The purpose of the first Realty Associations specifically the "Los Angeles Realty Board" was "to bring legitimacy to their profession, encourage cooperation and fellowship among real estate men, and use their collective power to create a more dynamic business environment for their industry." The LA Realty Board was formed in 1903 in California. One of the founding members was William May Garland. By 1906 they had 217 members.

Many of the later Boards were formed based on the same structure and mission as the LA Realty Board. I was a member of the Los Angeles Board of Realtors, Beverly Hills Board of Realtors and National Association of Realtors starting in 1983. The BH Board was incorporated in 1955. They ultimately merged with the LA Board and became the Greater Los Angeles Realtors (GLAR) in 1998. The state California Association of Realtors (CAR) was formed in 1998.

Initially some of the various boards had their own MLS services. Later they joined forces and made larger MLS services such as CRMLS, CLAWMLS, THEMLS... The Combined Los Angeles/Westside (CLAW) MLS is a compilation of the listings of Realtor Board Members formed in 1995. You must be a licensed real estate agent and Realtor to join as an agent or broker to list properties on that MLS. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) was originally formed as the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges in Chicago in 1908.

Back in the day the Realty Board was in charge of who could be a real estate agent. There was no State Departments of Real Estate. Official real estate sales licenses didn't start until 1917 when the California Department of Real Estate (DRE) was first formed by the California legislature. DRE marked the formation of the first-ever Real Estate Law in the country. With this law, licensing practices and licensees were regulated in a manner which was emulated by many other states.

Way back in the day non whites, blacks, women and more were not allowed to own real estate in the US. When they were later allowed to own real estate it was difficult to find people willing to sell them or help them buy real estate because of racism and segregation. Many racist whites did not want to sell their property to blacks, Latinos...because of their false fear that the neighborhood would deteriorate, crime would increase and property values would decline. White fearmongers promoted this false narrative to make money selling real estate.

Back in the day Realtor Boards controlled who could become a Realtor. Blacks, women and others were not allowed. Blacks, Latinos ... were forced to start their own organizations because of segregation and racism. The oldest organizations were started by African Americans. The first groups were the The National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) founded in 1947 and the Dearborn Realtist Board is the oldest African American Real Estate Trade Association founded in 1941 both in Chicago. NAR was opposed to the Fair Housing Act of 1968. NAR did not allow blacks to join until 1961. The fact that these non white organizations still exist show that they are still needed and wanted. While there is still racism in our country and real estate things have improved but there is a long ways to go.

As the business of real estate became more organized a system was needed to facilitate those transactions. Back in the day properties were listed for sale in the local newspapers. The closed sales were also listed in the newspapers. Some newspapers had full real estate sections every day or just on Sundays. Some included black and white and later even color photos. They were essentially the first Multiple Listing Service.

The Los Angeles Times was one of those early newspapers that listed those properties starting in 1881. At that same time real estate dealers, agents and offices would have print outs of all the properties they had offered for sale. They would post them at their offices on their windows besides in newspapers and real estate magazines around the country. They assembled them in three ring binders in their offices to show to prospective buyers and sellers. They would also exchange them with other real estate dealers whom they knew.

Eventually a few large real estate offices got together and decided to print them in one local monthly magazine type book for more wide scale marketing and exposure. These were the first dedicated Multiple Listing Services type books. The NAR started offering this MLS service in the 1960's. These paper books were used up until 1994-2000. Below are a couple of pages from one of those books. When I was an agent then broker they came out every other week I think and were about an inch thick for Los Angeles.

After around 1994 the data went digital with the advent of the common use of the Internet. First it was available via dial-up in real estate offices for text only. I used phone dial-up devices around 1984 to access the private intranet data, search by distinct computer codes then printed the listings out on dot matrix printers using continuous feed paper with the little holes on the side. Everything was later available fully online to Board and MLS members including photos. Later it was partially available to the general public as well. One still had to contact the listing agent to get access to the property and get all of the information to present an offer.

