Really, are they serious? A federal "hotline" for victims of bum appraisals?
OK, silly me. I had no idea know the federal government's latest undertaking involves a tipster hotline to ferret out complaints about bad appraisals.
It was apparently one of ten million sundry items apparently packed into the sprawling Dodd-Frank overhaul of our nation's financial system.
But, in true Washington fashion, the obscure Appraisal Subcommittee was given the mandate to set up a national complaint line, without enough money to do it.
It turns out that this ten person agency with a budget of $2.8 million has been given the job of overseeing the enforcement of tough new appraisal standards in states across the country.
That includes running the tipster line - my wording on this - which appears right now headed nowhere fast.
Here's what the GAO, the federal watchdog agency, had to say:
The potentially resource-intensive nature of some remaining tasks will require careful planning. For example, operating a complaint hotline may require investments in information technology and the creation of screening and follow-up procedures.
The trade group for the nation's home builders is all up in arms over the report. It contends low ball appraisals are killing sales and the housing market.
Maybe, maybe not.
But there has to be better things to be spending taxpayer dollars on than a tip line run by some anonymous federal agency, taking complaints from angry home sellers in Medford or Dubuque.
