I recently came across this article “Appraisers left high and dry as AMCs shut down” and felt compelled to blog about this because it is a very important subject that concerns all AMC, appraisers and lenders.
When I started my AMC branch there were a few other AMC’s that started up around the same time, and it seemed that they were growing faster than me. This made me feel that I might be doing something wrong and concerned that my business might never expand.
Two years later those same AMC’s began to close their doors and I realized that I was on the right track. Those branches were using their money to expand their operation instead of paying their appraisers on time and therefore losing quality of service. When reports needed revisions made, their appraisers were reluctant to do them because they hadn’t been paid for the original report. Thus the lenders they were servicing were not able to secure the requested revisions and were unable fund loans. Even if the AMC goes bankrupt before it pays the appraisers, it’s still the lender’s responsibility to pay those appraisers.
Every lender should know how an AMC operates before they decide to do business with them. My advice would be to contact the appraisers and ask if they are getting paid on time and request feedback about their experiences with an AMC before they move all their orders with that particular AMC.
For this reason, I pay my appraisers every 10 days. I know this is not typical of other AMCs, however by doing this, I’m able to provide my lenders the great service that they deserve. My appraisers always tell me that as soon as they see an order or request from me, they drop everything they are working on and they jump on my orders because they know that once they complete the order, their check will be in the mail.
This is just one of the ways I am striving to reach my goal of “being the best, not the biggest.”
Please contact us to find out more about our customer service policies.
Comments