Pittsburgh Real Estate Appraisers meet with Congressman Tim Murphy (PA-18)

On July 3, 2014, a group of appraisers from the chapter meet with Congressman Tim Murphy (PA-18) at Pub & Pizza. The discussion centered on legislation that may have a negative impact on the appraisal profession, including recent actions taken by the Small Business Administration (SBA) regarding Standard Operating Procedure 50-10F relating to appraisals of special purpose properties ("Collateral," Part II (C) (5)).

Members of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Chapter of the Appraisal Institute also talked to Congressman Murphy about two major bills that were introduced to address housing finance reform:

• Senate Bill 1217, the Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act, known as "Johnson-Crapo," and 
• House Bill 2767, the Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act or "PATH Act." 

Johnson-Crapo authorizes Federal Mortgage Insurance Corporate (FMIC), the proposed entity which would replace the GSEs, to establish, operate and maintain a database for the collection, public use and dissemination of mortgage loan information. This provision would allow the FMIC to build upon the Uniform Appraisal dataset initiative established by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and allow information contained in all appraisals for loans sold to the FMIC to be made available to consumers, financial institutions, appraisers, appraisal management companies and automated valuation companies, among others.

The PATH Act contains a similar and less specific database. 

The Appraisal Institute is concerned about how this information might be used by those interacting with appraisals, or those with a vested interest in the transaction. 

Congressman Murphy addressed the group's concerns and asked that they keep him apprised of other legislation that would impact the appraisal profession. He also encouraged the group to send emails to their legislators that specifically state how they would like to see the legislation written, noting that that's often how legislation is drafted. 

We invite you to contact your Senators and Representatives about protecting the integrity of the appraisal by not allowing appraisal information in the repository to be made publicly available. Find your legislator: 

Senate
Congress

Learn more about the issues on the Appraisal Institute's website.