Reviewing an Appraisal of a Property I Have Already Recently Appraised

[ucbruin]

skip the USPAP and appraiser lingo with civilians, or they won't understand you. you can point out obvious material mistakes like a listing, although if used for support, what would you say. but if you feel something obvious wrong and you can explain it in civilians terms, to your civilian then go ahead. all the USPAP stuff, throw out the window, they don't care. you can always mail it to the state with a list of what to look at, they care. you don't need your name or address anywhere on it. they might think it came from the owner.

Why would you remain anonymous....

After a decade on the Forum, I can say with 100% certainty....
If a forumite received a complaint based on an anonymous tipster, they would go apoplectic....

 

[sputnam]

If it goes to court the judge, in all likelihood, won't care about USPAP issues or even the other errors. His concern is "is the appraised value credible", not how he got there.

I've been in court as an expert witness. More than once. The judges definitely cared about USPAP issues. How the appraiser 'got there' is the essence of credibility. Courts are aware and understand that appraisals are opinions.

 

[Tom D]

i don't know if the judges understand it. the attorney, if good, will make you look bad, even without it. now the state will punish you for technical mistakes. but a divorce judge usually meets in the middle, unless something really bad with one appraisal. how the appraiser got there is an easy matter with the factual info, following USPAP will glaze the jury eyes. i don't think most judges see enough USPAP to get into knowing that book.

but i also believe you sputman, a good judge might take that course every 2 years to be up on the updates, like the definition of an appraisal.

 

[J Grant]

I've been in court as an expert witness. More than once. The judges definitely cared about USPAP issues. How the appraiser 'got there' is the essence of credibility. Courts are aware and understand that appraisals are opinions.

Anybody can allege that a USPAP violation was made about an appraisal or a review - regardless of whether a violation was made or not. And sloppy writing or typing in all CAPS, two of the flaws the OP notes , are not USPAP violations.

I wonder if the atty has to make the review available to the other side - and if so, they will get the OP's appraisal reviewed or ask the judge to dismiss it for prejudice - I doubt they will just take it lying down -

 

[sputnam]

Judges don't have to be experts in anything.

 

[sputnam]

Anybody can allege that a USPAP violation was made about an appraisal or a review - regardless of whether a violation was made or not. And sloppy writing or typing in all CAPS, two of the flaws the OP notes , are not USPAP violations.

I wonder if the atty has to make the review available to the other side - and if so, they will get the OP's appraisal reviewed or ask the judge to dismiss it for prejudice - I doubt they will just take it lying down -

Which is why in court, lawyers call (and pay) expert witnesses. Neither the judge nor the jury needs to be expert in all issues relating to the dispute or charge. They rely on the opinions of the expert witness to explain.

 

[Mark K]

Certainly, the judge in any courtroom might not care about the nuances of USPAP, but I do think the other appraisal is going to have a big issue because of the whole, "This report complies with USPAP" comment." It also certifies, "The statements of fact in this report are true and correct." These are two statements that are going to be easy for the lawyer to disprove in minutes.

From my experience (I've testified about10 times) the judge would consider the defects in the development a separate issue to be addressed appropriately but if the appraised value was reasonable, that would override those issues, especially in a divorce case.

I've never turned in another appraiser's report to a state board.

I turned in four over the years. Two were due to VERY obvious owner advocacy issues, completed by appraiser prostitutes with those fancy initials after their name hired by attorneys in condemnation cases, and two for shear and utter incompetence.

I've also never turned a report into a county (due to size differences or code violations).

In 35 yrs. of appraisals, I turned in only one to the county. This was due to the assessor records indicating a vacant lot when there was a 6 yr old custom home on the site. I turned it in because the owner was an employee in the Assessor's office.

 

[Cob]

I appraised the subject in March for a divorce client. Since then, another appraiser appraised the same property. Last night my client sent me a copy. It's bad (like really bad).

The other appraisal doesn't contain a definition or source for "market value." It doesn't identify the client of the report or any intended users. It's on an old Fannie form but without any added certifications or limiting conditions. There's no scope of work. The description of the site is inadequate (no zoning analysis, highest and best use as vacant analysis, lot shape description, or anything at all to distinguish unique features of the lot). The appraisal (due to its boilerplate) contradicts itself in at least 3 places (concerning exposure time, the cost approach, and external obsolescence). The addendum references the old MLS (M.R.I.S., which is now gone) and the 2002 version of USPAP, which tells me that the appraiser hasn't bothered to update his addendum in 20 years. Comp 3 is an active listing, not a closed sale, and there are hundreds of recent sales in the market area. The sketch contains no measurements at all, and the size is off by nearly three hundred sf. Style-wise, it's horrendous (ALL CAPS, no articles, all in the passive voice, and clearly not spell-checked).

What are the reasons I should NOT perform a full review of the other appraisal?

I would simply tell them that you have performed an appraisal on the subject property previously, so it's a conflict of interest, that's my opinion. My opinion would be, I have completed an appraisal on the subject property previously, my job is done, I can not comment on another appraiser's appraisal report or complete a review on another appraiser's appraisal report. If they have concerns about this othe appraisal completed on the subject property, they should hire an independent appraiser who has NOT completed an appraisal on the subject property to review either of the 2 appraisal reports and get their opinion.

You completed an appraisal for the divorce client, your work is DONE.

 

[Sadie]

Does the state need to see this? Because most boards care more about the nuts and bolts of the appraisal and the value is not the issue. How the value is supported, not necessarily the value itself. If what you said is missing from the report is really missing, then the report is considered misleading due to errors of ommision. No value definition, then what kind of value did the appraiser arrive at? (is if in the boiler plate of the old forms?). Who is the client, what is the SOW, etc.

 

[Tom D]

most attornies want your free advice on what they should bring up. the GLA mistake would alone make the judge concerned. these are factual errors that would affect value, or concern that this appraiser is not compotent. the rest of it is beyound the thinking of the judge.

however, it is these tech things the state will punish you for. you don't have to sign the letter pointing out these issues. bad eventually gets caught and suspended. you can just speed it up.

all this being said you never mention the most important thing in a divorce trial. were the values way off knowing who wants it high or low. most of your picky review comments aren't important in a civilian trial, USPAP has no home there.