Discovered a major error in my appraisal - now what?

[stencil]

Measure the back of your house to decide which sketch is correct.

If it's 76' - the 1st one is correct
If it's 56' - the 2nd one is correct
There is also a decrepancy with the bump out in front...either 22' or 26'

I only have a 30' tape measure but I tried to be as accurate as possible.

My measurements:

77' 6" for length of house
24' 5" for "bump" on front of house
28' 2 1/2" for depth of house on left hand side
2' for the indentation at the bump

I'm not sure exactly how to measure the garage portion, but their measurements are basically consistent there.

 

[stencil]

Update from Original Poster

Got a hold of the appraiser today and he agreed to come out and remeasure tomorrow. He was very reasonable and basically said if there is an error of that size then he would do whatever he could to make it right.

The lender called me back today and agreed that would be a good first step but they won't do anything until they know that there has been a mistake. They use an AMC (which I had never heard of before, thanks for the info GCJim!), and he gave me their contact info. I'll wait until tomorrow to determine if I should call the AMC or wait until the appraiser does so.

 

[Ken B]

As far as I'm concerned, your most recent appraiser blew it badly. While some may think you should be a nice guy and should avoid "getting anyone in trouble", the appraiser has failed to perform proper diligence in his work and deserves to get his hand slapped. You should not be embarrassed to file a complaint with the appropriate regulatory agency in NJ.

Good luck.

 

[residentialguy]

I only have a 30' tape measure but I tried to be as accurate as possible.

My measurements:

77' 6" for length of house
24' 5" for "bump" on front of house
28' 2 1/2" for depth of house on left hand side
2' for the indentation at the bump

I'm not sure exactly how to measure the garage portion, but their measurements are basically consistent there.

Ok...looks like your original appraiser was the accurate one

Here's with your measurements. You may be off with your 30' tape.

 

[hastalavista]

If the appraiser that shows up to re-measure the house is not the same person who showed up the first time, ask for the new person to identify him/herself and verify who signed the original report.

If the person who signed the original report is not the person who originally and incorrectly measured your house, then please file a complaint. If this is for a mortgage finance transaction, the appraiser who signs the report is required to personally inspect the property. They can have an assistant do the work, but they must be present and complete the walk-through inspection.

I'm hoping the above is not the case. If it is, that is a serious issue.

Good luck!

 

[Mike Garrett RAA]

I concur...that is too big of an error to just pass on. If the appraiser can't measure a simple house like your's then he needs some education, training, and a censure for the state board. I would be interest in seeing the entire appraisal report. Bet there are other errors.

Be advised that appraisal management companies (AMCs) are notorious for hiring the least qualified mainly so that they, the AMCs, can pay as little as possible and keep as much of the fee as possible.

 

[stencil]

Another update from the OP

Hi all, thanks for lots of good advice.

The appraiser came back out, took the measurements, and is revising his appraisal to reflect square footage somewhere in the 1800's. He said with the comps he is finding that the new value is going to be $280,000. While this is not as high as I hoped, it puts our current LTV at 78.57%.

Now comes the fun part of figuring out how I can actually get this corrected. The appraiser said I should contact my lender and tell them he made a material error in the appraisal and it is being changed. I contacted the lender and they said I need to contact the servicer or the loan (Wells Fargo). I called Wells Fargo today and a not very helpful woman told me that Wells Fargo's policy is not to remove PMI until the LTV reaches 75%. That seems wrong to me as I understood the standard to be 78%. In addition, my closing documents show in the PMI disclosure that our PMI is scheduled to terminate when our LTV goes below 78%, and that we are entitled to request cancelation when it goes below 80% (which is now if you use the correct valuation).

I know this stuff is really out of the scope of an appraiser, but I figured some of you might want to know what's going on with this situation.

As far as reporting the appraiser in question, at this point I am putting all of my energies into trying to get my loan fixed. I'll decide later whether reporting him is the right thing to do, and whether I have enough energy to actually put forth that effort.

Thanks again for all of your help! If this ever gets corrected I will post a follow up to let you all know.

 

[Bill Streep]

Well, I'll disagree with your mortgage originator. If I have this right, your mortgage company sold your note to Wells? If so, your mortgage originator hired the appraiser (or, more likely had it farmed out to an AMC, but they are still responsible).

So, I'd tell your originator that if they don't pick up this ball and run with it for you, you will be filing complaints on them with the State (mortgage brokers are licensed now). Gotta give the appraiser credit - he stood us and said, "that mistake is mine". Now that he has, it's up to your mortgage company to run with this to Wells, not yours.

 

[Mike Kennedy]

"The appraiser came back out, took the measurements, and is revising his appraisal to reflect square footage somewhere in the 1800's. He said with the comps he is finding that the new value is going to be $280,000."

Please be certain to request copies of BOTH current, original and revised appraisal reports and the statement above in your written complaint to the NJ Appraisal Board.

http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/real/

 

[BRCJR]

"The appraiser came back out, took the measurements, and is revising his appraisal to reflect square footage somewhere in the 1800's. He said with the comps he is finding that the new value is going to be $280,000."

Please be certain to request copies of BOTH current, original and revised appraisal reports and the statement above in your written complaint to the NJ Appraisal Board.

http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/real/

He should have not said "with the comps.......................280,000"