Client Asking For Response To Rebuttal To Be Placed In Original Report

[bnmappraisal]

Sure. I worked in the field for 29 years. So, I certainly understand the frustrations of the field appraiser. I was just offering up the point of view from the user/lender side.

Touche' I started on that side (AMC) and am now on this side. I appreciate your response, since I, too, have been on both sides. I do try to put myself back in "those shoes" (the AMC/UW/Lender requesting the "revision") but it definitely IS frustrating many times looking at it from this side of the fence

 

[bnmappraisal]

When the complaint to the state board comes in the mail are you going to have all e-mail transmissions from and to the AMC in your workfile?

Mr Rex, I wasn't saying I don't "comply" with the clients request (whether it be an AMC nor direct lender) I actually do (usually) "copy/paste" (or sometimes I'll summarize the question requested) the request and add a dated comment to my addendum (along with new sig date, etc) and address the question. I was just saying that it is (many times) a PITA. As I replied to DWiley, I've been on both sides of the fence, so I understand them both fairly well. It doesn't mean I can't still be frustrated! I do prefer being on this side of the fence though (independent fee appraiser/owner)

 

[Meandering]

No, that is not what I meant at all. When I owned a firm I actively appraised, just like the other appraisers, and I dealt with such requests often. I understood why they wanted it that way, so, as Mike noted, I provided client service.

The disrespect between appraisers and clients seems to be a two way street. I always tried to remind the staff at The Wiley Group that the a**hole making that stupid request was also the party paying for their salaries

Instead of calling people names,

Next time you have your house painted, wait until the painter is done, then,

present him with several cans of paint of a different color and tell him that in the name of "customer service" he should just paint a few of those walls this new color for free, because your wife thinks it's a "better color" than the paint he painted.

Then you can witness name calling, and billing, all in one swift move.


.

 

[DWiley]

Instead of calling people names,

Next time you have your house painted, wait until the painter is done, then,

present him with several cans of paint of a different color and tell him that in the name of "customer service" he should just paint a few of those walls this new color for free, because your wife thinks it's a "better color" than the paint he painted.

Then you can witness name calling, and billing, all in one swift move.


.

That might be an interesting experiment with a painter. . But, it i snot relevant to thsi discussion. As far as I know, there is no federal law for painters that contains provisions like those in DF authorizing many parties to ask for consideration of alternative date. Since the passage of that law, addressing alternative sales data is just part of handling an appraisal assignment - and good business folks price accordingly

 

[djd09]

When they ask for reconsideration of additional sales it is a nice way of saying the appraiser didn't hit the number.

 

[DTB]

Customer service is never free, not in appraising nor anywhere else.

I have a friend in the flooring business and always marvel at his style when he's on the phone. He always says yes, very pleasantly. We discuss it and he always smiles, that the meter is always running.

He agrees to any request and then as sweet as pie just mentions what it will cost. Works like a charm and makes both parties quite happy.

Given Mr. Wiley's non response as to what he would gladly pay for some of these requests, appraisers' mileage may vary if you let it.

 

[timd354]

But you can see the frustration from this side of the fence, right?

Why is it any more difficult for the appraiser to place the response in the report as opposed to via a separate letter?

 

[DTB]

Why is it any more difficult for the appraiser to place the response in the report as opposed to via a separate letter?

Ummm, reopening the file, renaming the file to an amended file number, maintaining that file for 5 year minimum and then uploading the report through sometimes god awful methods.

Really, you must be joking that a word doc takes the same time and effort.

 

[timd354]

Y

Ummm, reopening the file, renaming the file to an amended file number, maintaining that file for 5 year minimum and then uploading the report through sometimes god awful methods.

Really, you must be joking that a word doc takes the same time and effort.

You should think things through a little bit more. The act of selecting or rejecting sales as being comparable is an appraisal and sending a letter in which the appraiser rejects the lender's suggest comps is an appraisal report which would need to have the required certifications and meet the other requirements of USPAP standard 2 and a copy would have to be retained for 5 years. There is no way that it not easier to comply with the USPAP stand 2 requirements by providing that info in an additional addendum attached to the appraisal report than it would be by adding the required certs and disclosures to a separate letter

 

[hastalavista]

Customer service is never free, not in appraising nor anywhere else.

I agree.
But the reconsideration process has been around for a long time, and is ensconced in FHA and Dodd-Frank. This part of the service, when necessary, is built into my fee already. My clients don't seem to mind paying it. But they do expect a level of customer service (which I provide and which they've paid for).

I also think we need to put this into some perspective:
If I were getting the same requests routinely from a client, I'd raise the fee for that client to cover that added service level (or, in my case, I'd more likely drop the client).

For the one-off, this level of customer service is already baked into my fee. No client (recently... say in the last 5+ years that I can remember) has abused the process.

For a once-in-a-blue-moon request, I wouldn't hesitate to address it. In the OP's case, the work is nearly the same; the incremental difference between putting together a response in an email and putting it into a report and re-transmitting it is trivial (note I said "once-in-a-blue-moon").

My 2-cents.