Divided NCUA Board approves new appraisal rule

The rule, as adopted, also would exempt from appraisal requirements certain loans made in rural areas.

A divided NCUA board on Thursday approved a final rule that increases the appraisal threshold for commercial real estate-related transactions from $250,000 to $1 million.

For the second month in a row, board member Todd Harper voted against a major rule, while Chairman Rodney Hood and board member J. Mark McWatters voted for it.

Last month the board divided the same way in approving a proposal to seek comment on a possible delay to the agency’s Risk-Based Capital rule.

Harper said the magnitude of the appraisal increase was too large, noting that banking agencies increased their threshold from $250,000 to $500,000.

“We’re not just running before we walk, we’re leapfrogging over the other banking regulators,” he said.

 

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