Senate Told Of Appraiser Coercion To Inflate Valuations

CNNMoney reports:

• "In prepared testimony Tuesday before a Senate subcommittee on mortgage industry abuses, Alan Hummel, spokesman for the Appraisal Institute said 'Appraisers face pressure from various parties involved in mortgage transactions. They are told to doctor their appraisals or else never see work from those parties again'. Hummel blamed poor regulation of mortgage brokers and lenders, and weak or nonexistent enforcement of real estate practitioners."

The inflating of real estate appraisals is referred to as "hitting the number", and how often an appraiser can "hit the number" may determine how much work comes his/her way from unscrupulous mortgage brokers and loan officers. For more, see Appraisers push for real estate fraud rules (Testimony before Senate subcommittee reveals pressure placed on appraisers to inflate valuations).