Organize Now
No One’s Coming. It’s On Us.
The appraisal profession has waited long enough, for regulators to notice, for associations to lead, for lawmakers to act. But the truth is clear now: no one is coming to fix this. Harbor offers a structured path forward, built by appraisers, backed by oversight, and designed to restore balance to the system. The only way out is through the system that failed us, and we’re the ones who already built its replacement.
Warning Call
They said it was about independence. That’s how they sold it. After the housing crash, the Dodd-Frank Act was supposed to shield appraisers from lender pressure. But buried in the law, Section 1472(b), was a vague requirement that lenders ensure “appraiser independence,” without defining how.
That ambiguity became the trigger point. To reduce liability, lenders outsourced the entire valuation process to Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs), handing control to third-party gatekeepers. The structure didn’t just allow it, it encouraged it. Appraisers were cut off from their clients, had their fees slashed, and were forced to answer to companies that had no rightful role in the profession. This wasn’t reform, it was displacement.
Now they’re back for the kill shot. HR 1625 (AKA S.1635), the so-called Appraisal Modernization Act, takes the same logic a step further, seeking to replace human appraisers with automated models, hybrids, and tech-driven substitutes controlled by the very entities that benefited from Dodd-Frank’s loophole. No seat at the table. No professional vote. Just another decision made about appraisers, without them. First they took our voice. Now they want our job.
Are we really going to sit here and let this happen? After everything they’ve taken, our voice, our fees, our control, they’re coming back to finish the job. HR 1625 is the kill shot. A law written without us, to erase us. Every day we stay silent, they push further.
Who are they? They’re the same financial institutions and tech platforms that spent the last 15 years replacing appraisers with algorithms and middlemen. They’re the investors, lobbyists, and corporate vendors who profit from less transparency and less resistance. They’re the ones who turned appraisal into a pipeline, one they own, top to bottom.
This is the moment. Not next month. Not when it’s too late. If we don’t rise up now, organized, united, and unapologetic, there won’t be a profession left to defend. Harbor gives us the power to fight back. But only if we stand up and use it. Because no one’s coming to save us. It’s on us.
You Must Act Now, Dont Delay
They’ve made their move. Now it’s your turn.
HR 1625 (senate bill 1635) is active in the U.S. Senate, under review by the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
This is where laws are shaped, amended, and quietly pushed through. If you stay silent, this bill will pass without resistance, and the profession will change without you.
This is where you draw the line.
Contact the Senate Banking Committee. Find your Senators. Tell them you oppose HR 1625 (senate bill 1635), and that Harbor is the replacement the industry actually needs.
Harbor offers a real path forward: one that restores independence, removes middlemen, and puts appraisers back at the center of the valuation system. Don’t wait. Don’t assume someone else will do it.
They took your voice once. Don’t let them take it again.
Harbor is the only real alternative to Senate Bill 1635 that preserves the role of the appraiser.