2010 General Membership Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the CAREA General Membership Meeting of January 20, 2010

Location:

Academy Hotel, ColoradoSprings

Minutes taken by: Don Rasmussen

In Attendance: approximately 78 Members, 1 new member, and 2 Guests

The meeting was called to order by President Jo Stinett at approximately 6:00pm.

New Board. The new Board will consist of the following:

-          President: Jo Stinett

-          Vice-President: Gary Thompson

-          Secretary: Open (interim: Gary Thompson)

-          Treasurer: Gerry Roybal

-          Membership Director: Dan Hanratty

-          Co-Secretary: Open

-          Communications Director: Don Rasmussen

Jan Ostby’s was presented flowers as a small token for her many of years of service of valuable and diligent service as Co-Secretary.

New Website. Don Rasmussen discussed and gave a demo of the new website. It has been operational for about one month. In the future, CAREA business will be coordinated through this website, accessible at

http://www.membermanager.net/carea

--- to include management of communications and emails, meeting reservations, individual member data, and many financial functions.

Presentation: Main program began at 6:30pm with Mark Linne, MAI, SRA, who presented a program on Transparent Valuation: Integrating Data and Analytics

-          The presentation discussed what open standards mean to appraisers and their clients. The move to open standards is nothing new in real estate or in other areas. Large efficiency and effectiveness increases have been the typical result.

-          Several major data standards and initiatives were discussed: notably MISMO (Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization); OSCR (Open Standards Consortium for Real Estate) and OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) were touched on.

-          Mr. Linne made a strong case for the importance and inevitability of standards to allow the effective sharing and use of real estate data. There are many existing proprietary standards, but they likely will be replaced/integrated into more universal standard(s).

-          This presents opportunities as well as challenges for our industry. Mr. Linne sees a perhaps 2-3 year window of opportunity for residential appraisers to maintain their importance as something other than inspectors. They must acquire new skills, such as statistical competencies, and have answers for legitimate needs of our clients that we are not currently filling, such as a rapid, low cost opinion of value for purposes other than loan originations.

-          Paired sales analysis originated as a teaching device, and was never intended to be the operational method for the primary determination of adjustments. Statistical techniques, including regression analysis, will ultimately supplant.

o   Courts are already rejecting matched pair analyses in expert testimony

-          Fannie and Freddie, who currently do not get much specific data about properties in their portfolios, will likely be receiving detailed data on specific properties and analyzing same. They will also likely use these analyses to rate appraisers.

-          Central issue: achieving a better balance between analytics (think AVM) and people (think appraisers). The ongoing success of the residential appraisal field will depend on how well we can achieve that balance.

o   The Farm Credit Services of America provides a real-world example of how this blending can occur.

The meeting was concluded at 8:30pm. Mr. Linne kindly consented to remain, along with the majority of our membership, to field a number of questions after the formal meeting. Mark has also graciously consented to email contact at:
Mark@AppraisalWorld.com

Please contact Don Rasmussen (Communications@CAREA.net) with any corrections, additions, or comments.

Submitted January 24, 2010

 

 

Author: Pamela Herre

2010 March 21

Topic: Minutes, 3-17-2010 General Membership Meeting                                               


In attendance:  52 CAREA members

Festivities began at 12:00 noon with Irish Dancing performed by Keltic Steps in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.

General information presented by Jo Stinett including an update on the AMC regulation legislation.  It has been pulled this year as the sponsor felt a lack of support from the committee.  We hope to get more involved and become more vocal next year.

1) Introduction of Susan Scholl, Appraiser Program Manager from The Department of Regulatory Agencies. She is the head of the department that deals with enforcement and implementation of new rules as well as credential reviews and continuing education approval.  Susan is not a licensed appraiser.   Susan’s experience prior to DORA includes previous employment as a Civil Lawyer and also experience in the medical world in the Neuro-psych exams area.  She has been with DORA for less than one year.

2) Susan has limited information, but did advise that Erin Toll, Director of the Division of Real Estate is currently on leave.  Acting in her absence is Marcia Waters.


3) There are currently four investigators under Susan’s supervision.  The department is understaffed and is looking to add one new investigator and is also exploring the options of bringing in interns and asking for volunteers.

