Agreed upon C.O.D. order can be deceiving

[Michael Tipton]

Other then telling eveyone you will only work for CASH what else can we do?

Jim Hill

On a rare occasion I have taken a local check and cashed it at their bank on the way back to the office. The owner/borrower that wrote the check was advised at the time the check was presented that no report would be delivered until the funds were available. I have yet to receive a NSF fund check as my local check policy was stated during the initial phone call to set up the site appointment. I have also had the owner/borrower get a cash advance as I do not accept credit card payments.

 

[PropertyEconomics]

The David Sawyer story brings up an interesting topic on which is the best way to get your money from the client.

Before eveyone just say's UP FRONT let me explain.

I know many appraisers who will only accept credit cards and I also know of an appraiser who got burned a few times when the customer called the credit card company and cancelled stopped the payment.

How many of you use Pay Pal even with many of the problems it has?

Here in Florida I once had someone give me a check which I put right in the bank.

About 10 days later the bank contacted me because the person stopped payment on the check and they took the money back out of my account.

I went and spoke to the bank about it but they told me that the customer can do this.

I thought there was sort of time limit for stopping payment on a check once it's is written but the bank said they can do it and that now it is a civil matter.

Other then telling eveyone you will only work for CASH what else can we do?

Jim Hill

I always cash the check at their bank .. when its converted to cash, the bank makes sure the money is in the bank and there is no stop payment, which is illegal by the way. Larceny comes to mind and in my state the "offender" can be held liable for 3 times the amount of the check.
I would immediately fire off a letter to all of the parties and indicate you are demanding payment in full within five days or you will be turning the matter over to your district attorney for prosecution.

 

[Webbed Feet]

Mr Hill,

Great question! I mirror P.E. on this. I go a step beyond, I hand them a contract to sign at the inspection. Included in that document is exactly what is going to happen if they screw around regarding payment. I do this so they later cannot attempt to claim they did not owe me, or damage me, because they did not order the appraisal and were not my client anyway. Scare tactic? You bet! With a side of fresh meat I'll eat raw torn right out of their side if they violate the contract.

So far it's working. It has directly caused a few cases to immediately volunteer the fact they didn't have the money to cover their checks up front to me so other arrangements could be made.

Webbed.

 

[Marcia Langley]

Other then telling eveyone you will only work for CASH what else can we do?

That is exactly what I do unless the client is a real bank or a credit union.

MBs always have to put folding green in my hand, either directly or via the borrower.

I explain that I will take a check but will wait until it has cleared before I do the report which sometimes takes over two weeks. Rarely are they willing to wait and either accept the cash in advance method or withdraw the order.

I don't do credit cards or paypal. I do accept money orders only if the borrower is out of town.

I rarely lose an order from an MB or a private client for the cash in advance policy. The few I have lost for that reason, I assume were planning on stiffing me in the first place.

With today's environment of scam artists it's just good business. I don't plan to spend my time chasing down payments.

I have a full-doc receipt for them in addition to a full page explanation of the rights and obligations of the borrower, the client, and myself that the borrower signs.

I very rarely get calls from the borrower.

 

[c w d]

Webbed, that sounds perfectly workable but not perfect fool proof. In the OP's case the owner was not available during inspection. Can't exactly have the child sign a contract and expect it to have validity.

The only fool proof method would be to require payment via credit card or check through the mail >before< one makes a trip. Even that is not a 100% guarantee.

Personally, I would have done the same thing as the OP. He told the broker, he told the HO that payment was due upon his arrival. The HO was not present, conveniently, therefore he did not get paid. When I found out payment was not available I would have tried to contact the home owner and then call the MB to inform him/her of the situation while I was at the subject. I'd let everyone know that work on the appraisal will cease until payment is received. I would complete the inspection and look at the comparables and then go home and enjoy my weekend.

We can make the issue of payment so tight, ironclad and inflexible as to not have any business what so ever to insure we get paid. The realities dictate a case by case bases, imo. I always attempt to get payment for the appraisal upfront over the phone. Thats not alway possible. The next best thing is CAD. If that isn't doable then I require payment before the release of the appraisal or opinion of value. And if that isn't acceptable then I don't do the appraisal.

I'm willing to work with people. And if a mutually beneficial and respectful relationship develops I'll even bill my fee. But, since I've yet to develop such a relationship in this business I don't bill my fee since I don't appreciate working for free.

 

[Webbed Feet]

Webbed, that sounds perfectly workable but not perfect fool proof. In the OP's case the owner was not available during inspection. Can't exactly have the child sign a contract and expect it to have validity.

CWD,

Agreed. It is almost impossible to make this fool proof and function under the day to day business enviroment. I've arrived for a CAD and had the door slammed in my face by a a**hole borrower that could have easily called me and left a message they had changed their mind. They had my number.

All we can do is avoid the ones we can. It's just that quite a few appraisers make almost no effort to cover themselves and ignore very obvious warning signs of pending trouble.

Webbed.

 

[Smokey Bear]

I ask who will be there for the appointment. If the son was a minor, I would reschedule. Like I said before, this job said bad news from the start - many clues that the OP would get screwed.

 

[David Sawyer]

I am back from my golf trip. 32 of us old farts, semi-retired and retired played all four coarses at Innisbrook, a resort north of Tampa. You folks in that area certainly have something to be proud of. Got back late Friday afternoon and then did not have enough golf and went and played at the club yesterday for a fifth straight day of golf.

While I was gone on Tuesday the MB manager emailed his credit card number to the "boss" in this household who ran it through and then send my appraisal in. All I received back was merely "thanks". The MB manager was a chicken *hit and never called and offered any apologies, not that I would ever expect any from most MB

I wish to say thanks to each and every one of you for your input and your comments as they all had merit. There is always a lesson to be learned from your past mistakes.

Under normal circumstandances, living by our business policies is always best. However, there are certain situations where we alter these "cast in stone" practices that we have and sometimes they come back and bite us in the behind. I play the percentages as I lucked out here and I am still batting a 1000% on my collections.