Opinion on Appraisal

[client123]

I'm sorry to hear that. Did you show the lender the prior appraisals to support your concerns? So, I guess them ordering another appraisal was out of the question too?

Two of our previous appraisals with done through this lending company. They are definitely aware of the discrepancy.

I am just thinking, it might be helpful if you could speak with the compliance officer of the lender. It still has strong indications of poor criteria used in selecting the appraiser based strictly on the information you have provided.

We may go down this route. I am so frustrated right now.

Like something is breaking down somewhere. I really can't see the title company having much authority here. They work for the lender just like the appraiser. It needs to be resolved with the lender, if it is going to get resolved. I believe I would focus on the lender and try to get with the compliance person there. They should be able to get errors fixed in a heartbeat, if the appraiser ever wants to work for them again. Maybe the message is not getting to the appraiser correctly somehow. The appraiser may just be having other troubles somehow, or not realizing the extent of the errors.

The title company is an AMC and hired the appraiser, and that is why the lender wants to put us in touch with the title company. To be honest, I do not think that the appraiser is aware of the most recent communication, and that is part of my frustration. I do not blame the appraiser for the lack of communication at all. However, there were errors that were part of our original ROV that were not addressed at all. We have asked for clarification on that matter, but my gut feeling is that request is being passed back and forth between the AMC and lender. However, the lender states that the title company has made it clear that there will NOT be any additional revision to the value of our home... despite the claim that the appraiser's work was "sloppy."

Something seems off here, I would have no problem addressing revision/correction requests on an appraisal I submitted.

There is no such thing as not being able to correct an appraisal when there are "factual" errors in it. Just because the appraisal has been signed and delivered, doesn't mean it can't be revised. Even changes in value can be made, I would suspect most of us here have revised values on reports when presented with additional information or corrections in our original report.

I haven't read through this entire 4 pages, but has the appraiser even been presented with these "errors" and been asked to correct them? While we all make mistakes, I have not met 1 appraiser yet that doesn't want to make sure his appraisal is correct when it comes to GLA, bedrooms, baths, condition, etc. While we may disagree on value, those things should be correct.

I'm not a big fan of turning appraisers into the state, this thing should be able to be corrected without going that route (in fact, the state won't correct it either). But if he has been notified and has not responded, then I guess you have to do what you have to do.

Hope you get this resolved, but seems there is more to the story? Lenders what to lend, they want to make money. To just toss your file away based on what you claim to be factual errors seems a bit odd. I'm not saying this is the case, but appraisals are sometimes blamed for many other reasons for not lending money.

Please keep us updated. I'm interested in how this plays out. Best of luck!

The original report contained errors in bed/bath count of subject home, square footage of multiple comps, and the sales price of another comparable just to give you an idea of what are report looks like. While the errors were fixed on the market grid, that did not affect the appraiser's opinion of the market value of subject property ($10K adjustment for bed bath was made in the revised report but an additional $62K adjustment due to a square footage error in comp #2 was not reflected in our market value at all). How in the world does that work?

He also states throughout the report that since no comp could be found that was within 25% GLA, within 1 mile of subject property, and sold within the past 12 months that he was forced to consider sales outside of those parameters. We sent him a list of many homes that fit all of those criteria to consider, and he did not respond in any manner. At this point, part of what we want to know is why those homes were not considered.

While the appraiser's work was initially extremely sloppy, the lack of resolution is not entirely his fault. Since it is my impression that he is not being given a fair chance to issue a formal response (due to lack to communication between the lender and title company), I kind of feel badly. However, the amount of time and energy that his errors have caused us is ridiculous. I am just dumbfounded by the mistakes in the report.

 

[client123]

I'm with you, I have no idea how the title company is involved with the appraisal either.

I've never met a mtg broker/loan officer who won't bend over backwards to close a loan, it's what they do. And for this size of a loan, my phone would be getting worn out with phone calls trying to get this fixed so it can close.

I'd bet there something else going on, but I have no idea what.

I typed out a long response, but that is awaiting moderation. In the meantime, the title company is part of an AMC, who hired the appraiser.

 

[Michigan CG]

................the title company and the lender no longer want to put any correspondence in writing...........

...........The title company is an AMC and hired the appraiser, and that is why the lender wants to put us in touch with the title company. ................

Sounds like the AMC/Title company wants you to just go away. If you take legal action include everyone and let the court settle it.

If you are this far along you might want to have someone (appraiser) look at the report.

 

[james stephens]

While the appraiser's work was initially extremely sloppy, the lack of resolution is not entirely his fault. Since it is my impression that he is not being given a fair chance to issue a formal response (due to lack to communication between the lender and title company), I kind of feel badly. However, the amount of time and energy that his errors have caused us is ridiculous. I am just dumbfounded by the mistakes in the report.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. IMHO, reading through your posts, you have been honest and sincere in your portrayal of your neighborhood and the situation at hand. I live in Norcross, Georgia and have done a several appraisals in the Brookhaven area in the last year (mostly for construction loans). It has been a very "hot" market in recent years!

