America is a great country, founded on principles of democracy, open debate, public input and voting to determine our future.

Unfortunately, HVCC had no vote. Congress did not have the opportunity to even debate the issue. The New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sued Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They determined it was in their (shareholders) best interest to settle, avoiding the legal costs, investigations, subpoenas and court drama. In the settlement, they agreed to the Home Value Code of Conduct. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did allow for public comment and from that period, made revisions to the code.

What revisions did they make?

One of the more interesting revisions was the change to allow a Bank to own 100% of an Appraisal Management Company. You see somehow it was determine it would be ok if a bank owned 100% of the Appraisal Management Company, the same company that will pick which appraiser is used to appraise your home. Isn't that a conflict of interest?  Seems like it could be to us. Did we mention that the bank (we mean Appraisal Management Company) typically charges higher fees now for the appraisal and often pays the appraiser less than he or she charged per appraisal prior to HVCC?