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How Many Cancel Assignments Bc Of Difficult Borrowers/builders?

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nachocheesefries

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2006
Professional Status
Certified Residential Appraiser
State
Missouri
I am cancelling an assignment today because the builder has been a real nasty piece of work to my secretary. She says he is a woman hater. :) After meeting him at the inspection yesterday, I can confirm he is REAL standoffish and probably just hates everyone equally.

I used to proceed anyway, but the older I get the less I am inclined to proceed if I know the builder or borrower are going to raise hell. In this case, the home is not going to come it, which I didn't realize until AFTER I had already inspected.

What do you do? Tell em all to kick rocks and proceed with the report OR cut your losses and move on to the next assignment?
 
Be professional and act professionally......
 
I rarely cancel but when I do I call the lender /client and explain that because of conflict or extreme difficulty of the ( agent, owner whoever) I can not proceed with the assignment. I don't personally tell the individual that I am stopping appraisal, I leave it up to client to tell the person it has been reassigned. I dont' charge the client if I chose to cancel. If I had to speak to the person, I would make it very brief, professional and quick. Tell them the lender will be reassigning, (don't even offer a reason, ) tell them you have to leave on an appointment, good bye.

The problem I encounter is when someone seems "normal" during inspection/ or appointments, but turns out to be a nut case after report is turned in...that has happened several times over the past 5 years and I wished I could have picked up a clue but there was none till they turned into pyscho head case because they did not like something in the report.
 
I am cancelling an assignment today because the builder has been a real nasty piece of work to my secretary. She says he is a woman hater. :) After meeting him at the inspection yesterday, I can confirm he is REAL standoffish and probably just hates everyone equally.

I used to proceed anyway, but the older I get the less I am inclined to proceed if I know the builder or borrower are going to raise hell. In this case, the home is not going to come it, which I didn't realize until AFTER I had already inspected.

What do you do? Tell em all to kick rocks and proceed with the report OR cut your losses and move on to the next assignment?

Each case would be different. Has to be very extreme behavior on the persons part for me to cancel, but everyone has a different threshold . I was never sorry when I cancelled due this kind of scenario. As I said though, it is not always consistent. Some people who acted like jerks never heard a peep after a report finished ( even when below a SC price), other people seemed normal but turned into nut cases after report...on a refinance not always a purchase...just weird it seems.
 
Trust your instincts. I'd rather cancel and endure a short-term unpleasant situation than an seemingly un-ending hell. Being professional doesn't mean you have to take crap from some bully who isn't. Like someone else said "Be professional and act professionally......".
 
You don't want to give the client the impression that you can't handle a challenging borrower, as rightly or wrongly, they will let that reflect on you. I've noticed that some clients seem to attract a certain breed of borrowers - one or two clients seemed to consistently have borrowers that were always angry about something and I found those clients to be a bit of a challenge too. But there are plenty of clients out there that tend to be pragmatic about these types of issues, they just aren't going to call you up and laugh about what a jerk that last guy was since he is still their customer. Just like there are a mix of good and bad assignments, the people that we deal with are a mixed bag. If it were me, I'd suck it up and complete the assignment. Whenever the borrower calls afterward, remind him that you can only discuss the assignment with the client, not him.
 
We should reserve the right to cancel without explanation for characters like that one. I'm very mild mannered when dealing with people, even so, I probably have one like that once every couple of years with an over the top ego. Usually it's the Real-a-tore from hell, but in the world of egos some builders can be far worse.....they're also more fun if the incident turns ugly and the game becomes cat and mouse. :-)
 
Only once that comes to mind, but the guy was a complete jerk and would not cooperate with my inspection, so I left.
They tried to assign to me again later, I refused it. If the inspection was done, I would probably finish the report. Why cancel just because it won't "come in"? I really don't see that as being too professional.
 
I've cancelled a very few times.

I'm a professional, and my time is valuable. In fact, it is my stock in trade. This isn't just a "job" - it is the sum total of all I've learned over many years, and it's an awesome responsibility. Serious stuff. Luckily, 98% of people realize that. But then there's the special ones that don't get this thing called life.

If someone wants to play games or create difficulties just to be a jerk, I have more important things to do. Life is not a game. In fact, I always remember a saying I heard a long time ago: don't waste time because that's what life is made of. And you can't get it back.

I will cancel with no hesitation if the circumstances call for it. But that's only happened a handful of times over the past 17 years.

However, when I do cancel, I've never regretted it. I don't care if they like me, and I don't care if they're nice to me. Those would be a bonus, of course, but not necessary. It's business, pure and simple. But, whether they like it or not, they will respect me as a professional. If they can't or won't do that, they can figure out what to do next on their own, because I'm gone.

Don't second guess yourself, and never EVER be ashamed for refusing to be treated with disrespect. Trust me - you'll like yourself for being able to take a stand and not let anyone who comes through the door walk on you.
 
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