Appraisal Institute CEO resigns

Jim Amorin on Thursday announced his resignation after five years as CEO of the Appraisal Institute, a leading advocacy group for the appraisal industry. He will depart Feb. 14.

One appraiser who won’t miss him is Jonathan Miller.

The head of appraisal firm Miller Samuel, which has become known for the market reports it compiles for brokerage Douglas Elliman, Miller regularly called out policy decisions and behavior by Amorin, going so far as to call him “blatantly corrupt” and his supporters “sycophants.”

“I don’t know whether Jim Amorin was a good appraiser, but I do know from his actions that he has both an excellent authoritarian skill set and [an] affinity to take over an institution,” Miller wrote last year in his weekly Housing Notes column.

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Among Miller’s complaints over the years were that Amorin attempted “sham elections,” allegedly dismantled the organization’s diversity committee and proposed changes to its financial structure.

He also questioned Amorin’s compensation as the group’s membership declined to fewer than 17,000 from just over 20,000 in 2014.

“Even though I’m not a member, I thought it was damaging to our industry to have a trade group in turmoil,” Miller said Thursday. “They took their eye off the ball and forgot about the appraisers on the ground.”

Amorin did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the Appraisal Institute did not comment beyond the notice sent out to members.

Not everyone is critical of Amorin’s tenure as chief executive: Elizabeth Genovese, president of the Metropolitan New York Chapter of the institute, said she believes the organization under Amorin is representing residential appraisers well.

“They’re doing a lot, trying to help with that,” Genovese said, pointing to a training program instituted under Amorin. “There’s a lot of focus on helping residential appraisers.”

Amorin is leaving to pursue other opportunities, according to a notice sent to members by Jody Bishop, the organization’s president. The board of directors said it would immediately begin searching for a replacement.

Amorin twice served as Appraisal Institute president and won awards from the organization in 2012 and 2013.