Today we have full home and property listings online which include lots of color photographs, diagrams, staged photos, plot plans, architectural renderings, videos and even 3-D tours. Nowadays you can search properties all over the world in different languages. You can even buy and sell the properties fully online as long as you get signatures notarized with proof of identification. We have definitely come a long way from land grands in old English cursive writing and newspaper ads.

Below is a sample list of active listings from an MLS search. Below that is a short detail listing of one property. None of these were any of my clients' properties.

References:

The Promise and Principles of Real Estate Development in an American Metropolis:

Los Angeles 1903 -1923
https://escholarship.org/content/qt9vx3c796/qt9vx3c796_noSplash_720a4c937cb8e9843f91bf2d4d59a00f.pdf?t=njnl9t

LATimes.com various articles

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Mary Cummins

Sunday, November 12, 2023

Caltrans Rents Area Under 10, 5, 60, 405 Freeways in Los Angeles, California by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

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real estate appraisal,real estate appraiser, mary cummins ,real estate,appraisal,fire,california,appraiser,los angeles,caltrans, freeway Photo: Caltrans

UPDATE 11/22/2023 As expected the freeway is not repaired. It's only braced. It will take months to repair the freeway. "Though the shored-up freeway is safe for drivers again, repairs for the damaged overpass will take months, officials said. None of the damaged columns that hold up the overpass east of Alameda Street have been repaired yet, according to Caltrans spokesperson Michael Comeaux.

“Columns damaged by the fire will need to be repaired. The repair strategy may vary between individual columns depending on the extent of damage. The repairs will include the removal of any damaged concrete, patching of the damage, and wrapping the columns with steel casings,” Comeaux said in an email."

"The fire has drawn scrutiny to the state’s open-air lease program. On Wednesday, Caltrans announced inspectors assessed 601 leased sites across the state and of 38 sites that pose a potential risk, only a few present a specific fire or safety risk."

An engineer with Caltrans who was not authorized to speak publicly said 45 columns show clear evidence of spalling, the technical term for the cracking and disintegration of concrete when it is exposed to extremely high temperatures. The heat evaporates water molecules inside the concrete, which makes the material weak and brittle.

Construction crews will have to remove the damaged concrete from each column. In many cases, the engineer said, that damage extends to the reinforcing metal known as rebar that is embedded inside the concrete and spirals around vertical lengths extending from the foundation to the freeway overhead.

Engineers have identified eight columns where the heat of the fire reached far deeper into the concrete. For those columns, crews will have to remove not only the compromised concrete but also the spiral of rebar, the engineer said.

Once the damaged concrete and steel have been removed, the columns will be rebuilt, most likely with steel jackets similar to those used in seismic retrofits of bridge columns (an earthquake review in the 1990s did not lead to jackets being placed around the columns at this location). Grout or concrete will then be injected between the jacket and column."

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-11-22/downtown-los-angeles-10-freeway-fire-repairs

11/18/2023 Authorities release photo of person of interest in the alleged arson fire of the 10 freeway. Mayor Karen Bass said it was definitely not a homeless person. This looks like a homeless person to me. I'm in that immediate area all the time. I see the people down there. I was there last week and saw a homeless guy light a wood pallet on fire for no reason. They don't just do it to keep warm but because they can. People dump shit and trash on the street. Homeless light it on fire especially at night. Someone dumps an old tv that doesn't work. They will beat and crush it then light it on fire as a fun activity like a school bonfire. Once I found a dead dog that'd been put in a shopping cart, lit of fire then pushed down the street into a fence. I'm pretty sure the dog was dead before they lit it on fire or at least I hope so.There are young'ish men down there with mental illness and lots of anger. They will destroy and burn something just as an outlet, to rage against "the man" or just for fun. All those wood pallets, stacks of boxes, trash were begging to be burned. If you go down there, you will see fire marks on all the overpasses.

https://ktla.com/10-freeway-fire/10-freeway-arson-suspect-description-released/

11/16/2023 Governor Gavin Newsom said the freeway will be open by next Tuesday November 21, 2023! The supports weren't as badly damaged as first thought.

