Vendor agreements with "hold harmless"

[Carnivore]

Maybe I dont understand the agreement.

If FNC and I gets sued by the client, am I holding FNC harmless and also defending FNC?

or is it

If I am sued by the lender am I holding FNC harmless as a result of that action?


What am I holding them harmless of and what am I defending them from?

 

[Bearslide]

I find it interesting that Mr. Wiley dislikes the hold harmless with alamode, who does not alter or convert reports to another format but at the same time seems to have no issue with FNC/Appraisalpot and AIReady. Your dislike of almode seems to be ok for you, but our dislike for AIReady and Appraisalpot is not?

My take on the alamode hold harmles is that it applies to use of their software for the use of report writing. For instance...should their server crash and you lose your Vault storage. Too bad, so sad - no can sue. For that reason I back up my backup. No different than the hold harmless in your Microsft agreement. Should your computer blow up because it is overstressed with all the idiotic service paks, no can sue.

That is a far cry from a company who is pushing conversions and trying to make sure the appraiser takes ALL liability for whatever it is they are doing to reports behind the scenes. I've said it before - perhaps you missed it, Danny. I have seen for myself an original report and what was done to it after AIReady conversion.

I won't sign a hold harmless for ANY delivery portal, AMC or lender. Too many attorneys and too many E & O carriers are advising against it. Are you saying they are all wrong?

 

[Roscoeman]

The link to the new user guidelines on Appraisalport has been removed.

 

[DWiley]

I find it interesting that Mr. Wiley dislikes the hold harmless with alamode....

I don't like any hold harmless agreement, but using virtually any software requires one to agree to one.

This thread started with a very strong admonition that appraisers should not agree to any such clauses. I merely pointed out that appraisers are often faced with these clauses, and I followed up with a question. I wanted to know if the advice put forth applied to the hold harmless agreements required for use of Xsites and other Alamode services.

Many people use these services. If hold harmless agreements are problematic, then users of those services deserve to be aware of the issue.

I won't sign a hold harmless for ANY delivery portal, AMC or lender. Too many attorneys and too many E & O carriers are advising against it. Are you saying they are all wrong?

I have evaluated the risks of the agreement, and I have done so by talking with my E&O carrier and my attorney, not by relying on posts on this forum. I consulted my carrier, and I encourage all with questions to do the same. The position that other carriers take is, frankly, not my concern.

The almost universal claim that agreeing to the AP terms of use invalidates one's E&O coverage is not supported by information from MY E&O carrier. Your carrier may be very different.

It is true that my E&O insurance does not cover transmission of a report via AppraisalPort, but that has nothing to do with the terms of use. My E&O does not cover transmission of a report via any method.

Some posts clearly indicate that some appraisers hold the rather ludicrous belief that E&O insurance provides coverage to clients. Some also seem to think that E&O insurance is the same as general liability insurance. Those positions are wrong.

 

[Couch Potato]

Simple.

It is true that my E&O insurance does not cover transmission of a report via AppraisalPort, but that has nothing to do with the terms of use. My E&O does not cover transmission of a report via any method.

Some posts clearly indicate that some appraisers hold the rather ludicrous belief that E&O insurance provides coverage to clients. Some also seem to think that E&O insurance is the same as general liability insurance. Those positions are wrong.

E&O covers claims against an appraiser for honest mistakes in an appraisal report, nothing more. I don't know why that is so hard for some to understand.

 

[Workbox]

The link to the new user guidelines on Appraisalport has been removed.

If that is not a strong message in it's self.

 

[DWiley]

The link to the new user guidelines on Appraisalport has been removed.

https://www.appraisalport.com/misc/user_agreement_20080913.aspx

Links posted on the AP home page are removed after a short time. The announcement about the new user agreement has been up for quite a while now. I suspect it rotated off the home page due to its age. Other links have rotated off as well. For example, the link to the ENV printer/viewer is no longer on the home page either, but it is still up and running.

 

[Workbox]

Maybe I dont understand the agreement.

If FNC and I gets sued by the client, am I holding FNC harmless and also defending FNC?

or is it

If I am sued by the lender am I holding FNC harmless as a result of that action?


What am I holding them harmless of and what am I defending them from?

I am waiting for that answer also.

 

[Joyce Potts]

E&O covers claims against an appraiser for honest mistakes in an appraisal report, nothing more. I don't know why that is so hard for some to understand.

Tater is correct. That's why you're likely to be sued for negligence vs. fraud. Intentional acts will usually void the coverage.

Am I correct in my information that AppraisalPort pulled their new agreement off their website? Sorry, I'm late to the party -- the rain has set me back a week.

 

[Elliott]

Let's see, E/O says--don't sign it, we won't bail you out.
Your Attorney says--don't sign it, you'll pay for their attorney fees.
AppraisalPort says, "sign it, everybody does"
DWiley says, "Its the same as your software agreement"

You make the decision.