With a focus on the integration of new technology with business policies and applications, he has been instrumental in the development and implementation of Automated Valuation Models (AVMs) for the mortgage process. He has been a pioneer in the deployment and understanding of AVMs in the collateral valuation function, which included the acceptance and adoption by major institutions, investors, secondary market, and Wall Street.

Barry Bates, a nationally recognized secondary market and automated valuation expert, is Clear Capital's vice president of portfolio due diligence.

Bates joined Clear Capital after acquiring years of experience in commercial and residential real estate valuation and analysis. His specialty is automated valuation models (AVMs) and management of property valuation for bulk loan acquisitions.
Barry’s job includes reconciling and researching property values within appraisals, BPOs, automated valuation models (AVMs) and other valuation products. He also assists with loan tie-out negotiations for customers, and works with the product development team in order to develop new products and improve existing ones. In addition, Barry is developing and implementing methods for testing the effectiveness and accuracy of valuation products.

Bates is a well-known figure in the industry with a 30-year history, most recently serving as Property Valuation Manager for Morgan Stanley (Acquisitions for RMBS/ABS), in New York City and Boca Raton, Florida. His prior positions include time with Commerce Security Bank, Sacramento; Wells Fargo REIG, Sacramento; Ameriquest Mortgage, Orange, CA; First American Real Estate Solutions, Anaheim; Hansen Quality Loan Services, San Diego; and Countrywide Securities, Calabasas Hills, CA.

Barry has a degree in English Literature from Berkeley with minors in Slavic Languages and Criminology, and two years of graduate coursework under the auspices of the Appraisal Institute. He is also a former Russian linguist with training at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA and 11 years’ active and reserve service in Military Intelligence, Psychological Operations and in the US Army Security Agency (a military agency under the mission direction of the National Security Agency).

Mr. Bredemeyer holds the SRA designation from the Appraisal Institute. In 1993 he was the president of the Nebraska Chapter of the Appraisal Institute. He has served as the National Chairman of Continuing Education and National Chair of Government Relations for the Appraisal Institute. He has been involved with the Nebraska Mortgage Association for over ten years and was their 1999/2000 president. He is a past Chairman of the Omaha based Great Plains Multiple Listing Service, where he has served on the Board of Directors since 1993.

John is a certified general appraiser in Nebraska and Iowa. In 1997 Governor Nelson appointed Mr. Bredemeyer to a five-year position on the Nebraska Real Estate Appraiser Board where he served for three years as Chairman. After serving on the Board of Directors of the Association of Appraisal Regulatory Officials, he was awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership. Mr. Bredemeyer currently serves as a Trustee of the Appraisal Foundation. The Appraisal Foundation is authorized by Congress as the Source of Appraisal Standards and Appraiser Qualifications. He was recently elected as their Treasurer.

Before joining Fannie Mae in 1997, Bill was a Vice President at Columbia National, Inc. (CNI) and its predecessor PaineWebber Mortgage Finance, Inc. (PWMF) in Columbia, Maryland. Bill’s management responsibilities at CNI/PWMF included residential mortgage production support, regulatory compliance, quality assurance, credit policy and training. Prior to that, he was Assistant Director of Government Agency Relations at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America (MBA) in Washington, DC, where he specialized in underwriting, quality assurance, appraisal and residential production issues advocacy.

Before joining the MBA staff in 1987, Bill worked as a mortgage loan originator in the Baltimore/DC area, served as a Congressional aide in Washington, DC, and served four years of active duty with the U.S. Air Force. He is an associate member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and holds BA and MA degrees from the State University of New York at Albany.

From her earliest involvement in mortgage fraud matters, she has brought her litigation experience to industry-sponsored forums nationwide. She is a nationally recognized speaker and frequently teaches in-house seminars on mortgage fraud issues to lending professionals, QC/QA management and general counsel. Ms. Dollar acts in a consultative role on policy and procedure for mortgage lenders including the creation of lending documentation and direction of quality control practices.  She frequently consults with licensing and local, state and national criminal agencies across the country on mortgage fraud matters. She is sought out regularly by the press to comment on mortgage fraud issues and cases and has contributed to and been quoted in news publications across the country.

Ms. Dollar handles mortgage fraud litigation for lenders on a nationwide basis and has supervised successful complex mortgage fraud and RICO litigation in the federal courts, and complex litigation involving secondary market investors, mortgage insurers, loan servicers, and other financial service companies. She has been involved in the discovery, investigation, resolution and litigation of large-scale fraud schemes nationwide. Her practice includes complex commercial litigation, RICO litigation, secured creditor rights and title insurance litigation with a focus on closing protection letter claims, identity theft and closing agent conduct. She also handles matters concerning broker and fidelity bonds, appraiser and settlement agent errors & omissions policy claims and issues associated with repurchase.

Mr. Inserra has also previously served as a Chief Appraiser with Citicorp (nation’s largest bank) based in Phoenix, Arizona, National Chief Appraiser with HFC in Chicago, and as Director of eCommerce and Financial Services with Accenture in Singapore, which required extensive travel throughout Asia providing consulting services to financial service corporations. Mr Inserra has an established track record of being recruited to small companies, successfully building management teams, technology solutions and other internal resources, acquiring the necessary capital, and then leading those companies through periods of rapid revenue growth. Prior to joining Zaio, Mr. Inserra was the founder of Pinnacle Peak Advisors, LLC and Pinnacle Peak Appraisal located in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mr. Inserra is a Certified General Appraiser, an SRA designated member of the Appraisal Institute, holds an MBA degree from the University of Phoenix, and a B.S. degree from Purdue University. For 6 years Mr. Inserra served as a Trustee with the Appraisal Foundation, which is authorized by Congress to establish USPAP appraisal standards. Tom, his wife Nancy, and their two children reside in Scottsdale Arizona.