4) Susan’s department is receiving approximately 15 complaints per month on average.  It is the goal of the department to handle all complaints within a six-month period.  Due to staffing issues, they are currently not meeting those goals.  At this time they are closer to a twelve-month completion time with a total of ten investigations currently over 12 months old.  The recent field audit did not go well and they are looking to improve with the addition of one investigator

5) As of 3-01-2010, there are currently 3,500 appraisers licensed in the State of Colorado, and there have been a total of 208 complaints filed in 2009.  They are broken down as follows:

License Type

Number currently licensed

2009 complaints filed

Registered Appraiser

535

10

Licensed Appraiser

523

36

Certified Residential

1,367

128

Certified General

1,088

33

Of the 208 complaints filed, the outcomes have been:

9

Dismissed at intake

25

Investigative dismissal

17

Dismissed after relinquishment of license

3

Dismissed after education requirement

30

Stipulation for diversion (Disciplinary icon on DORA's website)

60

Stipulation and Final Agency Order (Disciplinary icon on DORA's website)

9

Referred to the Attorney General

Common complaints include:

Failure to disclose and analyze.

Inappropriate comparable selection.

Arriving at the exact contract value when the value is not supported by sales.

Inadequate zoning description.

Inadequate summation  of value.

Inadequate market analysis.

Inadequate record keeping, i.e. no support for adjustment amounts kept in work file.

When a complaint is filed with DORA, the process is as follows:

•·         Written complaint is received, this can be from a member of the public, from another appraiser or from a board member.

•·         A letter is sent to the appraiser stating that a complaint has been filed.

•·         The appraiser must respond with a written response in the time frame given in the letter.

•·         A letter is sent to the complainant confirming that the complaint has been received and it is under investigation.  There are rules limiting the amount of information the complainant is entitled to.  Generally, they are not given much information.

•·         Investigators gather evidence and conduct interviews.

•·         Investigators prepare a written report and a peer review is done.

•·         If dismissed, a letter of dismissal is mailed to the appraiser.

•·         If not dismissed, a letter is sent to the appraiser with stipulations advised.

•·         Complaint moves from the Appraiser Program Manager to the Settlement and Compliance Department.

•·         Appraiser does not have to settle, they can request a hearing if they feel they have been misunderstood or they are being treated unfairly.

Susan Sholl closed by offering her office phone and email address.  She encourages appraisers to call with issues and to be patient as her department changes.  They are doing their best and are working not in the interest of punishing appraisers, but in the interest of Consumer Protection. 

Susan Scholl

Appraiser Program Manager

Ph: 303-894-2545

email: Susan.Scholl@dora.state.co.us

                                                     

Meeting concluded at 3:00pm.

(Submitted 22 MAR 2010 by Pam, Secretary. Please contact her for any additions/corrections/questions).

Author: Pamela Herre

2010 May 31

Topic: Minutes, 5-19-2010 General Membership Meeting


In attendance:  61 CAREA members

Location: Academy Hotel, Colorado Springs

Festivities began at 5:30 with dinner and socializing.

General information presented by Jo Stinett including an update on the Colorado Coalition of Appraisers.  The Coalition is moving forward in hiring a lobbyist to represent appraisers in Colorado.  The lobbyist would be responsible for keeping the coalition abreast of any legislative issues that would impact appraisers and acting on legislative issues that impact Colorado appraisers. 

The cost of hiring the lobbyist is to be covered by the various appraisal groups that are represented in the CCA (Colorado Coalition of Appraisers).  In order to cover the cost CAREA is considering increasing membership dues and using the additional monies to fund the CCA lobbyist fund.  There was much support from CAREA members for both the membership dues increase and the hiring of a lobbyist.

•1)     Presentation of Geological Hazards in Southern Colorado.  Introduction of TC Wait from the Colorado Geological Society.  TC is an Engineering Geologist.  Most counties in Colorado do not have their own engineers and come to the Colorado Geological Society for the necessary surveys.  Additionally, any new subdivision less than 35 acres must get a survey through the Colorado Geological Society.  

•2)     A Geological hazard is a naturally occurring adverse event that poses a significant hazard to public health and safety.

•3)     Landslides:  Are common in Colorado due to the topography as well as the abundance of clay and shale.  The subsurface moving or breaking and becoming unstable can cause a landslide.  Clay and shale under the soil are weak and allow for cracks and tears.  Landslides do not necessarily need a steep slope, just a slight slope and ground instability.  Mitigation for landslides is very expensive.