Per various articles "state officials filed a lawsuit against Apex saying the company owes $78,000 (or $600,000) in unpaid rent." "Apex Development Inc. has leased the land under I-10 since 2008. One condition of Apex’s contract stipulated it not allow flammable or hazardous materials to be stored there."

“Apex rented and improved the rundown yard and made substantial capital investments during the period that it had possession of the yard,” D’Attaray said. “Caltrans inspected the premises periodically, at least once a year, and CalTrans was fully aware of the sublessees and their operations. Even the State of California’s Fire Marshall inspected the premises.”

He said Apex had also repeatedly called the fire department to report fires started by homeless encampments, including along the fence line and at other yards."

https://apnews.com/article/freeway-fire-los-angeles-interstate-10-newsom-3ab9682a866c4e60b80b2d5d185847ac

11/15/2023 Caltrans knew of an incident where portion of Interstate 85 in Atlanta collapsed after combustible material stored under the interstate caught fire. That incident closed the interstate for six weeks. They wrote a policy directive based on that incident which prohibited storage of flammable materials under bridges and required access for inspections. Engineers stated Caltrans knew about the problem but can't get under the bridges to inspect because of all the junk. In all honesty there is not much in a tightly packed warehouse that isn't combustible. These areas aren't even enclosed so you can't block off a fire like you can in a building. There should at least be smoke, fire, CO detectors, fire sprinklers and fire fighting equipment easily accessible and functioning.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-11-14/l-a-facing-more-traffic-gridlock-amid-signs-of-hope-over-10-freeway-closure

11/14/2023 Governor Newsome said the freeway will open in 3-5 weeks. "Inspectors determined the section of the freeway affected would not need to be demolished and replaced, allowing workers to focus instead on repairing the existing structure, Newsom told reporters. That means reopening the freeways will take a matter of weeks, he said, rather than the months long endeavor some were initially bracing for." He later said maybe only 4/5 lanes will be open initially.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/13/us/i-10-freeway-la-fire-closure-tuesday/index.html

11/13/2023 Fire Department is now saying arson may be the cause. They also stated flammable hand sanitizer from Covid was being stored at the location.

There is no real address, legal description, Assessor's Parcel Number APN I can find to use to see if there are complaints in Building and Safety ladbs.org . Generally people file complaints based on real address, APN or legal description there which are investigated. Maybe people can't file or view complaints on Caltrans property because it's under a state and not a city, county jurisdiction? Caltrans just said there is no property tax so there would be no APN. That would be a big problem because all building and safety, fire investigations are complaint driven by site location. There are no annual property inspections. Clearly we can't trust the California Department of Transportation to do the complaints and investigations. They should have used emergency powers to clear or safeguard the site. Sadly the entire area down there is very similar. There are many, many shoddy storage facilities under the freeway with homeless camps.

Caltrans own press release of the fire states the address is 1700 E 14th St which is blocks away. The site is in District 7. https://dot.ca.gov/fix-10

Recent article noted one property was leased by Calabasas based Apex Development Inc which was subleasing storage without permission from state and federal authorities. The company stopped paying rent and was out of compliance with the lease.

I see 85 lawsuits involving Apex Development in lacourt.org Below is the eviction lawsuit which is recent by state of California. It includes the companies on the site that burned. The ONLY cause for eviction on the form is non payment of rent. It's not for violations of terms of the lease. Obviously not paying rent is a violation of terms of lease. It's not for allowing the site to be a danger to people and property. Caltrans should have filed emergency eviction for unsafe premises.

