Artificially inflated home values (again)?

[Bob Elliott]

Guess we never learn and history repeats (even recent history)

Proposal

Earlier this year, Rep. LaShawn Ford (D-Chicago) introduced legislation in Springfield that would bar real estate appraisers from using the sale price of a home sold at judicial sale — in other words, a foreclosed home — for 12 months after the date of the sale. Such a change to the state's Real Estate Appraiser Licensing Act would be repealed five years after it was adopted.

There's one problem with Ford's proposal, though. Appraisers are licensed by the state of Illinois but follow uniform federal guidelines that dictate that they analyze available comparable sales.

"It would lead to a misleading report," said Chip Wagner of A.L. Wagner Appraisal Group Inc. in Naperville. "You can't overlook any of the factors in the marketplace that are influencing factors. It sounds like a good idea in fairness to homeowners, but the appraisers that follow that would be in (danger) of losing their licenses."