Several years ago, I was teaching the 7-hour USPAP class and we got on the topic of Scope of Work. A discussion evolved along the lines of what kinds of valuation services a residential appraiser might be able to provide for a client other than a traditional appraisal with an interior inspection. We made a list of different services that began with the appraiser supplying nothing more than raw assessor and MLS data, included “desktop” and “drive by” appraisals and concluded with a Scope of Work that included an interior inspection, full confirmation of sales data, listings, trend analysis, etc. As I recall, the list included about eight or ten items.

After we would list a new item, the class would discuss the service and then move on to a more inclusive item. At each stop along the way, some old guy in the back row would holler out “just give ‘em an appraisal.” It soon became apparent that the old dude just didn’t “get it” when it came to scope of work. Now, if this fellow was capable of getting enough business doing whatever he defined as “an appraisal,” more power to him. However, most appraisers who want to attract new clients and be successful in filling the needs of their existing clientele understand the importance of tailoring the scope of the assignment to the needs of the client.

Just as an appraiser must develop the appraisal in an assignment-specific manner, the appraiser should be reporting the assignment results in accordance with the needs of the client and other intended users. To this end, ACI has developed the family of GPAR forms.

In the previous edition of The Compliance Corner, I discussed the GPAR forms and said I’d be going into additional detail in future installments. So to assist you in using the GPAR forms, let’s look at the first two pages of the GPAR Single Family 2006 and compare it to the URAR 2005 form. I’ll explain the key differences and the reasons for them as we take a section-by-section look at the significant differences between the GPAR single family and the URAR

To facilitate cloning from one format to another and to keep the learning curve short, we retained much of the URAR in terms of data fields and layout. However, to reduce appraiser’s liability and eliminate unnecessary data gathering, we eliminated a number of items. Click here to view the comparison.

In the next installment of Compliance Corner, we’ll look at pages 3 and 4 of the GPAR and pay special attention to how GPAR’s limiting conditions were designed to protect the appraiser from unwanted liability.

What's a Director of Compliance?

If my mother were alive, she’d probably ask me what a Director of Compliance does for a living. I’m not sure how I’d respond. I suppose I’d say that I help ACI’s clients comply with the things with which they need to comply. Then she’d want to know what those things might be, and I’d answer USPAP, secondary market guidelines and specific client requirements. Then I’d get a funny look from her and the conversation would turn to another topic.

In short, what I do is help ACI view things from the appraiser’s perspective. But “Director of Compliance” sounds better than “Perspective Maintainer” and certainly looks better on a business card.

Joking aside, maintaining the appraiser’s perspective is essential to our company and to our clients. Having an appraiser on staff ensures that our products and services are truly appraiser-focused. So in this and future articles, we’ll look at what ACI has done and is doing to offer our clients the best.

One of my first projects when I returned to ACI (I was here from 1980 to 1991) was the GPAR™ (General Purpose Appraisal Report) family of forms. When Fannie and Freddie revised their appraisal forms in 2005, it was immediately apparent that using the new forms for non-lending work was awkward at best and USPAP non-compliant at worst. The form specifies the intended use as a mortgage finance transaction and the intended user as the lender client. This means that the (unmodified) URAR is not suitable for appraisals where the intended use involves divorce, estate, pre-listing, pre-purchase or any use other than lending. Yes, you can make countermanding statements or insert alternate pages 4-6, but the resulting report may look unprofessional and the end result is still presented on a form that:

• was designed for lending purposes
• carries a high level of attendant liability
• forces the appraiser to gather and report unneeded information

The GPAR forms were designed by ACI in response to our clients’ requests. Many clients wanted a general-purpose appraisal form that “looked and felt” much like the new URAR form and had a high level of data file compatibility to facilitate cloning between the general-purpose form and the URAR. 

Presently, the GPAR family of forms includes:

• GPAR-Single Family (2006)
• GPAR-Condo (2006)
• GPAR 2-4 (2007)
• GPAR-Land (2006)
• GPAR Flex (2007) RU SFR
• GPAR Flex (2007) RU SFR Grid
• GPAR Flex (2007) RU SFR Sm Grid

As the titles above indicate, we have general-purpose forms for single family, condo 2-4 family and vacant land. The last three, the flex forms, are designed to be used when the appraiser chooses to exercise the Restricted Use reporting option under USPAP. This seldom used reporting option can be a very useful tool that we’ll cover in a future installment of The Compliance Corner.

In the next installment, we’ll discuss the various GPAR forms, what they were designed to do and how you might want to utilize them.