~~I'll post docs in a sec.~~ I see a previous lawsuit 20STCV42245 filed by Apex against Caltrans. It was dismissed. I see another suit against Caltrans 23STCV15418 for breach of contract that's recent for interference with contract and unjust enrichment 06/2023. Apex appears to be litigious. I don't know if they have cause for the suits. I was hoping to find a lease agreement but none were filed or maybe they were filed under seal. I don't know if Apex is claiming Covid hardship for rent payments.

Case Number: 23STCV22798

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORINA, ACTING BY AND THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION VS APEX DEVELOPMENT, INC., A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION, ET AL.

Filing Courthouse: Stanley Mosk Courthouse
Filing Date: 09/20/2023
Case Type: Unlawful Detainer/Commercial (not drugs or wrongful eviction) (General Jurisdiction)
Status: Pending

Next hearing. 02/15/2024 at 08:30 AM in Department 37 at 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 Case Management Conference

Many parties didn't reply and defaults were filed.

APEX DEVELOPMENT INC. - Defendant

CHOI DANIEL - Attorney for Plaintiff

D'ATTARAY MAINAK - Attorney for Defendant

EAGLE WOOD SERVICE - Defendant

ECO-RAIN TANK OF AMERICA - Defendant

GLUCK STEVEN M - Attorney for Defendant

KATZ JEFFREY E. - Attorney for Defendant

LARA ALFREDO MENDOZA - Defendant

MAX RECYCLING - Defendant

MCA TRUCKING - Defendant

NOWAID ANTHONY - Defendant

PACIFIC EXPRESS PALLETS - Defendant

SERAFIN DISTRIBUTION - Defendant serafindistribution.com/home 1361 Lawrence
http://serafinsdistribution.com/contact-us

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA - Plaintiff

TORRES TAURINO M. - Defendant claims to live at 1361 Lawrence

Below are jpgs of main current eviction lawsuit.

Another article stated 100 columns of the freeway were damaged. Nine or ten were damaged severely. They don't know if they will have to tear down the overpass or just retrofit it. I believe some of these were previously retrofitted after the 1994 earthquake. The original freeway was built 1933-1957 or so.

ORIGINAL: November 10/11, 2023 (just after midnight) there was a huge pallet fire under the Santa Monica 10 freeway at Alameda and 14th Street which shut down the freeway and interchange. Many have asked why there were wood pallets under the freeway. People don't seem to realize that the California Department of Transporation Caltrans leases the area under the freeways in Los Angeles for warehouse purposes. 10 Freeway on Wikipedia

Based on current law, "Authorizes Caltrans to lease to public agencies or private entities the use of areas above or below state highways. Generally, leases to private entities have to be made on the basis of competitive bids and at fair market value." They can also lease them for less than fair market value if it's for the public good such as a park, homeless shelter...

Currently most of the area under the 10 in this area is warehouse property that caters to fashion industry. If you drive by you will see auto storage, shipping storage, large machinery storage, wood pallets, trash... I would assume all tenants must have adequate fire protection, insurance and abide by Building and Safety and Fire Department regulations. Any major fire under this old 10 freeway could cause a lot of damage besides disrupting traffic to the area. The 1994 earthquake caused a section between LaCienega and Venice to collapse because the supports were made pre 1971 before they were earthquake proof. Other areas needed repairs and retrofitting. The original section was built around 1955 or 1957. I'm not positive. We're still talking about a 70 year old overpass. When I was there day after fire a block away I saw what appeared to be retrofitting and reinforcement of another overpass few blocks away.

We shall see if Caltrans changes their lease agreement terms after this fire. They should be able to take emergency action against any lessee, sub-lessee who violates the law due to the potential hazards to humans, property and the transportation system.

If you look at these storage sites under the freeway, not all are enclosed with walls. Perhaps the ones not enclosed with solid walls are not considered structures legally so they don't have to abide by Building and Safety regulations? Many just enclose the properties with chain link fencing with barbed wire on top. Perhaps there are not regulations for such enclosures? Clearly there should be. At the very least they need smoke, fire detectors that would not be set off with smoke, exhaust from autos.

