35 appraiser organizations including the Appraisal Institute are asking Congress to prevent Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae from issuing appraisal waivers. Freddie and Fannie recently announced plans to no longer require appraisals for first purchase loans, as well as for mortgage refinancing. In a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and the House Financial Services Committee, the Appraisal Institute wrote: “We recognize that the Enterprises have, since 1994, been exempted from appraisal requirements established by Congress on the basis that their requirements exceeded those established by Congress and that they would continue to make responsible decisions. These new programs call this privilege into question.”
The Appraisal Institute offered some suggestions to Congress and to the FHFA: “At a minimum, the Agency should request the estimates of the number of loan purchase and refinance transactions that would be subject to the new programs and make those estimates public for comment by affected stakeholders and other experts.
In addition to the Appraisal Institute, organizations signing onto the letter to Congress were: American Society of Appraisers; American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers; Appraisers’ Coalition of Washington; Arizona Association of Real Estate Appraisers; Association of Texas Appraisers; California Coalition of Appraisal Professionals; Coalition of Appraisers in Nevada; Coalition of Arizona Appraisers; Colorado Association of Real Estate Appraisers; Columbia Society of Real Estate Appraisers; Delaware Association of Appraisers; Foundation Appraisers Coalition of Texas; Illinois Coalition of Appraisal Professionals; Kentucky Association of Real Estate Appraisers; Louisiana Real Estate Appraiser Coalition; Maryland Association of Appraisers; Massachusetts Board of Real Estate Appraisers; Michigan Coalition of Appraisal Professionals; Mississippi Coalition of Appraisers; National Association of Appraisers; National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers; New York Coalition of Appraiser Professionals; North Carolina Real Estate Appraiser Association; Ohio Coalition of Appraisal Professionals; Oklahoma Professional Appraisers’ Coalition; Real Estate Appraisers Association of California; Real Estate Appraisers of Southern Arizona; Rhode Island Real Estate Appraiser Association; South Carolina Professional Appraisers Coalition; Tennessee Appraiser Coalition; United Appraisers of Utah; Utah Association of Appraisers; Virginia Coalition of Appraiser Professionals; and West Virginia Council of Appraiser Professionals.