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July 22, 2010

Stay vigilant - A rule shall be made

Jennifer Miller
EVP, Mercury Network

Today I flew home from the Appraisal Institute Summit 2010 in Washington D.C. As I sat on the tarmac, waiting for the obligatory command to shut off all portable and electronic devices, I was scanning through my Facebook news stream, and saw a post by the President (no, we’re not “real” friends) urging all Americans to watch the signing of H.R. 4173 at 11:30am EST, otherwise known as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. (We simply call it the DFA for short.) One of the most discussed topics at the AI Summit was the DFA, obviously. That Facebook post, in turn, got me to thinking about the various things I’ve taken away from the Summit, which I must say was quite informational and a good use of time. I wish more real estate appraisers and mortgage lending industry representatives had taken time to attend. In the past we’ve been critical of the AI’s efforts in Washington on behalf of residential appraisers, but I’ll give it up. This was an excellent event, and the AI under current President Sellers really seems to have been engaged on this bill. The AI, and Bill Garber in particular, did a fantastic job with this Summit.

But, of the many things I’ve taken away (and will write about over the coming days), perhaps the most important is the need for real estate appraisers, appraisal management companies (AMCs), and mortgage lenders to maintain a vigilant watch over what comes of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Sure, the President has signed it, but that’s just the beginning. The proverbial fat lady has yet to sing over this one. As has been stated repeatedly, and depending on who you ask, there are between 243 and 533 new rules, 60 studies and 93 congressional reports by the GAO yet to be hashed out. So, as one General Counsel I listened to at the Summit put it, there are lots of parts that say, “There shall be a rule made” about some aspect of the bill or another. And, the parts specific to real estate appraisal, appraisal management companies, and appraiser/lender interaction may well be modified heavily in the next 90 days. As Rep. Kanjorski said during the summit, the “hard part of the bill occurs now”.

That being the case, my challenge to anyone with a stake in the real estate game is to take an hour and do some research. Dig into what the bill means for your space in the industry. Contact your elected officials to continue to make your voice heard (you know the lobbyists are already hard at it). Set up Google alerts on key search terms and phrases to have relevant news, articles, blogs and websites sent right to your inbox. Stay in-the-know, and stay tuned in.

The bill has been signed. But this is just the beginning. As the second most interesting man in the world says, “Stay vigilant my friends”.
 

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