Appraising A Property Being Used For Illicit Purposes

[Ken B]

Only around Tampa.

 

[bnmappraisal]

Only around Tampa.

WHOOOOOAAAAAA!!!!! hahahaha
... not all of us!

.... but yes, lots of "interesting" bedrooms in the area - nothing illicit though

 

[Non Sequitur]

Only around Tampa.

Bucs fans need something to do.

 

[CANative]

 

[jay trotta]

Invasion of privacy is the intrusion into the personal life of another, without just cause, which can give the person whose privacy has been invaded a right to bring a lawsuit for damages against the person or entity that intruded. It encompasses workplace monitoring, Internet privacy, data collection, and other means of disseminating private information.

Celebrities are not protected in most situations, since they have voluntarily placed themselves already within the public eye, and their activities are considered newsworthy.

The Question would be; how much information do you need to Opine a Market Value ?
What is relevant and What is Not ?
Exactly Why the "GLB" requirements You agree to, are there, when taking an assignment are worth Reading.......

snowglobe library is full of those little "tricky" things you need to know; you are only there to observe, nothing more Rambo

 

[J Grant]

A collection of slot machines would be different than slot machines installed and running with a crowd inside feeding money into them as would be different than a simple game of poker...

 

[Noreen]

Unless we're talking about a zoning violation, probably not a good idea to make assumptions on "legality". I would explain what you saw to the client and go from there.

I agree with Vermonter plus does Graham-Leach-Bliley kick in as to confidentiality. And I agree with the false accusation comment.

 

[Noreen]

I'm in the camp saying contact the client before proceeding with the appraisal. Until you do that, you don't know what their lending policy/guidelines are, or what they may be concerned about.

In certain cases, contact with legal authorities may be warranted.

You probably will be asked to be very specific as to what you observed. In some cases, you might even be asked to provide exterior photos at the very minimum to reveal what was observed.

A vast majority of our assignments are for mortgage lending purposes. As such, we appraisers are the eyes/ears for the lender. I'm constantly amazed by the number of responders who ignorantly recommend appraisers just appraise the real estate and disregard 'illicit' or 'unlawful' activity that may be in evidence on the property. Doing so has the potential to hide fraud or crimes that may be occurring. The appraiser then becomes complicit.

One really must be willing to turn inward and examine these kinds of situations ethically. Decline any assignment where theire is any hint of gut churning, and let some other person deal with it.

YES!! Here in NH, I have seen the Feds come and cease a property that was purchased with or supported by "Ill Gotten Gains" ( typically drug dealers, obviously violating Fed Statues).

 

[J Grant]

If I saw what I suspected was illegal activity at a criminal level I would inform the lender and resign from assignment , I would not call authorities unless I saw a child or animal at risk of being harmed or being harmed.

 

[jay trotta]

If I saw what I suspected was illegal activity at a criminal level I would inform the lender and resign from assignment , I would not call authorities unless I saw a child or animal at risk of being harmed or being harmed.

Invasion of privacy is the intrusion into the personal life of another, without just cause, which can give the person whose privacy has been invaded a right to bring a lawsuit for damages against the person or entity that intruded. It encompasses workplace monitoring, Internet privacy, data collection, and other means of disseminating private information.