As appraisers we rely on data from the assessor's office. Our appraisals are reviewed against the GLA that the assessor provides. Frequently, I call the assessor's office to amend data that is incorrect because I worry about Fannie Mae CU. However, they will consistently put illegal GLA on the record to collect for taxes. They will admit to this over the phone. I thought that it needs to be "legally permissible" to be valued. Fannie Mae said it was fraudulent to put incorrect information in the public record. Many lawsuits result from putting the wrong GLA in the record, yet since they do not require them to be licensed there does not seem to be any accountability. It puts appraisers in a liability situation because even a false claim can destroy the credibility of the appraiser. Appraisers need this information from Fannie Mae from CU so that we can better serve the public and restore faith in our profession. Recently, a lot with two homes was rated as a single-family residence. When I asked the assessor why, she said well most of them are single-family properties in this market and refused to change it. Their excuse is that it is an "internal rating" system. They also put manufactured homes as single-family homes. Fannie Mae said this was fraudulent. The owners are going to get hassled every time they refinance who own these properties. It's not fair to the homeowner, appraisers, and is pure negligence on the part of the assessor's office. We are all being held to a certain standard and the authorities are not doing their do diligence. We need access to Collateral Underwriter to produce credible results.
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The property is what it is. Going back to my earlier example, the fact that the tax card would say its commercial would have no effect on my appraisal.
