Newz: The Clipboard Has to Go, Systemic Failures in FHA Appraisal and Loan Review
May 22, 2026
What’s in This Newsletter (In Order, Scroll Down)
- LIA AD: Am I Still on the ‘Do Not Use’ List?
- Joe the Appraiser: Calling It Like It Is. The Clipboard Has to Go
- Florida Megamansion That Starred in ‘Scarface’ and Was Used as President Nixon’s Winter White House Hits the Market for $237 Million
- Systemic Failures in FHA Appraisal and Loan Review by Desiree Mehbod
- MY AD: List of my articles about UAD 3.6
- America’s Homes Are Older Than Ever—and Local Red Tape Could Make Them Harder To Fix
- Survey: While Some Brokers Push Private Listing Networks, Most Soon-to-Be Sellers Want their Homes Seen By Every Buyer
- MBA: Mortgage applications decreased 2.3 percent from one week earlier
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Joe the Appraiser: Calling It Like It Is.
The Clipboard Has to Go
By Joe Pravettone
Excerpts: I’m Joe. I’ve been doing this a long time. Long enough to remember when “cutting-edge technology” meant a pager, microfiche, and a Thomas Guide rattling around in the glove box. (If you know, you know.)
I’ve spent nearly 30 years in this profession — 15 years in the mortgage world doing processing, underwriting, and operations, and another 15 deep in appraisals, wearing just about every hat there is, from fee appraiser and AMC staff to QC.
Let’s start with the UAD.
If you’ve been in this business longer than five minutes, you’ve felt it. That low-grade tension humming in the background. The new Uniform Appraisal Dataset is here. The forms are changing, the workflow is changing, and a lot of appraisers are somewhere between uneasy and ready to stress-eat.
I get it. I really do.
But here’s the other reality: We’re also heading toward a volume surge. Rates are easing. Refinances are starting to creep back. And when you combine industry-wide change with rising volume, things can get messy.
So let’s be honest about something. The clipboard has to go. I know, I know, you’ve got a system. Your scratch paper has a system. Your clipboard definitely has a system. You’ve been doing it your way for years, and your way works. I’m not saying it doesn’t. But the road has curved, and it’s time to turn the wheel.
To read more, Click Here
My comments:
This article was written by a long time lender appraisal “insider”. Worth reading.
As the November 2, 2026 UAD 3.6 deadline approaches more lenders and appraisers are getting ready. But, many appraisers don’t like the changes. Those that get ready will have lots of work from AMCs, who are looking all over the country now for appraisers who will do UAD 3.6 appraisals for them. GSEs do about 50% of mortgage loans. Lenders who don’t sell their loans to GSEs will be using the forms software you have been using. I am working on an article on how to get business from them.
I remember the “old days” of microfiche, Thomas Brothers Maps. When I first started appraising 50 years ago, I remember filling up my car by peeling off the back of polaroid photos. I still have old Thomas Bros. maps in my car “just in case” my electronic maps don’t work or are inaccurate. I also have some very old microfiche files but don’t have anything to see them on.
I definitely prefer using an inspection app. I will be writing an article on which tablets are required. I will also have an article with paper checklist instructions that go through SFR, condo and 2-4 units UAD 3.6 appraisals.
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Florida Megamansion That Starred in ‘Scarface’ and Was Used as President Nixon’s Winter White House Hits the Market for $237 Million
Excerpts: 5 bedrooms, 7.5 baths, 11,528 sq.ft., 2.38 Acre lot, Built in 1981
A five-bedroom Florida megamansion that had an unforgettable role in the legendary movie “Scarface” and was later part of President Richard Nixon’s Winter White House has just hit the market in Key Biscayne for an eye-watering $237 million.
Regarded as “one of America’s most iconic waterfront estates,” the 2.38-acre property boasts 862 feet of Biscayne Bay frontage along with a private marina that once operated as a presidential helipad.
Offering sweeping views of the Miami skyline, the 11,528-square-foot residence features 24-foot ceilings, marble floors, and retractable glass walls to capture the spectacular surrounding views.
