Appraisers and Mold – Responsibility, Competency and Liability By Doug Smith, IFAS The mold issue is a developing story and one that is gaining momentum everyday. When it comes to mold, there are three important areas appraisers need to consider. First, due to the dangerous nature of some molds, appraisers must take their responsibilities seriously...…
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FHA Liability: A Case Study Editor’s Note: When the FHA increased responsibilities for appraisers a few years ago – making their duties more like a home inspector’s, many predicted increased liability exposure for appraisers and a flood of lawsuits. This is one appraiser’s story. As it takes a few years for problems to surface and...…
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How to Reach Your Potential (Using Acrobat) By Pat Butler Adobe Acrobat is a very powerful program, yet most appraisers and inspectors use only a fraction of its capabilities. This story introduces you to several features that I find useful in my appraisal business. Some are advanced and some require additional software. You’ll find the...…
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Consent Orders: Signing Away Your Rights? By Diana Jacob, MSA These days, appraisers facing a disciplinary complaint from their state board are often presented with several options to clear the case. Be careful how you choose – the consequences can be long term and unpleasant. Once a complaint is filed, state appraisal boards typically review...…
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Title XI FIRREA: Finding the Framer’s Intent Buying a Lake in Arizona According to Doug Barnard, Title XI and appraiser licensing were a direct result of the savings and loan bailout in the early 1980s that cost taxpayers over $3 billion. The Subcommittee of Government Operations, Commerce, Consumer and Monetary Affairs held hearings all across...…
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Save Time and Money with Better Communication By Jeff Bradford Technology is driven by our never-ending desire for products and services that are better, faster and cheaper. In the appraisal industry, this means faster turn around times and lower costs and maintaining or increasing our quality of work. The answer usually can be found in...…
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Phone Etiquette: Are You Irritating Your Clients? By Mark Fitzgerald Does this sound familiar? It happened to me at least four times this week: people who are very well intentioned managed to irritate the heck out of me. I know they didn’t mean to…but they did. There are occasions when you will leave your phone…
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The walnut paneled courtroom is nearly empty. The case being heard this morning does not warrant the interest of local court observers. This is a condemnation case about a utility easement running across the land of a property owner (plaintiff). Leaning back in their leather chairs sits a panel of three judges, grim faced, disinterested,…
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How to Light Interior Digital Photos Steve Jarrell The biggest problem in indoor photography is lighting. The built-in flash of the digital cameras simply isn’t powerful enough to provide adequate light to brighten an entire room. Most 35mm cameras overcome this limitation by having a hot shoe where you can attach a much more powerful...…
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It may be hard to imagine today but sometime in the future you may find yourself with not enough work to keep you busy, especially when interest rates begin to climb. Even if you’ve reached a certain point in your practice and find that existing clients and word of mouth keep you relatively busy regardless…
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