Mark,
Thank you for the friendly words about the seminar. We are making one more trip to do the class again with KREAB on 4/15 in Florence, KY. Our precise, but general advice is don't a return any fee without getting a release signed -- because without a release, the threatening attorney may just gladly accept the refund and turn around and sue the appraiser for negligence, using the refund as an admission by the appraiser that there was something wrong with the report. However, it's up to the appraiser whether they want to return a fee and, even though a demand for return of a fee is not usually a "claim" under any E&O, I've walked a handful of appraisers through how to defend themselves in small claims court cases when borrowers are demanding a fee refund. All of these appraisers won and felt good about standing up for themselves.
Thanks, Peter Christensen (LIA's general counsel)
