Should an appraiser be told how the appraisal will be used?

[Bill_FL]

Tony, is there a significant difference between the appraised values from the two different appraisers?

 

[GoBears]

Bill, not sure what constitutes significant, but for the two completed appraisals on the property going the trustee, the delta is 50k (1.1M range). and on the property going to the other beneficiary, it is very tight at only 3k.

Of the 3 appraisers, only one of them was provided the full details on how these values will be used. This was the apprasier selected by the non-trustee beneficiary who wanted the appraiser to have as much info as possible...

 

[hastalavista]

Being that this beneficiary is not the client, is it alright for this beneficiary, an interested party, to share this information with the appraiser?

Well, I think it is ok for the beneficiary to share information. The appraiser must be careful as the appraiser is only supposed to discuss assignment issues and results with the client. The appraiser heard what you had to say but didn't respond directly, the appraiser would be acting appropriately (unless the appraiser was directed by the client not to interact with anyone else). Likewise, if the appraiser said he/she couldn't speak with you, that would be appropriate too. The assignment results and certain information is to be considered confidential between the appraiser and client. There are exceptions, none that apply here (as far as I can tell).

One thing is of worth considering. If I were the appraiser, and I was hired by the trustee, I would not speak on most issues to a 3rd party, and especially to a particular beneficiary; that could have a bad appearance even if we only talked about the weather. As onerous as it sounds, unless you can get the trustee to give the appraiser permission to speak freely to you, the appropriate course may be to direct your questions to the trustee, who would then decide to have the appraiser answer them or not.

Good luck!

 

[GoBears]

Thanks Denis.

This appraiser has been repsonsive in the past, and even stopped by this beneficiary's home one day when doing some work in her neighborhood. This was totally unexpected, but he just wanted to say hi, and he recalled that she lived in that area. While I find your expressed concerns to be good advice for an appraiser, this guy seems not to feel that way. Again, he doesn't know the full relevance of these appraisals and the competing interests involved; so that might explain that I suppose...

I appreciate the well wishes. The input was helpful, thank you.