Meeting Summary


MEETING SUMMARY
NEW YORK STATE BOARD OF REAL ESTATE APPRAISAL
Wednesday, July 11, 2012

The meeting was held at the Department of State, 99 Washington Avenue, 5th Floor Conference Room, Albany, and included video-conferencing with 123 William Street, 2nd Floor Conference Room, NYC.

I. INTRODUCTIONS, ROLL CALL AND QUORUM ANNOUNCEMENT

S. Roefaro, Chair, called the meeting to order at 10:35 a.m.

The official attendance was as follows:

BOARD MEMBERS
Stephen Roefaro, Chair
Carol DiSanto
Peter Goold
Michael Schlesinger
Matthew Smith

Excused:
Anthony Girasole

DEPARTMENT STAFF
Marcos Vigil, Deputy Secretary of State
Kathleen McCoy
Whitney Clark
Michael Elmendorf
Keith Simon
Aqil Qureshi
Mary Jo Moore
Marc Mastrobuono
Ernest Delaney
Vicky Cline
Carol Fansler

VISITORS
Rebecca Jones, UPstate Training
David Wimpelberg, Appraiser
William Nuesslein, regional advisor
Neal Peysner, regional advisor
Jennifer DeFlorio, regional advisor

II. APPROVAL OF MEETING SUMMARY

Chair S. Roefaro asked for a motion to approve the September 23, 2011 meeting summary.

M. Schlesinger made a motion to approve the summary of the September 23, 2011 board meeting. The motion was seconded by C. DiSanto and passed unanimously.

III. SUBCOMMITTEE AND DEPARTMENT REPORTS

V. Cline shared enforcement statistics. She stated that currently there are 90 open cases, 29 are with counsel for review and evaluation. So far this year, 73 new cases have been received compared to 39 last year at this time. Of the 73 new cases, 26 were received from the public (21 last year), 19 were received from banks and other institutions (8 last year), and 19 from Appraisal Management Companies (AMC’s) (1 last year). This shows a substantial increase in complaints received from banks and AMC’s pursuant to the mandatory reporting procedures of the Dodd-Frank Act. So far this year, 21 cases have been closed; 7 were closed for no violation; 10 were closed for either no jurisdiction or administrative hold (complaints from a bank or lending institution where the appraiser’s license had expired). 4 new cases are with counsel’s office for further review and evaluation. The remaining cases are still under investigation.

M. Schlesinger asked how an appraiser can file a counter-complaint if a complaint is filed against them by a bank or AMC. V. Cline replied that a complaint filed by a bank or lending institution would be handled by the Banking Department, and that currently there are no regulations for AMC’s.

V. Cline will forward contact information for the banking department to M. Schlesinger and M. Smith.

E. Delaney spoke about complaint trends, and shared that the department attended a meeting of local, state and federal regulatory and law enforcement agencies discussing mortgage fraud. He shared that statistics show there are an increasing number of suspicious activity reports (sars) and the appraisal report was mentioned as a cause of fraud. One trend talked about was flopping, in which a home is appraised at a lower value, the home is purchased and resold at market value, sometimes higher. S. Roefaro asked if the fact that a 36-month sale history of a home must be included as part of the appraisal, can be used as a mechanism to monitor flopping. E. Delaney said that the appraisal is looked at as part of investigating a complaint. Discussion turned to how to make appraisers aware of this type of information, and M. Schlesinger asked if the web site could have a blog sanctioned by the board members.

K. McCoy will look into adding a blog to the department web site as a way to share information with real estate appraisers.

IV. ACTION ITEMS

W. Clark stated that the department has seen an increase in complaints from students trying to find qualifying education courses. She said that the department is looking into changing regulations to allow on-line qualifying courses, and asked for members’ opinion. After some discussion, members are in favor of on-line qualifying.

W. Clark will draft regulations to allow on-line qualifying courses.

W. Clark shared that the Appraisal Qualifications Board (AQB) will be increasing their standards for appraiser supervisors and trainees; therefore, the regulations and statute will need to be updated to be in compliance with federal standards. New federal standards will state that only certified appraisers (certified for three or more years) will be allowed to supervise; our current statute and regulations allow licensed appraisers to supervise. Also, supervisors cannot have had any disciplinary action for a period of three years. M. Schlesinger asked if the department knows how many appraisers are currently being supervised. W. Clark stated that currently there is no mechanism in place to track this information. However, one of the changes to the regulations would require supervisors to register with the department, as a way to track and monitor them.

M. Smith made a motion that the department proceed with changes to statute and regulations regarding federal supervision and trainee standards. The motion was seconded by M. Schlesinger and passed unanimously.

V. NEW BUSINESS

M. Elmendorf shared a list of current regional advisors and qualifications for such with board members, and stated that the department is always looking for additional regional advisors. They are helpful in reviewing appraisal reports for compliance with USPAP. V. Cline talked about pay for regional advisors, and stated she conducted a survey that revealed NYS pay ($100 per day) is much lower than other states ($250-$400 per case). M. Elmendorf informed members the department is pursuing increasing pay for regional advisors. Members agreed that regional advisors pay should be increased.

W. Clark stated that the federal registry fee has been increased from $25 to $40. Current statute does not allow collection of more than $25, so the department is pursuing changing the statute to allow the $40 charge. The Appraisal Subcommittee granted an extension of the effective date to April 1, 2012. A letter was sent to the Appraisal Subcommittee about the expiration of the extension, and the department is awaiting their response.

S. Roefaro stated that a subcommittee is being formed to discuss appraisal management company legislation as well as mandatory licensing and asked for volunteers. Members are W. Clark, S. Roefaro, M. Schlesinger, C. DiSanto, R. Jones (non-member).

W. Clark shared that there are currently two Governor-appointed vacancies on the board, and asked members to forward to K. McCoy resumes of any interested individuals.

VI. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD

David Wimpelberg first spoke about a licensed appraiser who is supervising trainees who are attempting to get a certified residential license. W. Clark explained that once the changes to the federal standards are in place in NYS that will no longer be allowed. He then spoke about difficulties in obtaining the required number of hours for residential property with five or more units, as in his area there are very few of these properties. W. Clark explained that would require a regulatory change. Members agreed to discuss this issue at the next meeting. He next spoke about the number of experience hours required per assignment, and stated that in many cases the number of hours spent on an appraisal is severely undercounted (i.e. an appraisal that takes 40 hours is only credited for 6 hours). Members agreed to discuss this issue at the next board meeting.

VII. ADJOURNMENT

Board members will be contacted regarding the next meeting date. The meeting was adjourned at 11:45am.

 


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