Category: Announcements

Lee Kennedy Speaks at Appraisal Institute Symposium

On Monday, June 26, 2017 the Appraisal Institute’s Northern California Chapter hosted an educational seminar in Oakland, CA, with Lee Kennedy as an invited expert. The panel was moderated by Paul E. Chandler, MAI, and Lee’s co-panelists were Michael Simmons of AXIS Appraisal Management and Todd Krell of CrossCheck Compliance. The topic of this educational session was Third Party Vendors, Tools and Compliance: The Role of AMCs and AVMs in the Appraisal Process.  The panel was part of the Commercial and Residential Symposium entitled The Role of Valuation Experts in the Current Regulatory Environment and provided both state (7hrs) and Appraisal Institute Continuing Education.

Synopsis:

Appraiser and Appraisal Management is at the heart of quality loan production. How does a lender know it is using competent appraisers providing quality reports? Policies for the empanelment of appraisers, procurement of vendors and review and quality control of assignments must be documented, managed and audited. An expanding selection of data and technology options are available to lenders to manage all aspects of collateral due diligence. Tools include fully integrated loan origination systems, appraisal management platforms and robust data and review tools. This session will review how to find, screen and manage different third party providers, including AMCS, AVM sellers and QA compliance firms.

  • AVM Cascades and Their Applicable Uses
  • Commercially Available AVMs
  • Big Data Solutions
  • AMC Onboarding Check List
  • Third Party Oversight
  • AMC Auditing
  • Quality Assurance Testing
  • Performance Monitoring

Allison MacDonald Recognized by CSUCI as 2017 Distinguished Alumna

We were proud to read the following in CSUCI’s newsletter:

Many CSUCI alumni have found tremendous success over the years. But recognition comes for those who take that success and use it to help others. This year one very compassionate and talented alumna demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the cause. Please help me congratulate your 2017 Distinguished Alumni Awardee, Allison MacDonald ’07. Allison was an active student while here at CI and took advantage of all we had to offer. After graduation, her drive and hard work led her to career success. Almost immediately and unsolicited she came to us asking to give back. Her dedication to CI and its students in time, talent and treasure were unmatched. Her true dolphin spirit embodies the CI Way. Congratulations Allison!

Sincerely,

Tania R. Garcia

Director of Development, Alumni Relations

Read more about Allison here.

AVMetrics is proud to have Allison as a key member of the team.  Many congratulations, Allison, for all you do for giving back to the CSUCI community and for all you do here at AVMetrics.

AVMNews coming to AVMetrics

For the last 15 years, we have all been indebted to Perry Minas for running AVMNews.  He’s curated the AVM industry’s best articles and shared them via his email newsletter to hundreds of industry insiders.  This month Perry is retiring, and November 2016 will be his last issue of AVMNews – at least his last as a solo performer.  Picking up in 2017, AVMetrics will take over the heavy lifting of compiling and distributing AVMNews, but Perry will stay involved, overseeing his creation.

AVMetrics is proud to continue the tradition of AVMNews, and we plan to take this opportunity to ask readers for their suggestions.  Some early suggestions are more articles on

  • Industry trends
  • Technical articles
  • Interviews with AVM builders
  • Appraisers use of AVMs
  • Modeling trends
  • How customers are using AVMs.

We welcome your comments and suggestions.  Anyone who would like to receive the compilation of articles six times a year can subscribe to AVMNews for free via the following link: AVMNews Subscription.

This newsletter is intended to be a compilation of interesting and noteworthy articles, news items and press releases that are relevant to the AVM industry.  The opinions and positions presented herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by AVMetrics, its employees, principles or agents. Unless specifically stated otherwise within an article or advertisement, AVMetrics does not endorse any opinions, positions, products or services published in AVMNews.

Being Part of the CSUCI Community Means Being Active

Our local community is a team, together we effect the most positive of changes! Many thanks to all those who attended the CI Alumni & Friends Happy Hour at the Hangar event (Thursday, 6/16). We raised over $12,000 for student scholarships and it was a blast doing it. AVMetrics is proud to be major sponsor and an active part of the CSUCI community.

Techie Turns Expert Witness

Thanks to the San Fernando Valley Business Journal for their coverage in the April 18 issue.  Stephanie Henkel described how Lee has leveraged his expertise with AVMs and Real Estate Valuation into a second career as an expert witness.

Like many small business owners who develop expertise in their fields to survive and thrive in a competitive environment, Lee found that his expertise had more than one application.  Not only could he use it in his business, but he could also apply it as an expert witness in litigation already taking place.

SFVBJ Law Column 4.18.16

Congressional Rep. Steve Knight and the Importance of Independent Oversight

Steve Knight and Lee KennedyOn March 10, 2016, AVMetrics™ was pleased to welcome Rep. Steve Knight to the offices.  The team talked to Rep. Knight about a wide range of issues, from the local economy to environmental issues.

Rep. Knight has been touring the District and meeting with constituents to develop an ever-greater understanding of the issues that his constituents face.  Lee and the team explained AVMetrics’™ core business: the independent testing of AVMs.  AVMetrics™ ‘ core philosophy is that independent testing creates an environment of integrity, and that businesses, systems, and markets with integrity do not suffer from fraud, corruption or bubbles.  AVMetrics’™ mission is to ensure integrity in the AVM market to guarantee that AVMs remain a respected and reliable tool.

Rep. Knight also discussed the recent Porter Ranch gas leak disaster, having recently testified before Congress on the subject.  The group discussed the advantages of AVMetrics’™ philosophy of independent oversight as an aspect of governmental response to prevent future disasters.

As a veteran of the U.S. Army, Rep. Knight was interested in AVMetrics’™ challenges and successes as a veteran-owned business.  AVMetrics™ has been a veteran-owned business for almost 12 years but only last year was certified as a “Veteran Owned Small Business” by the U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs.