New rules that came into effect on May 1, 2009 are making financing, in some cases, impossible. Multiple complaints on inflated appraisals led NY Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo and mortgage giants, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to make a pact to lessen the impact on misguided appraisals. 

The amendment to the appraisal 'rules' state that loans that are held by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac must include appraisals that have been completed by appraisers that have no connection the bank that is closing the deal. According to agents in Lee County, the appraisers that are being hired are looking for the lowest bid, which in turn increases the company's cut of the appraisal fees. In many cases however, the appraiser is not familiar with the market in the area, and is giving appraisals that aren't in sync with the market that they are appraising.

Many of the banks believe that the new rules are not a big problem, that normally the differences are relatively close and can be worked out easily, however, if the difference is far apart it could mean that the seller is asking too much for the property.

"If they've got an agreement to buy for $150,000 and the appraisal comes in at a hundred, are we doing the customer a favor letting him buy it at that price?"  asked David Hall, president of Fort Myers-based First Community Bank of Southwest Florida. "The answer is no."