The New USPAP

[DWiley]

It wasn’t so long ago, we were all having heartburn caused by the definition of “misleading” in a revised USPAP.

E&O providers, appraiser organizations, AMCs, appraisers, and a few GSE personalities sent letters and expressed concerns about the inclusion of “unintentional” in that definition we had to live with for a minute.

Not sure anybody claimed to have an abundance of understanding about that.

Actually, I think that was understood very well. Disagreement is not the same as not understanding. And, there are certainly two sides to the debate on that term and whether it should address unintentional acts.

Real world example: An appraiser starts an appraisal report by cloning a report the he did two months ago for a home on the same street. The appraiser neglects to update the sketch in the cloned report. As a result, the size reported for the subject property is off by 500 square feet. This was not an intentional act by the appraiser; it was a mistake.

Should that be considered a misleading appraisal report?

 

[Tom D]

misleading yes, but not the electric chair.

 

[DWiley]

misleading yes...

There are many who apparently do not agree

As for the "electric chair" - USPAP does not address how violations of USPAP should be addressed. That is up to those who enforce USPAP.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

misleading yes, but not the electric chair.

The problem with sanctions is that they never end in reality. That's on your record forever. The governor can pardon you of any crime, even murder but they cannot expunge your stinking sanctions off the state appraisal board. So, you get called to testify against your will (since you can never be an "expert" witness with such a sanction) and you get your guts ripped out by a lawyer.

Civil Engineers get their license taken when their bridge falls down, with their walkway collapses. But they don't get their licensed pulled when they mismeasure a strut holding up the walkway and the construction crew haw-haws the error when they realize the part is wrong and the engineer has to come out and approve a change order to the blueprints and eat humble pie. They don't have to face sanction if they miscalculated the amount of sewer pipe it would take to finish a project from town to the airport.

Surveyors suffer errors all the time. Most are minor. Some were from the original surveys who jogged around Indian villages and such. One original survey in Wyoming had an error doing such a jog, that 100 plus years later resulted in an oil company drilling a well in the wrong section because they didn't account for that skewed line. That's an expensive mistake but did the surveyors lose their license? Prolly not. If they started from the wrong corner, they might not have realized the section was screwed up and shaped like an obtuse trapezoid, and only 400 acres or so in size.

I'm trying to finish up the 17th report in an estate of multiple properties. Is there an error somewhere? It would be a miracle if not. Is there something that someone can definitely say there is a mistake in my methodology? I am sure someone would if they wanted to. But is that the same as what my laptop did last night and gives me the blue screen of death with "Fatal Error" screen and rebooted itself? I don't think so. At least I've escaped that fate for 30 plus years so far. And how do you prove that I am "wrong"? Most of these bias complaints are pretty nebulous. We never get to see the other appraisal. We have no "proof" that the opined value is or is not what someone says it is. We just have a sympathetic jury determining the value of something that they have zero competence to even determine. They are picking winners by personality.

An appraiser starts an appraisal report by cloning a report

Cloning is poor practice, but I do see it a lot, especially in narratives. Like once, a stray statement said there was a convenience store across from the subject.... well, it was a chicken farm about 10 miles out of town and nary a store in sight.

 

[djd09]

There are many who apparently do not agree

As for the "electric chair" - USPAP does not address how violations of USPAP should be addressed. That is up to those who enforce USPAP.

have you ever seen TAF disciplinary matrix...

 

[djd09]

Actually, I think that was understood very well. Disagreement is not the same as not understanding. And, there are certainly two sides to the debate on that term and whether it should address unintentional acts.

Real world example: An appraiser starts an appraisal report by cloning a report the he did two months ago for a home on the same street. The appraiser neglects to update the sketch in the cloned report. As a result, the size reported for the subject property is off by 500 square feet. This was not an intentional act by the appraiser; it was a mistake.

Should that be considered a misleading appraisal report?

misleading is an intentional act...like deceiving...15th st should know that...how about the appraiser was negligent (failing to take proper care in doing something)

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

have you ever seen TAF disciplinary matrix

Bingo....but do you really get to look at it? ACCESS DENIED

 

[djd09]

Bingo....but do you really get to look at it? ACCESS DENIED

Complete Voluntary Disciplinary Sanction Matrix 2020-21 USPAP (Effective January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2022)
.pdf

The Appraisal Standards Board voted on February 19, 2021 to extend the effective date of the current 2020-21 USPAP through December 31, 2022. Click here to learn more. The Appraisal Foundation has also issued voluntary guidance that is intended to assist state appraiser regulatory agencies with enforcement cases

ShareFile

appraisalfoundation.sharefile.com

 

[djd09]

Complete Voluntary Disciplinary Sanction Matrix 2020-21 USPAP (Effective January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2022)
.pdf

The Appraisal Standards Board voted on February 19, 2021 to extend the effective date of the current 2020-21 USPAP through December 31, 2022. Click here to learn more. The Appraisal Foundation has also issued voluntary guidance that is intended to assist state appraiser regulatory agencies with enforcement cases

ShareFile

appraisalfoundation.sharefile.com

Actually, I think that was understood very well. Disagreement is not the same as not understanding. And, there are certainly two sides to the debate on that term and whether it should address unintentional acts.

Real world example: An appraiser starts an appraisal report by cloning a report the he did two months ago for a home on the same street. The appraiser neglects to update the sketch in the cloned report. As a result, the size reported for the subject property is off by 500 square feet. This was not an intentional act by the appraiser; it was a mistake.

Should that be considered a misleading appraisal report?

Committing a substantial error of omission or commission that significantly affects an appraisal

Example #3

An appraiser miscalculates the square footage of a home, basing the opinion of value on 3,800 square feet when the home only consisted of 1,600 square feet

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Twice I've had a report used in a divorce and been forced to testify although there was no mention of a divorce. Once it was the sister of a loan officer and another time I have no idea whether the couple were planning a divorce or not. I was sent to value the property from their bank.

But how would I have known?