The House on Sept. 14 passed HR 7735, the Improving Access to the VA Home Loan Benefit Act of 2022, which proposes to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs' appraisal requirements, including when an appraisal is necessary, how appraisals are conducted and who may conduct an appraisal.  

 

The legislation also allows for desktop appraisals in some circumstances, but the VA has already made that policy change.  

 

The Appraisal Institute opposes HR 7735 and its Senate counterpart, S 4208, and believes that concerns about slow VA appraisal turnaround times are overblown. In a May 13 letter to the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, AI noted, “We believe the VA appraisal process is sound and deserves broad support by the mortgage and housing sectors. We believe there are ways in which the program can be enhanced — education and awareness on the AAPP program, being one.”