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Increase the supply of housing in America › Section 704

Appraisal Modernization Act

Section 704 · Sec. 704 ·

What this chapter is about

This part is about how homes are valued. Four federal bodies must let a buyer ask for a value to be checked again. A report must weigh whether a public database of values could work. Two committees in Congress must then hold a hearing.

4 proposals indexed from this chapter.

Four agencies must require a way for a borrower to challenge a valuation

The document says “shall”Who acts: Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration, Director of the Federal Housing Finance AgencyHow: statuteSec. 704 in the PDF
What the document says

“shall each implement and maintain requirements that creditors of a federally backed mortgage loan have a review and resolution procedure for a consumer-initiated reconsideration of value or subsequent appraisal in connection with a consumer credit transaction secured by a consumer's principal dwelling.”

To increase the supply of housing in America, and for other purposes, Sec. 704

The section requires the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration, and the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency each to put in place and keep requirements that creditors of a federally backed mortgage loan have a procedure for reviewing and resolving a reconsideration of value or later appraisal that a consumer starts, on a loan secured by the consumer's principal dwelling.

What the document actually says

“shall each implement and maintain requirements that creditors of a federally backed mortgage loan have a review and resolution procedure for a consumer-initiated reconsideration of value or subsequent appraisal in connection with a consumer credit transaction secured by a consumer's principal dwelling.”

To increase the supply of housing in America, and for other purposes, Sec. 704
That sentence, in plain words

Four bodies must set rules for lenders. A lender must have a way to look at a value again when the buyer asks. That covers a loan on the home the person lives in.

What this is about

An appraisal sets what a home is worth for a loan. A low one can sink a sale. This gives the buyer a way to ask for a second look.

No action is recorded against this proposal. That is not evidence that none has been taken, and nobody has yet read it against the record. See what the tracker does not yet cover.

A report on a public appraisal database is due in 240 days

The document says “shall”Who acts: Comptroller General of the United StatesHow: statuteSec. 704 in the PDF
What the document says

“the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a public report assessing the feasibility of creating a publicly available appraisal database that consists of a searchable and downloadable appraisal-level public use file that consolidates”

To increase the supply of housing in America, and for other purposes, Sec. 704

The section requires the Comptroller General of the United States to report publicly to Congress within 240 days of enactment on whether a public appraisal database is feasible, drawing together appraisal data held by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The report must weigh costs and benefits, which agency should run it, safety and soundness, antitrust and privacy risks and how to reduce them, matching with data under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975, unfair business advantage, including automated valuation model data, giving the full dataset to federal and State bodies and approved researchers, what is already public, and incorporating data back to January 1, 2017.

What the document actually says

“the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a public report assessing the feasibility of creating a publicly available appraisal database that consists of a searchable and downloadable appraisal-level public use file that consolidates”

To increase the supply of housing in America, and for other purposes, Sec. 704
That sentence, in plain words

A report goes to Congress and to the public. It asks whether a public database of home valuations could work. It would pull together data from four federal bodies. People could search it and download it.

What this is about

The report is due within 240 days. It weighs the cost, the risks, and who should run it. The Comptroller General runs the audit arm of Congress.

No action is recorded against this proposal. That is not evidence that none has been taken, and nobody has yet read it against the record. See what the tracker does not yet cover.

The database would serve public oversight, and interviews must inform the report

The document says “shall”Who acts: Comptroller General of the United StatesHow: statuteSec. 704 in the PDF
What the document says

“The database described in paragraph (2) shall be used to provide the public, the Federal Government, and State governments with residential real estate appraisal data to help determine whether financial institutions, appraisal management companies, appraisers, valuation technologies, such as automated valuation models, and other valuation professionals are effectively serving the entire housing market.”

To increase the supply of housing in America, and for other purposes, Sec. 704

The section states that the database would give the public and federal and State governments residential appraisal data to help judge whether financial institutions, appraisal management companies, appraisers, valuation technologies, and other valuation professionals are serving the whole housing market. In preparing the report the Comptroller General must interview federal agencies, State licensing and enforcement bodies and attorneys general, appraisers and other valuation professionals, mortgage lenders, fair housing and fair lending experts, and any other relevant stakeholders.

What the document actually says

“The database described in paragraph (2) shall be used to provide the public, the Federal Government, and State governments with residential real estate appraisal data to help determine whether financial institutions, appraisal management companies, appraisers, valuation technologies, such as automated valuation models, and other valuation professionals are effectively serving the entire housing market.”

To increase the supply of housing in America, and for other purposes, Sec. 704
That sentence, in plain words

The database would give the public and states data on home values. That data would show whether the people who set values serve the whole market.

What this is about

Automated valuation models are computer tools that price a home. They sit alongside human appraisers. Both would show up in the data.

No action is recorded against this proposal. That is not evidence that none has been taken, and nobody has yet read it against the record. See what the tracker does not yet cover.

Two committees must hold a hearing on the report's findings

The document says “shall”Who acts: the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Financial Services of the House of RepresentativesHow: statuteSec. 704 in the PDF
What the document says

“Upon the completion of the report under paragraph (2), the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives shall each hold a hearing on the findings of the report and the feasibility of establishing a public appraisal-level appraisal database.”

To increase the supply of housing in America, and for other purposes, Sec. 704

The section requires the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the House Committee on Financial Services each to hold a hearing on the report's findings and on whether a public appraisal database should be set up.

What the document actually says

“Upon the completion of the report under paragraph (2), the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives shall each hold a hearing on the findings of the report and the feasibility of establishing a public appraisal-level appraisal database.”

To increase the supply of housing in America, and for other purposes, Sec. 704
That sentence, in plain words

Once the report is done, two committees must each hold a hearing. The hearing covers what the report found. It also covers whether the database should be built.

What this is about

A hearing is a public meeting of a committee. Without it a report can sit unread. This makes the next step a duty.

No action is recorded against this proposal. That is not evidence that none has been taken, and nobody has yet read it against the record. See what the tracker does not yet cover.

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What This Page Covers, and What It Leaves Out

The three things the section does: the requirement that creditors have a review and resolution procedure for a consumer-initiated reconsideration of value, the feasibility report on a public appraisal database with the interviews behind it and the purpose the database would serve, and the hearings that must follow.

The nine matters the feasibility report must assess are summarized rather than quoted item by item.

The definition of a federally backed mortgage loan comes from section 4022 of the CARES Act, and the report points to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 and the Freedom of Information Act. None of those is indexed here.