Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the home mortgage giants, said Monday that they would stop buying loans from lenders that do not use independent home appraisers, as part of an agreement with the attorney general of New York.The shift, which will go into effect at the start of 2009, is expected to force large lenders like Countrywide Financial to sell or spin off their appraisal businesses. It will also create a new group to monitor the appraisal business.
The deal is significant victory for the attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, who has been investigating the mortgage industry for a year, and last year sued an appraisal company owned by the First American Corporation. Because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are buying most home loans being made today, the terms they dictate to banks and mortgage companies become de facto industry standards.