The address of the burned properties appear to be subleases located at 4205 E 14th St, Los Angeles, CA 90021 near Lawrence St and 14th St. Also 1349, 1361 Lawrence. Legal tract is 23269. Close APN is 5167-017-004. Thomas Guide map TG634G7. 5166-004-****. Tract H. N. ELLIOTT'S NINTH STREET TRACT. It's council district 14 Kevin DeLeon. Zone is PF-1XL. Sign says "we buy pallets" and "Serafin's Distribution." They tried to get a permit to build a building for a scrap yard in 2014 and were denied. Previous building permit was 1925. Maybe it was built in the 30'sand renamed in the 50's. Below is Google satellite image of site, parcel maps and street view. For these two sites to burn makes me think it was a fire accidentally started by homeless people. It's been getting colder at night in the 50's. Google street images shows lots of homeless, cars, car tires stacked, wood pallets.All these things are highly flammable and difficult to extinguish especially under the enclosed freeway.

Here is the Google map of the burned site. Look at street and satellite view for the area. Lots of places full of pallets, trash, cars and homeless people. Years ago when I went to a motorcycle show that was in an industrial site they made me remove all gas from my motorcycle and tape the gas cap shut or else they wouldn't let my motorcycle in the show. It was because of Fire Department and insurance purposes. I'm sure all those cars had gas and oil in them besides batteries, tires which burn for long periods of time.

Because Caltrans is government they pay no property taxes so there is no assessor's parcel map I can yet find for the site. This is all I see. If you hover over it, it says "no information available." I'm trying to get an address to see if there were complaints about fire dangers or other Building and Safety violations. If there is no address, you can't really file a complaint. There must be something. I'll post when I find it.

Here are photos from Serafindistribution.com which shows interior. Their site states they have boxes, paper products, labels, janitorial supplies...

Here is one such current advertisement for warehouse rental under the 10 freeway blocks from the fire, see photo below. This property is for sale with a ten year renewable land lease from Caltrans.

"Naomi Freeway Distribution1600-1650 S Naomi Ave 39,372 SF Industrial Building Los Angeles, CA$3,890,000 ($99/SF) Warehouses California Los Angeles 1600-1650 S Naomi Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90021 Owner User - Investor Opportunity Located Minutes From Downtown, Arts District & Vernon Divisible into 4 Units, Power 1,200 Amp 240 V Service - Ground Level Doors Cal Trans Ground Lease Expires: 5/11/2031 - 10 Yr Option Concrete Block Construction. Owner Use - Investment Property - 5 Warehouse/Distribution Units - Land is Leased From Cal-trans - Newer Concrete Block Construction - Retail - Wholesale Possible - Garment - Cannabis Uses. 20,000 SF Can Be Occupied at Closing. Heart of Downtown Los Angeles Industrial Area Santa Monica Freeway (10) At Central Avenue Exit" https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1600-1650-S-Naomi-Ave-Los-Angeles-CA/3612898/ POSS INT LOCATED AT 1650 NAOMI AV LOS ANGELES OWNED BY STATE DEPT OF TRANSP 5130 013 000

#caltrans #california #transportation #fire #marycummins #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #losangeles #freeway #landlease #fire

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Mary Cummins

Friday, August 25, 2023

Important Alleged Discrimination Case Against Wells Fargo, Comment by Mary Cummins

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Peter Christensen just wrote an article about this very important legal case. Wells Fargo is being sued for racial discrimination for rejecting mortgages of some black, Latino applicants. The lawsuit is based on appraisals and credit. They cite Andre Perry's false and misleading paper as evidence. This looks like a shakedown lawsuit to get WF to cough up a few bucks "without admitting guilt." This is what the false narrative of the alleged racist appraiser and real estate industry has given us. The government promoting the false narrative for their political agenda has caused this frivolous lawsuit. We all know based on AEI's research that blacks, Latinos are more likely to be rejected for loans based on socioeconomic factors and appraisal value. Blacks, Latinos have less income, less wealth, lower credit scores which is why they buy less expensive homes in less expensive areas.

