Dee Dee
Elite Member
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2002
- Professional Status
- Certified Residential Appraiser
- State
- Colorado
You have an effective date on the appraisal that is prior to getting the assignment from the lender. That doesn't look good in your file because it indicates that you have a relationship with the investor. Unless, of course, you're changing your effective date, which would basically be lying to cover your tracks and I'm sure you know better than that. Now that you know this wasn't a good idea the problem will be corrected in the future, but previous files that you've done for this guy already leave a paper trail that would be evidence of bias toward the borrower if they were ever closely examined. That, in and of itself, wouldn't make me lose sleep at night, but then there's this post that has me concerned:
This sounds too much like equity stripping, which is a predatory practice that is gaining more and more attention in the media and becoming a widespread problem. Suffice it to say that the last thing you want is to be closely linked to any 'investor' who preys on people who have fallen into hard times. Read the following links carefully. There are many more like it if you do a web search on the topic.
If this is what your 'investor' does, then you don't want to be associated with him anymore. Look into it Kate. Maybe I'm way off base here, but you really need to investigate what this guy is up to before you do any more work for him. Surely you don't want to take blood money and as I mentioned before you probably have a paper trail that could implicate you. If your reputation means anything then it would be a good idea to back away ASAP if this guy is up to no good. Any ethical appraiser who knew something like this was going on wouldn't have a thing to do with it.
About Equity Stripping
And here's one of the latest civil suits for equity stripping:
http://wcco.com/localnews/local_story_182074342.html
Remember, unless there's a tidy profit for the 'investor' they wouldn't be doing this, and the natural course would be that the property would go into foreclosure with the bank or the homeowner would negotiate something with the lender. That leads me to believe that there is equity to be stripped. If this is the case, then it falls right into line with your statement that his financial resources to pick up these places are not conventional ones. If he's not the lead man in these deals, then there's a possibility that the 'investors' that sell these properties to him are doing the dirty deed.
Pam was right on when she said:
Again, look into it Kate. Other than a couple of posters on this thread, I get the impression that everyone is smelling a rat here.
Yes, there are legitimate investors, but there's some real scum too. You are the only one who can determine what you are dealing with because you know or can find out all of the details. For your sake, I HOPE that I am jumping to paranoid conclusions, but if I'm on the right track then I figure that you need to get your eyes opened quick. If nothing else, perhaps this post will be a good learning reference for other appraisers.
This sounds too much like equity stripping, which is a predatory practice that is gaining more and more attention in the media and becoming a widespread problem. Suffice it to say that the last thing you want is to be closely linked to any 'investor' who preys on people who have fallen into hard times. Read the following links carefully. There are many more like it if you do a web search on the topic.
If this is what your 'investor' does, then you don't want to be associated with him anymore. Look into it Kate. Maybe I'm way off base here, but you really need to investigate what this guy is up to before you do any more work for him. Surely you don't want to take blood money and as I mentioned before you probably have a paper trail that could implicate you. If your reputation means anything then it would be a good idea to back away ASAP if this guy is up to no good. Any ethical appraiser who knew something like this was going on wouldn't have a thing to do with it.
About Equity Stripping
And here's one of the latest civil suits for equity stripping:
http://wcco.com/localnews/local_story_182074342.html
Remember, unless there's a tidy profit for the 'investor' they wouldn't be doing this, and the natural course would be that the property would go into foreclosure with the bank or the homeowner would negotiate something with the lender. That leads me to believe that there is equity to be stripped. If this is the case, then it falls right into line with your statement that his financial resources to pick up these places are not conventional ones. If he's not the lead man in these deals, then there's a possibility that the 'investors' that sell these properties to him are doing the dirty deed.
Pam was right on when she said:
Again, look into it Kate. Other than a couple of posters on this thread, I get the impression that everyone is smelling a rat here.
Yes, there are legitimate investors, but there's some real scum too. You are the only one who can determine what you are dealing with because you know or can find out all of the details. For your sake, I HOPE that I am jumping to paranoid conclusions, but if I'm on the right track then I figure that you need to get your eyes opened quick. If nothing else, perhaps this post will be a good learning reference for other appraisers.
