Opinion on Appraisal

[client123]

Hmmm, so if someone stole tens of thousands of dollars from you and you knew he'd probably do to that to many other people, you wouldn't report it??? :Eyecrazy:

I did not say that we were not going to report it, but I don't WANT to report it. The prospect of hiring an attorney and filing a complaint with the state board is not my idea of fun, and honestly I dread the idea. Unlike the appraiser, we don't carry insurance for these types of mistakes, and we will be paying for an attorney out-of-pocket. Also, there are no guarantees if we go down that road, and even if we do collect damages equal to the increased costs associated with the loan, those damages are taxable. On top of that, we are out attorney's fees. We will never be made "whole." Does it mean that we won't report it? No, but it does mean that I want to attempt to resolve this through the other channels first.

ETA - I don't know anything about this appraiser's body of work. I have no idea if this is typical for him. What I do know is that our report is filled with numerous errors, and I would like those fixed. That's a far cry from an appraiser who routinely goes around swindling money from his clients. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, and while the situation is still fluid, I can hope that the situation will be resolved. If it is not satisfactorily resolved, we will weigh all of our options at that point.

 

[residentialguy]

You're a good person, OP. May you have a blessed Thanksgiving. All the best to you on your mortgage situation.

 

[PhillyApp]

Client123, It seems that you have done a great deal of market research and the situation you describe appears negligent. You have been given the best advice possible in this thread.

That said, where did your market data come from?? Have you been able to verify it through tax records or public sources other than internet applications such as Zillow, Trulia, etc?

I mention this as we are required to verify data and I often find MLS information incorrect and as far as the internet sites are concerned their data is not considered reliable on it's own.

That said, I also wish you success in righting this situation and a Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[client123]

Client123, It seems that you have done a great deal of market research and the situation you describe appears negligent. You have been given the best advice possible in this thread.

That said, where did your market data come from?? Have you been able to verify it through tax records or public sources other than internet applications such as Zillow, Trulia, etc?

I mention this as we are required to verify data and I often find MLS information incorrect and as far as the internet sites are concerned their data is not considered reliable on it's own.

That said, I also wish you success in righting this situation and a Happy Thanksgiving.

We pulled all of our information from the tax records. The appraiser did update some of his mistakes on the comp/market grid, but apparently changes in the value of the comps did not affect his opinion of the market value of the subject property. I am crossing my fingers that we will be able to talk to a person at the title company tomorrow.

 

[client123]

I am now fuming. After a week of back and forth with the lender, we were finally able to get some "answers." I use that term extremely loosely. For the past week, the lender has been telling us that the title company would be in touch so that we could voice our concerns. After a not so nice call into the lender yesterday, they finally have a response from the title company. According to the lender, the title company said that they conducted a formal internal review and determined that the appraiser's work was "sloppy" and that he would be receiving coaching moving forward. However, they will not reconsider the value.

At this point in time, I fully understand that a legal remedy is the only way to compensate us for our financial damage. We also plan to move forward with a complaint to the state board, but in the meantime, I still would like a formal response from the appraiser concerning the errors that we have sent to him. They are FACTUAL errors that nobody will address. Although we have not threatened legal action, the title company and the lender no longer want to put any correspondence in writing. It stinks from here to kingdom come. Anyway, I will update as we have more information.

 

[Eli]

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?

 

[Eli]

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.

 

[chad hampton]

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!

 

[Eli]

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, means nothing.

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.

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.

 

[chad hampton]

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.

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.