HVCC stands for Home Valuation Code of Conduct . Effective in May of this year, the HVCC was established to change appraiser selection criteria that will help eliminate conflicts of interest on mortgage appraisals. Consequently, many lenders are required to source appraisals through an appraiser network. This is where it is important to use a lender who has more options than just contacting a call center in Minnesota and being assigned an appraiser who happens to be the first to respond and may not even live in the area.

According to the USPAP, Uniform Standard Professional Appraisal Practice, an appraiser should have competency in valuing property in the local market. Unfortunately, under the new HVCC regulation, this doesn’t always happen.

If you are in the market for a new home or are looking to refinance your current home, here are some very important questions to ask an appraiser:

  1. Do you have access to local MLS data?
  2. How far is your office from the subject property?
  3. Are you familiar with the area?
  4. When was the last time you were in the area of the subject property?
  5. How frequently are you in the area of the subject property?
  6. How long have you been appraising?
  7. What are your credentials?

And be sure that you know what the following “codes” mean when you ask that last question.

AT: Trainee

AL: Appraiser does not do FHA loans and only loans under $1 Million

AR: Certified Residential Appraiser who can appraise any value

AG: Commercial Appraiser who also can do residential appraisals

If you have any concern about the appraiser assigned to your loan, call the lender and immediately ask for someone qualified to evaluate the property. Any flag at all and you should get reassigned.

Let me know if you have had any bad experiences with the HVCC.

Judy LeMarr, 415 793-5030

Posted by:Judy LeMarr