With respect to your frustrations in trying to get answers/corrections for the recent appraisal - You might want to assert that you will pursue revocation of the AMC's (Title Company's) registration in the state of Georgia for incompetence. I'm not sure how you would go about it exactly, but I don't think it would be that difficult and I would be more than willing to help out since I despise AMC's and how they conduct business. Good luck!

 

[client123]

Sounds like the AMC/Title company wants you to just go away. If you take legal action include everyone and let the court settle it.

If you are this far along you might want to have someone (appraiser) look at the report.

We are in the process of getting a second independent appraisal and are paying for this one completely out-of-pocket. I am so frustrated with this entire situation right now. The most recent person with whom we spoke at the lender said he may be handing us off to someone new. Right now, I feel that there is a ton of crosstalk but no real progress. I am just as frustrated with the lender as I am with the appraiser at the moment.

I would love to be able to send an email directly to the appraiser with all of concerns, but I don't want to risk "tainting" our report in any manner.

 

[client123]

Hope you get this resolved, but seems there is more to the story? Lenders what to lend, they want to make money. To just toss your file away based on what you claim to be factual errors seems a bit odd. I'm not saying this is the case, but appraisals are sometimes blamed for many other reasons for not lending money.

Please keep us updated. I'm interested in how this plays out. Best of luck!

I am not sure what you are getting at, but I can say with 100% certainty that the only reason that we are not closing right now is because of the appraisal value. The lender is encouraging us to close with the current appraisal and asking us to bring extra money to the table. They asked us if we could close early next week. However, we are not closing on anything until this issue is resolved.

 

[client123]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. IMHO, reading through your posts, you have been honest and sincere in your portrayal of your neighborhood and the situation at hand. I live in Norcross, Georgia and have done a several appraisals in the Brookhaven area in the last year (mostly for construction loans). It has been a very "hot" market in recent years!

With respect to your frustrations in trying to get answers/corrections for the recent appraisal - You might want to assert that you will pursue revocation of the AMC's (Title Company's) registration in the state of Georgia for incompetence. I'm not sure how you would go about it exactly, but I don't think it would be that difficult and I would be more than willing to help out since I despise AMC's and how they conduct business. Good luck!

Thank you for the offer. We know what we need to do to file a complaint with the state. That will be used as a last resort, but if we need to go down that road, we will. I am completely exasperated right now.

Would you mind if I sent you a PM later this week asking about some of the AMCs in the Atlanta area?

 

[client123]

Something seems off here, I would have no problem addressing revision/correction requests on an appraisal I submitted.

There is no such thing as not being able to correct an appraisal when there are "factual" errors in it. Just because the appraisal has been signed and delivered, doesn't mean it can't be revised. Even changes in value can be made, I would suspect most of us here have revised values on reports when presented with additional information or corrections in our original report.

I am not saying this is the case, but one theory is that the appraiser does not have much room to make adjustments. Since the gross adjustment for 4 of our 5 comps is over 24%, the appraiser simply cannot just update the information. The maximum allowable gross adjustment for any comp in Georgia is 25% (State governing body.... I cannot yet share links) so the appraiser would actually have to go back and pick a new comp. Just a thought.....

 

[james stephens]

Thank you for the offer. We know what we need to do to file a complaint with the state. That will be used as a last resort, but if we need to go down that road, we will. I am completely exasperated right now.

Would you mind if I sent you a PM later this week asking about some of the AMCs in the Atlanta area?

Sure, feel free to PM anytime or email me at james@jpstephens.net. Not sure if I will be able to answer your questions about AMC's in Atlanta since the last work I did for any AMC was a few years ago, but I can probably direct you to someone who can.

As far as Georgia Law and the maximum gross adjustment of 25%, it is a guideline and it acceptable to exceed that guideline as long as there is a "credible real estate appraisal explanation" for doing so. It mirrors the same guideline that has been in place for Fannie Mae and FHA appraisals for a long, long time. That said, AMC's, lenders, and investors can impose assignment conditions/guidelines that can be stricter than what is required by the State of Georgia, Fannie Mae, HUD, etc.

 

[chad hampton]

I am not sure what you are getting at, but I can say with 100% certainty that the only reason that we are not closing right now is because of the appraisal value. The lender is encouraging us to close with the current appraisal and asking us to bring extra money to the table. They asked us if we could close early next week. However, we are not closing on anything until this issue is resolved.

And I'm not saying that isn't the reason. Just odd that the lender seems more interested in your bringing more money to the table to close as opposed to obtaining an accurate appraisal.

I'd keep up with the lender and demand an error free appraisal. If your home is really worth $250k more, you shouldn't have to bring more money to the table just so you can close.

Many times lenders order 2 or more appraisals on a property, and then figure out what they want to do. I guarantee the appraisals don't come in at the same value. There is no policy that I'm aware of that says the 1st appraisal is the only appraisal and no other appraisals can be ordered).

I'd be interested in what your 2nd appraisal comes in at. You may or may not be able to use that appraisal for lending, but it will provide some piece of mind.

I don't know how he can get GLA of coms wrong - they are spelled out on the MLS page.

I understand your frustrations. This shouldn't be so complicated.