Q: WHAT DOES THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL,ANDREW CUOMO AND CIRCUS GUYS WITH FEZ HATS HAVE IN COMMON?(Part 1)

A: They are all involved in screwing up your appraisal.

Let me take a moment to introduce myself. I'm the root of all evil. This is according to my good friend, The Governor of the Great State of New York, Andrew Cuomo. You see, Andy..'cause that's what his good friends call him, Andy decided the best way to gain timely headlines just before getting himself elected to the governorship...I mean just in time to save every American from we evil mortgage companies, was to point a finger at how we went about our dastardly deeds.

Andy figured out that because I am so evil, I could unduly influence the appraiser I sent to your home during your loan process. The theory goes that I could cross the River Hades, and force my appraiser to come up with totally inflated values on your home, thereby causing the collapse of the real estate market. By the way, I was also responsible for that whole burning of Rome thing. Niro was actually just a crazy fiddler.

Anyway, Andy decided to save you from me by doing what any attorney worried about the good of mankind would do...He sued. Through this suit was born something called HVCC, or Home Valuation Code of Conduct. Part of this lil' ditty is how your appraisal is now conducted.

In those evil old days, I would call an appraiser that I've worked with for years (let's call him Mike), ask him to check the value of your home before going out, and then charging you around $300 for the appraisal. But NOW, I have to go on line(because my evilness forbids me from talking) and order your appraisal with an appraisal management company. These are companies that act as a liaison between the devilish mortgage broker and appraiser. Here's the best part. That appraisal that used to cost $300 now costs $450.Why? Well to protect you, of course. That protection involves the management company randomly picking an appraiser they probably have never met from a list they rarely review.And what of that $450? Well it's immediately charged to YOUR credit card. Here's the next best part. Instead of Mike The Appraiser getting $300 for his expertise, the management company gets between $200-$300 of that $450. The anonymous appraiser now gets around $150 for the same work. Imagine how shoddy THAT work can be! More on that in Part 2 of this post.

Ohhhhhh, and I almost forgot something!! My buddy, Andy Cuomo...Guess who now owns several of the largest appraisal management companies? The banks, of course..DUHHHH! Because who is more benevolent, sacred and caring than BofA, Chase and the rest of the banks.

What has become of Andy's concern for you has become a circus. Unfortunately, the guys in the fez hats have run us all over in their little cars.