"In March 2022, Bloomberg News published an article entitled “Wells Fargo Rejected Half Its Black Applicants in Mortgage Refinancing Boom” (registration required). Bloomberg’s researchers had combed through the data for 8 million conventional loan refinance applications in 2020 reported by lenders under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The researchers saw stark differences in Wells Fargo’s approval rates for White, Black and Hispanic refinance applicants. They found that Wells Fargo approved 72% of applications from White applicants but only 47% from Black applicants. In contrast, Rocket Mortgage approved 86% of White applicants and 79% of Black applicants. For Hispanic borrowers, Wells Fargo’s approval rate was 53% versus a 79% industry average for Hispanics. Some might jump to an explanation here like “Black and Hispanic borrowers may not have the same average financial means as Whites.” Bloomberg’s research, however, showed that Wells Fargo’s approval rate was lower for Blacks in high income brackets than for Whites in low brackets.

After publication of the article, a half-dozen class actions were filed swiftly against Wells Fargo by Black and Hispanic borrowers who had been denied loans. The Federal District Court in Northern California consolidated these cases earlier this year under the new title In re Wells Fargo Mortgage Discrimination Litigation, U.S. District Court, N.D. Cal., Case No. 3:22-cv-00990.

The primary legal claims in the consolidated case are brought under the federal Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act. And, the alleged damages could be substantial – borrowers denied loan refinances in 2020-2021 may have lost out on saving tens of thousands of dollars on their mortgages by being unable to lock in historically low interest rates. The operative complaint in the case principally alleges a story about disparate treatment and impact in Wells Fargo’s mortgage determinations, including the bank’s use of flawed “centralized, universal, race-infected lending algorithms” or “digital redlining.” But part of the plaintiffs’ theory is also based on alleged bias in the appraisals relied on by the bank.

Here’s a key allegation pertaining to appraisals:

Wells Fargo knowingly incorporates, without adjustment, appraisals that have been shaped by years of race-based valuation standards or appraisals affected by race-based criteria. Homes in majority Black neighborhoods are worth an average of 23% less than homes in neighborhoods with “very few or no Black residents” and of similar home quality. (Citing Dr. Andre Perry’s research at Brookings “The Devaluation of Assets in Black Neighborhoods.”).

As a result, the plaintiffs allege that “Wells Fargo’s discrimination . . . has forced those who received below-market appraisals from Wells Fargo to abandon the process with Wells Fargo and turn elsewhere.”

"Plaintiffs Aaron Braxton, Paul Martin, Gia Gray, Bryan Brown, Elretha Perkins, Christopher Williams, Ifeoma Ebo and Terah Kuykendall-Montoya, individually and as representatives of a nationwide class of similarly situated applicants for original purchase mortgage, refinance and other home mortgage loans (collectively, “Plaintiffs” or the “Class”),

Go to the below link for the rest of this important article and lawsuit.

https://www.valuationlegal.com/2023/08/the-most-significant-appraisal-discrimination-case-doesnt-name-an-appraiser-as-a-defendant/

Copy of lawsuit from same site.

https://www.valuationlegal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/In-re-Wells-Fargo-Discrimination-Amended-and-Consolidated-Complaint-Fair-Housing-ECOA-3-24-23.pdf

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Mary Cummins

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Appraisal Institute Presentation on Historical Homes at Wrigley Mansion, Pasadena, California by Mary Cummins

wrigley mansion, pasadena, california, 391 orange grove, rose parade, tournament of roses, mary cummins, real estate appraiser, real estate appraisal, historical homes, historic, properties

Southern California Chapter of the Appraisal Institute gave a presentation by Charles Baker on Historical Homes. It took place at Wrigley Mansion in Pasadena, California. This is the Tournament of Roses Headquarters at 391 S Orange Grove, Pasadena, CA. Beautiful home and gardens. While I don't agree with everything AI does they do offer great classes and education. Linda Whittlesey President of the SoCal Chapter organized the event and did a fantastic job.

