REGULATION?

As a maintenance officer in the US Army I was subjected to Inspector General inspections and Maintenance Management inspections periodically, The main purpose was to insure that I was doing my job. They always said "we are here to help" But you better not ask them for help. If you did, you got written up for not knowing the answer to the question you were asking. However, inspections are necessary. They are what make the system work. If there are no inspections, everyone starts doing the job differently and not keeping records. that leads to the job not being done correctly. Comments?

Somebody HAS to do something ! It cannot be that there are no boundaries for those who have the financial fate of this country in their hands.

As one who works for the Gov't I have found that any time the government tries to step in and regulate anything, things always end up costing more and no one is happy.

Our Boss (Washington DC) has decided that all of us who work at my place of employment (Let's call it Disneyland North) must be certified. We already had a program of certification that worked well for years. Certification consisted of several items including kowledge of the subject matter, up-dated training and physicals. It took just a couple of minutes to read through a person's certification records to see what they were certified to do and what they couldn't do.

Now, thanks to the new and improved certification we still have to have all the old things but instead of a slim folder that takes just a couple of minutes to read, we have a large binder filled with government jargon that takes an hour to read and when you've finished reading you can't remember what you've read so you have no idea what you're certified on.

Regulation and Oversight, IMHO, in the government always mean someone is getting rich off a fat governent contract and tax payers end up paying for it.

CEO's and their pets have filled their pockets with the gold we've sifted. They have flown away allowing the collapse of multi-billion dollar affairs for us to clean up, or have a recession, while they are covered. This should never happen and someone has to police such fraud, so we are not the victims of the greedy who don't give a good rats ass about anything but sucking our lives from us. The government may have to step in as James Bond is a little busy lately. But they need to follow through and do a 7 year audit, to the penny.... Then hold those who have caused this disaster accountable. Their billions should be seized and dispersed to the people, through measures of economic repair. That is just a start!

Second Experience. As a Real Estate Appraiser, I was susposed to insure that the property being appraised was worth the amount for which it was being sold. However, here is how it really worked. The parties involved were; the seller, the purchaser, the Real Estate Agent for the Seller, The Real Estate Agent for the purchaser, The financial organization loaning the money for the mortgage. The person who owned the appraisal firm for which I worked. The seller, purchaser, and the agents would agree on a purchase price. Then they would present the contract to the firm loaning the money. That firm would then contact my appraisal firm and ask for an appraisal. Everybody involved wants this deal to go though. When the market is going up everybody expects the loan to be approved. But somebody has to verify that the price is in line with the value. That is the appraisers job. The person who has the least knowledge about this deal is usually the purchaser, but he is the one paying for the appraisal. How did he/she know who to hire to perform the appraisal? They don't have a clue. The lending institution is the one who hires the appraiser most of the time. But the buyer is the one who pays for the appraisal. The real estate agents are the ones who scream the loudest if the appraisal doesn't come in above the sale price. Everybody thinks the appraiser is confirming that the property is worth the amount being paid. There is a statement on every appraisal form that states, "The value presented here is judged to be the market value at the date and time of the appraisal" What does this mean? It means that based on the recent sale of comparable properties in the area, it is the appraisers opinion that this property is worth $****** at the date and time of the appraisal. So, why might the value the property not be the same as the selling price? If not, nobody makes any money. If an appraiser turns in very many that kill the the deal the lending institution will find another company to perform it's appraisals, in order to stay in business the owner of the appraisal company will find an appraiser that can hit the number more often. The Real Estate Agents will steer clients to other leanding institutions that will use more accomidating appraisers. Confused yet?How can the appraiser not provide the true value? Its not easy, but usually one can find comparables that can be construed to be similar enough to the property to be adjusted to appear comparable. Everybody involved is happy until the market turns down. Is this the type of regulation we are asking for?

This is the type of market self regulation that the current government has been preaching and practicing. How will regulation of the financial markets work? I'll post this now and wait for comments.

Lobo, I agree with everything you said. But, as you will read in my second post about real estate appraisal, regulation doesn't work without oversight. How do we streamline the system of oversight? That is the major question. The person who can come up with the answer should recieve a Nobel prize or something.