Mr. Opelka attended the University of Alabama where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree. His personal ties to the valuation industry date back to his father, F. Gregory Opelka, former International President of the Society of Real Estate Appraisers (1980) who was also instrumental in developing the Uniform Residential Appraisal Report.

• Member of the Appraisal Standards Council of the Appraisal Institute
• 2006 Chair of The Appraisal Foundation’s Industry Advisory Council

January 2000 - October 2003 – Jim was the Director of Research and Technical Issues for The Appraisal Foundation. He was the senior staff liaison with federal and state regulatory agencies and managed the functions of the Appraisal Standards Board, Appraiser Qualifications Board, The Appraisal Foundation Advisory Council (TAFAC) and the Industry Advisory Council (IAC).

1997-1999 PMI Mortgage Ins. Co. - Senior Real Estate Analyst

1992 – 1997 Chevy Chase Bank - Senior Review Appraiser and manager of the Residential Appraisal Dept.

He is licensed as a Certified General Appraiser and received his SRA designation from the Appraisal Institute in 1989.

Prior to joining Veros Sue was president and CEO of American Reporting Company, LLC, a credit reporting company located in Kirkland Washington. In her role as president, Sue was focused on growing the business from a successful credit reporting company to a dynamic regional service provider of settlement services to the mortgage lending community. ARC’s expanding product set now includes delivery and production of appraisal, escrow, title and flood. During this time Sue participated in the development of AVM testing, regulatory compliance applications and consulting.

For 15 years, prior to joining ARC, Sue was senior vice president and chief appraiser for Washington Mutual Bank. During her career at Washington Mutual Bank she was responsible for designing and implementing an Internet based collateral valuation management system, developed and implemented AVM testing procedures, vigorously pursued and implemented AVM cascade logic, introduced “bump logic”, and was responsible for maintaining collateral risk and appraisal policies and procedures for the bank. Sue managed a staff in excess of 800 appraisers and technical employees that produced appraisal reports in 50 states. She was responsible for the design and implementation of alternative valuation products that included desktop appraisals and appraiser assisted AVM reports. She also participated in 38 mergers and acquisitions that expanded mortgage lending into 50 states.

Sue started her career as a residential real estate appraiser. She owned and operated The Appraisal Group of Kirkland, a large residential appraisal firm which employed up to 12 appraisers for six years. At The Appraisal Group she developed an employee based operating model that treated appraisers as employees’ not independent contractors. This is the same model used at Washington Mutual and ARC.

Sue has outstanding experience as a successful business owner, public speaker, and a respected leader in the appraisal and mortgage lending industry for more than 25 years. She has served on various boards and national committees including CMDC, Fannie Mae, AIRD, The Appraisal Institute, The Appraisal Foundation and the Arthritis Foundation. Sue’s recent speaking engagements include: The Appraisal Institute, Appraisal Today, and the Predictive Methods Conference.

The first three years out of college I worked for a medium sized residential appraisal firm. An opportunity to join Great Western Bank as a Staff Appraiser came to me in 1988, after eight months of being a staff appraiser I was promoted to the Southeast Regional Appraisal Manager. For the next eight years my positioned remained the same, although the territory of my responsibility had often expanded and contracted. In the beginning our focus was retail loan origination, which then expanded to Third Party Origination and then supporting the Consumer Loan Division aligned with our banking branches.

Washington Mutual Bank acquired Great Western in 1997, I was given the opportunity to take a lesser position and stay on continuing to support Retail, Wholesale and Consumer Lending Divisions. In 2000, I was promoted back to the Southeast Regional Appraisal Manager, which is the position I held until being laid off in 2004.

After nineteen years in the loan origination industry, I was hired by Morgan Stanley to perform a due diligence function of the collateral pledged to their Warehouse Lines with a dozen Prime/Alt A and Sub Prime lenders. In addition, I assisted in whole loan acquisitions, conduit review, scratch & dent and market trend reporting. Over the past two years at Morgan Stanley I have learned an even greater appreciation for the work we as appraisers do in this industry.

• Development of national commercial and residential databases,
• Redesign of the entire 25+ course designation curriculum program resulting in better market positioning and improved course development processes…and more profit from educational programs.
• Implementation of a strategic range plan focused on serving Appraisal Institute members,
• Challenging members to consider diversifying services and/or client bases with such innovative concepts as e-appraiser.net, the Center for Advanced Property Economics, AVM and statistically derived market analysis products, etc.
• Establishing alliances with other professional real estate organizations,
• Moving ahead in the international arena, and
• Forming partnerships with businesses — on Wall Street and on Main Street.

Before working for the Appraisal Institute, Ross gained extensive business and association management experience. For seven years, he was the Executive Vice President of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA). From 1995 through 1997, he also served as the Executive Vice President of the American Society of Agricultural Consultants, which was managed under contract with the ASFMRA, and restored the association to liquidity while refocusing its organizational priorities and activities.

Prior to that, Ross managed a state association for cattlemen in California and served as a lobbyist for the National Cattlemen’s Association in Washington, D.C. He is active in the American Society of Association Executives and the Association Forum. Ross is an accomplished public speaker and has published many articles on association management and related topics.