4)     Rockslides: Rockslides occur when rocks bounce or roll near cliffs and steep slopes. The source area is where the slide originates and is generally at the top of a steep rocky surface.  The run out zone is where the rocks end up after the slide. Steep mountain fronts, steeply dipping bedrocks and resistant bedrock layers are common places for rockslides to occur.  Rockslides can impact homes in the run out zone, and also homes in the source area as the land could slide out from under a home causing foundation and stability issues.  Some stabilization techniques are expensive and include cables and buttresses.  Protection techniques include fences, impact barriers and wire mesh.

5)     Mudslides: Mudslides move very quickly, up to 35 miles per hour and carry with them whatever is in their path, trees, cars, rocks, etc.  A mudslide is usually caused by a storm on the higher ground above the slide area.  These slides are very unpredictable and one of the most dangerous natural hazards as they move at such great speed and carry with them an abundance of large debris.  Mitigation is very difficult; as one cannot predict the flow a mudslide will take. Debris containment structures are one option but the best option is strict avoidance.

•6)     Heaving or dipping bedrock: Different layers of bedrock respond differently to water and shouldn’t be built upon.  Expansive soils, or soils that expand with the presence of water create heaving conditions.  This sort of bedrock is common in Colorado and is best handled in pre-development mitigation.  This includes drilled pier foundation and floating slab floors.  Also an option is over-excavation.  This is a method of removing all bedrock and replacing it with a more stable soil and building on the replacement soil.  Moisture control is very important as well.

•7)     Collapsible Soils:  These soils compact with water and are known as hydrocombative soils.  Sandy windblown areas are likely to see collapsible soils and these types of conditions are plentiful in southern Colorado.  Avoiding these areas is considered to be the best option, however ground excavation and structural reinforcement are also possible options.  It is particularly important for collapsible soils that proper grading and rain gutters are utilized.

•8)     Mine Related Hazards:  Mining is and was abundant in El Paso County.  There are currently 164 coalmines in El Paso County.  Collapsed mineshafts and mine workings pose the biggest problems.  The deeper the mine is the less likely to impact the surface a collapse is.  Mines range in depth from just below the surface to 300 feet beneath the surface.  Mine subsidence is the movement of the earths surface caused by the collapse of underground mine voids or entries.  Colorado has a coalmine subsidence protection program for homes built before 1989. Mitigation includes pumping concrete into the voids or entries. 

•9)     Radon:  Radon is a colorless, odorless gas and is a result of the natural decay of radioactive minerals in rock.  Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer.  The national average for radon is .4 Pico curries/liter and here in Colorado the average is 4 Pico curries/liter.  Mitigation includes subfloor venting and radon testing.

•10)  Earthquakes: Earthquakes are the movement along a fault.  There have been 500-recorded earthquakes in Colorado in since 1867.  There are 92 faults in southern Colorado.

Meeting Concluded at 8:30 PM

(Submitted 31 MAY 2010 by Pam, Secretary. Please contact her for any additions/corrections/questions).

Author: Pamela Herre

2010 Aug 16

Topic: Minutes, 9-15-2010 General Membership Meeting


In attendance:  77 CAREA members

Location: Academy Hotel, Colorado Springs

Festivities began at 5:30 with dinner and socializing.

General information presented by Jo Stinett including an update on the Colorado Coalition of Appraisers.  The by-laws have been approved.  CAREA will be represented by two board members and two alternate board members. 

Michael J. Kazmierski

•Ø  Michael Kazmeirski is the President/CEO for the Colorado Springs Regional Exconomic Development Croporation.

•Ø  Presentation included information regarding “primary” business in Colorado Springs.  Those considered to be ‘primary” are those business that bring money into Colorado from outside the state. 

•Ø  Primary business are considered to be crucial to the Colorado Economy.   

•Ø  It is the respinsiblity of the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corporation to find business and promote Colorado Springs. 

•Ø   

•Ø  Meeting Concluded at 8:30 PM

 

both by Jo Stinett and Gerry Roybal

Submitted 31 MAY 2010 by Pam, Secretary. Please contact her for any additions/corrections/questions).

Thank you, Colin for helping to present tonight!

 

 

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