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Mary Cummins

Friday, August 11, 2023

AEI Report Shows Andre Perry's Paper is Fraudulent. Same Difference in Home Values in White Areas.

This is from an email from Jeremy Bagott, MAI. AEI used Andre's Perry own dataset and methodology to study race and home values. February 2023 the report was updated. Andre Perry previously stated the main difference in home values between white and black is race alone. Perry blamed that on home valuations. AEI's research has proven the main difference is caused almost entirely by socioeconomic factors and not race. I've been yelling this from the mountain tops since Perry's paper first came out but AEI has nailed it down with facts and independent research. People who make more money have more money and buy more expensive homes in more expensive areas, period.

Maybe lower income white people should be yelling about home value differences compared to higher income white and black people. Maybe they should be demanding money, free homes, cheap loans, debt relief like Andre Perry and his following have been doing. "Rich white people have stolen $46,000 from every poorer white person's home value in the US!" Maybe all poor people need their own type of reparations for being trapped by low wages and poverty for generations. It won't solve the problem because the income gap is the main cause for everyone but the story will probably sell online media ads. We need to reduce the income/wealth gap among everyone. AEI stated this in their summary but the government will not listen to facts for some reason on this issue.

https://mailchi.mp/0b513ed845f9/report-finding-of-bias-in-home-valuations-fails-by-own-measure-8037698

"REPORT: FINDING OF BIAS IN HOME VALUATIONS FAILS BY OWN MEASURE

VENTURA, Calif. (August 11, 2023) – In an updated refutation of the findings of Brookings Institution researcher Andre Perry, Edward Pinto and Tobias Peter of the AEI Housing Center demonstrated just how broken the Brookings research was.

Perry’s 2018 research, titled “The Devaluation of Assets in Black Neighborhoods,” pinned the nation’s racial wealth gap on 80,000 state-licensed real property appraisers.

Unfortunately, these now-discredited findings have been levered by housing-industry lobbyists, partisan policymakers, agitators and grievance groups to malign the nation’s 80,000 real property appraisers and hollow out America’s mortgage underwriting safeguards.

A dataset provided to Pinto and Peter earlier in the year by Perry allowed the AEI Housing Center to fully refute the latter’s conclusions.

While their original refutation was still largely correct, Pinto and Peter have now updated their key findings and takeaways using the new dataset. To the surprise of no one, their redacted study found that what Perry et al. had characterized as race-based differences in home valuations were almost entirely due to socio-economic status, not racial bias by real estate appraisers.

Using the dataset and Perry’s own methodology, Pinto and Peter created a simple case study of so-called “entirely white” tracts (tracts demographers rate as 97.5% white or greater). In those tracts, racial animus, by definition, is ruled out as a factor. The duo then compared high and low socio-economic status in these so-called all-white neighborhoods and found differences as large as – or even larger than – the ones Perry et al. incorrectly attributed to racial bias.

But much damage has been done by Perry’s now-discredited findings. Perry’s 2018 report took the nation’s real property appraisers from the table and onto the menu. The flawed findings have most recently served as a pretext to justify the current administration’s whole-of-government effort to insert race into every corner of the mortgage underwriting process, including collateral valuation.

Pinto and Peter determined:

• That while lower socio-economic status may leave blacks at a large income (and wealth) disadvantage relative to most whites, this is not due to any statistically relevant bias in home appraisals

• The primary remedy would be policies that work to address the income and wealth gap, not those that scapegoat appraisers.

• The focus should be on increasing financial security, creating generational wealth, and shrinking the socio-economic gap through sustainable home ownership. This is largely a buying power issue, not a valuation one. To do otherwise risks repeating the mistakes of the past."

