Marshall & Swift (M&S), a MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates, Ltd. (MDA) business, and the leading worldwide provider of residential and commercial building cost data to the real estate appraisal market, announces new support for the appraisal process through its appraiser certification program.
As the appraisal industry experiences increased regulatory oversight and a demand for evidence that appraisers use best practices, M&S, (a co-founder of one of the professional appraisal organizations that in 1987 helped to establish the Appraisal Foundation) has joined the fight to demonstrate the quality of valuations performed by appraisers. M&S demonstrates this by giving appraisers proof of licensed access to its industry-standard replacement cost data for their property valuations.
The new M&S Licensed User Certificate is available to M&S licensed customers at https://certification.marshallswift.com, and is for attachment to any appraisal report. The certificate is written confirmation that the appraiser maintains current building cost information in accordance with appraisal best practices, and supports the residential appraisal form requirement that the appraiser list a source of current data when calculating a cost approach valuation. Marshall & Swift also provides an online registry of certificate holders should lenders wish to confirm appraisers’ access to current building cost information as part of their underwriting process.
M&S President Peter M. Wells notes, “Marshall & Swift cost data remains one of the most important and defendable sources of property valuations in the lending process required by the mortgage and appraisal industries today.” Wells states that he believes there will be a resurgence in the use of the cost approach in the lending process because the current debacle in the mortgage industry was fueled by uncertainty in valuations and the market approach alone was unable to find the low point for valuations.
“Restoring the cost approach to the underwriting process is inevitable,” says Wells, “since it is a measurable component to valuation that is not at the whim of emotion.”
Overlooked since 1996, the cost approach has always helped define objectively the total amount of money that can justifiably be lent against a property. It also serves as a baseline to compare market trends with the cost trends of real property.
The new M&S Licensed User program is also part of the industry-wide drive for more accountability. This drive was sparked by the March 2008 agreement by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) to establish guidelines for reducing mortgage fraud and make residential appraisals more reliable. On September 7, 2008 the entities were put into the new Federal Housing Finance Agency’s conservatorship. The FHFA was created under the "Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008" signed by President Bush in July, 2008.
M&S Vice President of Government and Institutional Markets, Arun Baheti, says, “With the Federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac much more attention will likely be focused on adherence to appraisal standards, so we encourage appraisers to come to the certificate Web site as soon as possible.”
About Marshall & Swift
Marshall & Swift, an MDA business, has been a leading supplier of residential and commercial cost data for the appraisal, assessor and property insurance industries for over 75 years. The organization is also a major provider of Web hosting, property inspection and related services for property insurers. For more information, please contact Marsha Berenson, Media Coordinator, at 800-285-1288, Ext. 2828, [email protected], or Marshall & Swift’s Web site at www.marshallswift.com.
About MDA
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates, LLC ( MDA) provides advanced information solutions that capture and process vast amounts of data, produce essential information, and improve the decision making and operational performance of business and government organizations worldwide.
Focused on markets and customers with strong repeat business potential, MDA delivers a broad spectrum of earth and space based information solutions, ranging from complex operational systems, to tailored information services, to electronic information products. More information about MDA is available at the company’s Web site: www.mda.ca.
MDA employs more than 3,300 people in locations across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The Company’s common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol TSX:MDA.
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