Other over-the-top amenities include a piano-shaped saltwater pool, a cabana bath, and dockage for yachts up to 200 feet. Resort-style grounds include a piano-shaped saltwater pool, cabana bath, lush tropical landscaping, and expansive lawn areas with artfully integrated lighting extending the estate’s experience well beyond sunset. A private marina, formerly a presidential helipad-features rare 3-phase power and dockage for yachts up to 200′, plus over 34,000 SF of submerged land
To read the listing with 82 photos, aerial views and videos, Click Here
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Systemic Failures in FHA Appraisal and Loan Review
by Desiree Mehbod
Published May 18, 2026 · Updated May 19, 2026
Excerpts: This case exposed the cracks in an FHA system where failures by the lender, the AMC, and the review process aligned in ways that no borrower could have anticipated. It shows how easily an appraisal error can escalate when every safeguard designed to prevent harm breaks down at the same time.
When the first article about this case ran on July 15, 2024, it already raised serious concerns about how an FHA appraisal could miss something as basic as the type of water and sewer service. What has emerged since then paints a much larger picture, one that shows how easily a lender, an AMC, and HUD’s own review process can reshape a clear eligibility violation into something that looks harmless on paper, even as the borrower is left dealing with the full fallout.
This case offers a rare look into how easily borrower protections can be neutralized when the classification of a defect determines the outcome. The system keeps moving, the reviews stay shallow, and the burden keeps falling on the borrower, exactly as it has for years. Until transparency becomes the rule rather than the exception, and until accountability is applied to the parties who control the process rather than the people who depend on it, nothing about this structure will change.
To read more, Click Here
My comments: Read the details of what the AMC, FHA, etc. did and what happened to the appraiser. HUD document included.
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List of my articles about UAD 3.6
4-25 New URAR for Appraisers. Fannie Q&As and other info
5-25 Train the Trainer and My review of intro class
6-25 What is new in the New URAR? I list each page of SFR and go over each data request.
7-25 From UAD 2.6 to 3.6 what appraisal software vendors are doing.Software vendor comparison – alamode (inspection app), SFREP – report, Bradford (Front end completes appraisal)
11-25 UAD 3.6 update – Software Vendor Update
3-26 UAD 3.6 – Yes, No or Maybe
4-26 Uad 3.6 Software Update – Timelines for finishing software
6-26 (NEW) What UAD 3.6 software do you want? Lots of ideas and what is happening today regarding UAD 3.6. Available June 1.
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America’s Homes Are Older Than Ever—and Local Red Tape Could Make Them Harder To Fix
Realtor.com
Excerpts:
While it’s well documented that regulatory friction is gumming up the new-construction pipeline, a new report offers a rare look at how local bureaucracy may also be affecting the homes already standing.
The analysis from the Common Sense Institute (CSI) reviewed 2.8 million building permit records across Arizona and found that obtaining a permit adds roughly 23 days to residential project completion timelines on average—a burden that can turn even routine work into a long and expensive process.
It’s a particularly troubling finding given the state of the nation’s housing stock. The median owner-occupied home is now 42 years old, up from 31 in 2005, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
As homes age, maintenance becomes more essential to keeping homes habitable and less about chasing trends. That shift is already visible—nearly 49 million U.S. households reported at least one needed repair in the latest American Housing Survey, and the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank estimates the current repair backlog for occupied homes at $198.4 billion.
While CSI’s analysis is limited to one state, it raises a question with national implications: As America’s housing stock gets older, are local permitting systems making it harder to maintain?
“When people think of remodeling, kitchen and bath might come to mind,” Wedeen tells Realtor.com®. “But a lot of these investments are homeowners investing in basic maintenance, replacing [critical] systems and equipment … and are all essential upgrades that are part of what keep a house in safe and livable conditions.”
And the older the home, the more that spending shifts from optional upgrades to necessary replacements. Arizona shows how permits can add time and money to necessary repairs
As more of America’s spending moves toward necessary repairs, the findings from Arizona suggest that regulatory burdens may be adding time and expense to that process.
Arizona shows how permits can add time and money to necessary repairs
“Permitting and regulatory approval processes play a sometimes outsized role in shaping the cost, timing, and feasibility of construction and infrastructure projects,” write the report’s authors, Glenn Farley, director of policy & research at CSI, and Thomas Young, senior economist at CSI.
“Indeed, academic and policy research suggests that complex or inefficient permitting requirements can substantially increase overall project costs,” they add.
