[patieboy37]

Hello -

I need an appraisal for court - does it have to come from a bank, or can it be from a licensed appraiser? Has anyone done an appraisal for a bankruptcy case that got successfully submitted?Thanks

[nstanbru]

I have done appraisal work for submission to bankruptcy court and have testified as an expert witness. My initial advice would be to work with your bankruptcy attorney who most likely would have used an appraiser in the past. You can order the appraisal and do not have to go through a bank. The level of licensing of the appraiser will depend on the property type. If you're doing this on your own, make sure the person you hire is willing to appear in court, if necessary, and has the experience. Agian, I would advise that you work with your bankruptcy attorney on this.

[Lobo Fan]

I would suggest you go to the Appraisal Institute website. Therer you can search for appraisers in your area. Generally speaking those with an MAI or SRA designation would be qualified to appraise your property. Just be clear about your requirements and also be aware that court appearences and depositions will cost more money. You can hire your own appraiser for any purpose. Lenders cannot use appraisals performed by an owner selected appraiser.

There are some appraisers that like legal and divorce work. Personally I have an aversion to lawyers.

Good luck.

[JRS at OBX]

Tell us what town the property is located and somebody will be with you shortly.

[David Sawyer]

Originally Posted by Lobo Fan

I would suggest you go to the Appraisal Institute website. Therer you can search for appraisers in your area. Generally speaking those with an MAI or SRA designation would be qualified to appraise your property. Just be clear about your requirements and also be aware that court appearences and depositions will cost more money. You can hire your own appraiser for any purpose. Lenders cannot use appraisals performed by an owner selected appraiser.

There are some appraisers that like legal and divorce work. Personally I have an aversion to lawyers.

Good luck.

Mr. Lobo,
Do you really, really believe that a MAI or SRA designation would be the best qualified to appraise a property? (I do notice that you qualified your statement and stated..." generally speaking".

Let me relate a story on a MAI appraiser in a divorce case. Respondant's attorney on his first trial case orders an appraisal from an appraisal shop. Owner of appraisal shop has MAI designation! Assignment is a complex property and has new trainee of 1-2 months do the appraisal. MAI appraiser signs off as supervisor but checks box "did not inspect".

Respondant's attorney (client for the MAI appraiser) supoenas trainee for court testimony. MAI appraiser allows her to appear in court rather than himself. Defendant's attorney request trainee be dismissed as witness since she is not an appraiser. Judge grants request and trainee does not get to tesify.

Case is continued to a second day which was scheduled a month later. This time MAI appraiser appears as witness after being supoena by Respondant's attorney. Is cross exam by Defendant's attorney who states , .." I see you checked the box...did not inspect, is this correct. MAI's answer (Yes) Your honor, I request that this individual is not qualified to be a witness, please excuse him as witness."

Judge dismissed him and after his exit, the judge and both attorneys broke out in laugher with the judge making the comment, how can you do an appraisal without inpection! I was personally somewhat embarrassed for the appraisal industry, but the fact that I advised the defendant's attorney to have both the trainee and the MAI appraiser dismissed made my day.

I perform ligation work and do not have any designations. My advice is consult a good attorney and not one that is still wet behind the ears and is barely out of diapers knows the good appraisers to recommend. Having a MAI designation does not necessarily make a good appraiser.

[Walter Kirk]

I do appraisals for bankrupcy all of the time. I am also vice President of the N.J. Appraisers Guild. I'm sure that I can direct you to a good appraiser. PM me.

[Ron Seylhouwer]

Originally Posted by Walter Kirk

I do appraisals for bankrupcy all of the time. I am also vice President of the N.J. Appraisers Guild. I'm sure that I can direct you to a good appraiser. PM me.

I hope any appraiser makes payment arrangements well in advance or you could be listed as a creditor with no chance of collecting the appraisal fee.

[Dennis J. Black, ASA, IFAS]

Call Chuck Blau. He is easy to find on the web. The name of the firm is Blau and Blau.

[Ed Falkowski]

Originally Posted by David Sawyer

Judge dismissed him and after his exit, the judge and both attorneys broke out in laugher with the judge making the comment, how can you do an appraisal without inpection!

My bold.

That comment shows exactly how ignorant both the judge and the lawyers are about the appraisal profession. An inspection is not a requirement to do an appraisal. You should have been laughing at all of them. However, your attack plan was both sound and effective. Congratulations.

That being said, the MAI in question is obviously an idiot. When dealing with litigation work, I would NEVER let a trainee that green sign an appraisal... and I DEFINITELY would NEVER let them do the inspection ON THEIR OWN. That is a recipe for disaster which obviously was easy to show

I've told people in my office this many times: you can have your SRA, MAI, MD, PhD, JD, etc, etc, etc... anyone can get those designations. The people who deserve them are the people who can PROVE that they're WORTH those designations EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK. You can prove that for 30 straight years and one major slip-up can cause you your entire career. This is obviously a case-in-point.

[Greenback]

I would take Mr. Kirks up on his offer.

Sincerely,