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Mary Cummins

Real Cause of racial home value gap is the Income Gap by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

The ACLU wrote about the racial wealth gap. They noted the income gap, homeownership rate gap and mortgage gap. They didn't once blame any of this on real estate appraisers. Imagine that. #black #white #IncomeGap #wealthgap #homeownershiprate #race #money

https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/visualizing-the-racial-wealth-gap

I just read an article on the income gap. It said there is almost no white, black income gap for poor and lower income individuals. There is a smaller income gap for the middle class. “What this shows is that 97 percent of the overall racial wealth gap is driven by households above the median of each racial group.” This would mean most of the income, wealth gap is coming from the top earners. It's a class gap. I would bet that most of the income, wealth gap is coming from the super rich who are mainly white. "The richest 10 percent of white households who own 75 percent of all white wealth. Indeed, over two-thirds of racial gap reflects the differences in assets held by the top ten percent of households in each group. Class, not race is the major driver of wealth inequality." https://www.aei.org/op-eds/the-racial-wealth-gap-myths-and-realities/ Most of the wealth gap is caused by difference in the top ten percent in each group! It's probably mainly caused by some very rich white people.

"White average wealth ($929,800), which is more influenced by very rich families and does not characterize the typical experience, is 6.7 times greater than Black average wealth ($138,100)." This means that most white people should be complaining about the income, wealth gap between low to mid income and upper class. That's where the biggest gap exists. 80% of the gap is coming from the top 10%. Instead of wasting time on the wealth gap between white, black we need to look at the wealth gap between everyone under the median compared to the top 10%. I bet most wealth in the country is concentrated in the top 1-3%. And I was correct, "Federal Reserve data indicates that as of Q4 2021, the top 1% of households in the United States held 32.3% of the country's wealth, while the bottom 50% held 2.6%."

I will try to see if I can figure out what the income, wealth gap would be if we omitted the super rich with net worths over $5,000000. Multi-millionaires and billionaires could be skewing the data. They are. "Federal Reserve data indicates that as of Q4 2021, the top 1% of households in the United States held 32.3% of the country's wealth, while the bottom 50% held 2.6%." https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/

The income gap is directly related to the homeownership rate. The current homeownership rate for Black and Hispanic homeowners now stand 29 and 23 percentage points lower than the 73% white homeownership rate. This again is all related to socioeconomic factors i.e. income.

There would probably still be a gap because of other socioeconomic factors such as married/single but it would probably be less.We really need to figure out the real problem so we can find a real solution. Blaming the income, wealth gap on appraisers, racism is just wasting time and money that could be better help working on issues that could change things.

I wrote about the the real cause of the home value gap earlier which is the income gap. I need to update it based on AEI's updated research and new article on income/wealth gap. Their recent research shows that whites and blacks who make more money have more money and buy more expensive homes in more expensive areas. There is almost no racial income, wealth gap under median income, wealth. Most of it comes from the top 1%. The wealth gap is mainly from stocks, investments of the top 1% who are mainly white. It's not from home values. All whites, blacks, Latinos...should be complaining about having less income, wealth and owning less valuable homes. It feels like people are trying to pit blacks against whites by spreading this false narrative supported by totally fraudulent paper by Andre Perry. Are super wealthy white people using Andre Perry to stoke the flames of a race war so people won't realize the real issue is the wealth gap between the top 1% and everyone else?

https://appraisersblogs.com/the-real-cause-of-the-home-value-gap-is-the-income-gap

It's so frustrating to see HUD get bamboozled by lenders and politicians into thinking the cause is appraisers and appraisals. No one else seems to think so including other government departments. The lenders have just been using the false narrative of the alleged racist appraiser to be able to use AVMs Automated Valuation Methods. AVMs make lenders more money. They can also get the value they want so they can close the deal. AVMs are bad for buyers, government, economy, stock market and investors.

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Mary Cummins

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

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