To read more, Click Here
My comments: Good analysis of Arizona data with graphs. Worth reading. I have done many estate appraisals. I often see the deferred maintenance. Retirees lack the money to do the repairs. Also in most states, property taxes are rising because of higher values.
I was not aware of the problems with permitting and learned a lot from this article.
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Survey: While Some Brokers Push Private Listing Networks, Most Soon-to-Be Sellers Want their Homes Seen By Every Buyer
New Zillow poll finds sellers want pre-marketing to the broadest possible audience — at direct odds with a push by some brokers toward limited, private networks
- 85% of soon-to-be sellers are more likely to hire an agent who can pre-market their home to the broadest online audience
- 89% of Americans say real-time buyer demand signals would be valuable before selling their home
- 61% of soon-to-be sellers believe broad online marketing produces better outcomes than a limited private network
A new Zillow survey conducted by The Harris Poll — released as some brokerages and MLSs move to build out private listing networks — finds that the consumers those networks are supposedly designed to serve want something else entirely.
The pitch from private listing proponents is that keeping a home off the open market is simply “seller choice” — but when sellers are actually given that choice, they choose the opposite. Nearly two-thirds of soon-to-be sellers polled (61%) believe broad online exposure produces better outcomes than a limited private network.
This debate has been playing out in agent pitches and listing agreements across the country for years as a few of the largest names in real estate have doubled down on marketing saying that keeping a home out of the public eye is a competitive advantage for sellers. The survey data adds a crucial dimension to that story: sellers, when given a chance to make an informed choice, disagree with this strategy.
To read more, Click Here
My comments: I have seen “private” listings promoted by local real estate agents since I started appraising 50 years ago. As an appraiser I never liked having sales information not available.
Of course I think of the agents who want to represent both the buyer and the seller on a sale.
Some real estate sales companies today are putting all their listings as “private”. It seems to come and go, over time. These restrictions on home marketing are not good for sellers and buyers, in my opinion.
What is happening in your market?
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My comments: Rates are going up and down. We are all waiting for rates to drop lower in 2027.Mortgage applications decreased 2.3 percent from one week earlier
Mortgage applications decreased 2.3 percent from one week earlier
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 20, 2026) — Mortgage applications decreased 2.3 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 15, 2026.
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 2.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 0.1 percent from the previous week and was 35 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 4 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 5 percent compared with the previous week and was 8 percent higher than the same week one year ago.
“Ongoing concerns around inflation from higher fuel costs, combined with rising concerns over global public debt, pushed Treasury yields higher in the U.S. and abroad last week. This resulted in higher mortgage rates across the board, with the 30-year fixed rate increasing to 6.56 percent, its highest level in seven weeks,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “Overall applications were down to the lowest level in five weeks as purchase borrowers pulled back across conventional and government loan types. Refinance applications were essentially unchanged, with a decline in government refinances and an increase in conventional refinancing, likely as the increase in rates came late in the week.”
Added Kan, “Almost 10 percent of applications were for ARM loans, the highest share since October 2025, as borrowers sought loan types with lower rates, given that the ARM rate was 80 basis points below the 30-year fixed rate.”
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 41.9 percent of total applications from 40.8 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 9.6 percent of total applications.
The FHA share of total applications remained unchanged at 17.9 percent from the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 14.4 percent from 14.9 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications decreased to 0.4 percent from 0.5 percent the week prior.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($832,750 or less) increased to 6.56 percent from 6.46 percent, with points decreasing to 0.60 from 0.63 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $832,750) increased to 6.58 percent from 6.48 percent, with points decreasing to 0.38 from 0.55 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 6.24 percent from 6.16 percent, with points decreasing to 0.67 from 0.75 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.93 percent from 5.83 percent, with points increasing to 0.73 from 0.68 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 5.76 percent from 5.70 percent, with points decreasing to 0.85 from 0.86 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
The survey covers U.S. closed-end residential mortgage applications originated through retail and consumer direct channels. The survey has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks, thrifts, and credit unions. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.
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Ann O’Rourke, MAI, SRA, MBA
Appraiser and Publisher Appraisal Today
1826 Clement Ave. Suite 203 Alameda, CA 94501
Phone: 510-865-8041
Email: ann@appraisaltoday.com
Online: www.appraisaltoday.com
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