Ah, the mortgage business.
If you were to meet me for lunch or dinner, sit down with me and chat about the mortgage business and how things are today, at some point in the conversation the topic of “HVCC” (Home Valuation Code of Conduct) would surely come up.
When discussing the topic of HVCC, these are just a few of the possible reactions that you might get from anyone who works as a Realtor or Loan officer and is dealing with HVCC:
- Gagging
- Choking
- Waving arms wildly
- Going into a tirade
Ok, sure — there may be some who are happy about this, but I just haven’t met anyone who actually has something positive to say about it.
In short, the HVCC takes away the ability of the loan officer to order an appraisal for your loan. Currently if you have an FHA loan, the loan officer can still order the appraisal, but I think it isn’t too far fetched to think that someday that may not be possible any longer and all appraisals will be ordered through an Appraisal Management Company. In this case a mortgage bond may just be your best bet.
Appraisal Management Companies are not “bad” per se – but I can assure you that customer service is not really their cup of tea. AMC? Think DMV. As in Department of Motor Vehicles.
Here is a must-see video for anyone in the Real Estate field who is still a little fuzzy on how the HVCC will impact them:
If you were to ask me about my my personal opinion on the HVCC over our lunch break while we were eating lunch? I would ask you this question:
Have you ever arrived at the scene of an auto accident before the ambulance/fire trucks arrived? Remember that feeling you had in your stomach?
Now you know how I feel when you ask me questions about HVCC.
UPDATE: My friend Mark Madsen does a great job of explaining it as well — see what he has to say about the HVCC and what impact it may have.