Mortgage lenders and appraisers widely agree that the appraisal process needs to be improved, as the industry faces a fresh wave of new federal regulations. During a conference sponsored this week by the Collateral Risk Network and the American Enterprise Institute, John Brenan, director of appraisal issues at The Appraisal Foundation, suggested that lenders have stymied appraiser efforts to change the process. “You can’t ignore the fact that the banking lobby is one of the strongest in the country,” he said. Penny Reed, a vice president of strategic partner management at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, acknowledged...