The Senate passed the companion bill to HR 7735, the Improving Access to the VA Home Loan Benefit Act of 2022. This bill requires the Veterans Administration to review its policies with respect to appraiser eligibility, appraisal waivers, and desktop appraisals with an emphasis on reducing costs to consumers and turn times. The bill is now headed to the President’s desk where it will likely be signed into law given the bipartisan nature of this bill.
NAR supports appraisal modernization and while the bill is well intended and could benefit the market, NAR raised concerns that the implementation period is particularly short and may not make public comment feasible. What’s more, the bill does not balance the near-term benefits of lower fees and turn times against risks to the fund and thus access to credit for veterans over the long-term.
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