sqft in 2055 exterior only

[Randolph Kinney]

This is a demand letter. He said he'll sue me or I can pay to $86,000 to get it settled without going to court.

The form I used is exterior-only inspecition residential appraisal report. On the section of the sourses used for the property I checked 'MLS' and 'Assessment and Tax records'. I didn't specifically state that I didn't measure the house. But 2055 exterior form has its scope of work which state minium requirements.

Since you say this 2055 appraisal was for a purchase (lending purposes only), is the attorney representing the original purchaser as named in your appraisal?

I would contact your E&O carrier or an attorney to make any response to this demand letter.

 

[J Stachow]

2055 Exterior

I do quite a few 2055's on the new form. I specifically state at least 5 times in the report that this is an "exterior-only inspection from the street and GLA measurements are extracted from County Tax assessment records." I ALWAYS call the subject municipality tax assessor to confirm the information stated in the records and I state that also in the report. If I have to wait several days for the assessor to call me back (very often) because they are out plowing the "back 40", so be it...the clients waits. Hope this helps...

 

[DJBanas]

I vote for contacting your E&O provider. You do have E&O coverage? If not, get a real estate attorney NOW!!!!

 

[Don Clark]

He just wants to know if you have the 86K laying around.

Maybe they are losing their house and this is a last ditch effort to find some cash.

BTW, what was the intended use and intended user of this report? Did you discuss with your client the SOW and that the inspection would not include exterior measurements?

Good point(s) Donna. Also, everyone is giving good advice about contacting the E & O provider or a lawyer.

You really have to know the reliability of public records where you do appraisals. I cover 6 independent cities in Virginia, and 2 counties in North Carolina. In one of the cities I do not trust their public records at all. In 1 of the counties the records are fair and noted as such if I do a drive by. In the other county they have on line access to an assessors record which includes color photos of the property, detailed information, and a very good sketch. But, if you don't read the info correctly, and do not do your own calculations of the sketch, you can be way off. The total sq ft given includes the garage. So, i calculated the sketch and use the recalculated sketch in the report and note where it was obtained.

I do not do many drive by's but when i do, I proceed very cautiously.

 

[Couch Potato]

Call E&O, Get an Attorney!

This is a demand letter. He said he'll sue me or I can pay to $86,000 to get it settled without going to court.

The form I used is exterior-only inspecition residential appraisal report. On the section of the sourses used for the property I checked 'MLS' and 'Assessment and Tax records'. I didn't specifically state that I didn't measure the house. But 2055 exterior form has its scope of work which state minium requirements.

You need an attorney. Get one ASAP.

Those minimum requirements include:

The appraiser must be able to obtain adequate information about the physical characteristics (including, but not limited to, condition, room count, gross living area, etc.) of the subject property from the exterior-only inspection and reliable public and/or private sources to perform this appraisal.

It would appear your information was not adequate.

 

[Mike Kennedy]

Civil Litigation Attorneys

I've never seen the previous appraisal and of course it's not part of public records. The intended use is 'to assist the client in making an underwriting decision regarding the subject'. Its scope of work is a drive by exterior only inspection of the subject and all the comparbles.

By the way I don't have E&O since it's not required here in Texas. I guess I'll have to handle it all by myself. All suggestions are helpful.

Thanks.

http://www.travisbar.com/pages/mission
http://www.austinlrs.com/

 

[Don Clark]

I've never seen the previous appraisal and of course it's not part of public records. The intended use is 'to assist the client in making an underwriting decision regarding the subject'. Its scope of work is a drive by exterior only inspection of the subject and all the comparbles.

By the way I don't have E&O since it's not required here in Texas. I guess I'll have to handle it all by myself. All suggestions are helpful.

Thanks.

Do not try to handle it yourself. get a lawyer. Remember, one who acts as their own lawyer has a fool for a client.

 

[timd354]

Well, that's one of the many reasons I don't do exterior only appraisals. Where does it say that just because it's an exterior only, that you shouldn't measure the exterior?
Measuring the property is not part of the SOW for most exterior only appraisals and is not required if you have a credible source of data that provides the GLA....measuring a property that you do not have permission to enter also could be trespassing.
Given that mistake, did you state in more than one place PROMINENTLY in the appraisal that it was an exterior only and you were using county and MLS as your source for the square feet?
We don't know from the facts given that any mistake was made. We don't know whose GLA is correct. Even if the GLA used in the exterior only is incorrect, but was from a credible source and a proper use of an extraordinary assumption was made and disclosed in the appraisal report, then the appriaser did nothing wrong.

If you did state that, then you should be safe from too much harm. Consult your attorney and have him/her write a letter back to the homeowners attorney regarding how you PROMINENTLY stated in the appraisal that you were using public information as far as the square footage.

Maybe have your attorney ask that you be allowed onto the property to now measure the property, how do you know you were wrong????

In any case, you definitely need any attorney, as even if you did everything correctly, you can still very easily get screwed over in this matter.

 

[timd354]

I've never seen the previous appraisal and of course it's not part of public records. The intended use is 'to assist the client in making an underwriting decision regarding the subject'. Its scope of work is a drive by exterior only inspection of the subject and all the comparbles.

By the way I don't have E&O since it's not required here in Texas. I guess I'll have to handle it all by myself. All suggestions are helpful.

Thanks.

Why would someone not carry E&O in the business? I have E&O coverage with $1,000,000/$2,000,000 limits and it costs all of $641 per year.

 

[Lee Lansford]

Hi,

I just got a letter from a lawyer. He said I intentionally or negligently misrepresented the size of the house his client bought last year. I checked the appraisal I did for this purchase. Since it's a 2055 exterior only appraisal, I didn't need to measure the house and used the data from the county appraisal recores and MLS listing. Based on the country records and MLS listing it's 3,900 sf, which I used in my appraisal. But in the letter he said it's 3,415 sf based on the previous appraisal and I should have known it. In fact, I have never seen the previous appraisal and didn't know it is 3,415 sf. I'm very unhappy about this because the lawyer was making false statement. Should I lodge him a complaint?

Thanks.

Xiaomei

Two things to do:

#1...Notify your E&O insurance company and listen to what they tell you.

#2...Do not offer any comment whatsoever to the lawyer or anyone else regarding this matter.