Should I report an obvious fraud?

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

Contact me about this and I will help as I can.

My email: pec514 @ yahoo. com

 

[Lee Lansford]

...When he called the state and finally got someone, they told him that he could not turn in that appraisal based on shoddy comps because its "An opinion of market value, which could differ from one appraiser to another"...
Sam

Assuming that everything that you offered is 100% accurate, the response is blatantly incorrect and contrary to the USPAP.

 

[Lobo Fan]

I don't think that letting the foreclosing lender know you are familiar with the property and previous appraisal is violation. They probably know that a previous lender refused to make the loan so that is not a news flash.

Tough call. If it looks like it is going to turn into a bunch of donated time, you can ask for a new fee. Otherwise, report it to the state, to Pam, to the FBI, whomever you can think of. A perp walk might convince someone to stop pushing through shaky deals.

 

[PropertyEconomics]

If you can actually figure out how to report fraudulent appraisers in the State Of Florida, I wish you very good luck. I was on the phone for an hour and 45 minutes trying to get information on how to do just that. It seems to me that in FL they want fraudulent appraisers to continue, business as usual. I have heard the same thing from other appraisers. And by the way, here is something else that I have heard. The old company I used to work for in Fort Myers does a lot of reviews. They did a review appraisal on blatant lies. The subject was on a no access, freshwater canal and they used all direct access canals to get value. When he called the state and finally got someone, they told him that he could not turn in that appraisal based on shoddy comps because its "An opinion of market value, which could differ from one appraiser to another". The only way he could turn it in is if there was something else that was a blatant violation. Lucky for my ex-supervisor (who is a very good appraiser) he had already noticed this appraisal was done by a trainee whose supervisor held a license in Tampa and couldn't appraise that far south. But that was the only reason he was able to turn it in.

I definitely wish you good luck and hope you can report it. I wish all the idiots would get out of our business and start flipping burgers or selling used cars.

Sam

This appraisal would fall under the category of being a misleading report and is in fact a direct violation of USPAP. I would call again and ask to speak to the head of your appraisal board and not the admin staff, not to diss admin people, but sometimes the facts and answers are blatently wrong. Misleading reports are a violation and are subject to board action.

 

[Mike Garrett RAA]

My comment too....if you know of a fraudulent appraisal and allow it to be used, you have violated USPAP. Confidentiality is not violated by reporting a fraudulent appraisal to your state board.

 

[Michael Tipton]

If you can actually figure out how to report fraudulent appraisers in the State Of Florida, I wish you very good luck. I was on the phone for an hour and 45 minutes trying to get information on how to do just that. It seems to me that in FL they want fraudulent appraisers to continue, business as usual. I have heard the same thing from other appraisers. And by the way, here is something else that I have heard. The old company I used to work for in Fort Myers does a lot of reviews. They did a review appraisal on blatant lies. The subject was on a no access, freshwater canal and they used all direct access canals to get value. When he called the state and finally got someone, they told him that he could not turn in that appraisal based on shoddy comps because its "An opinion of market value, which could differ from one appraiser to another". The only way he could turn it in is if there was something else that was a blatant violation. Lucky for my ex-supervisor (who is a very good appraiser) he had already noticed this appraisal was done by a trainee whose supervisor held a license in Tampa and couldn't appraise that far south. But that was the only reason he was able to turn it in.

I definitely wish you good luck and hope you can report it. I wish all the idiots would get out of our business and start flipping burgers or selling used cars.

Sam

I would suggest to your supervisor to contact the FREAB chairwoman. If staff is providing incorrect information to the public, corrective action is warranted. The FREAB cannot address this issue until they are advised of it. If your former supervisor needs the chairwoman's contact info send me a pm or e-mail thru this board.

 

[beowulf]

Its a sad situation and I run across it all the time. When I entered this business in 1969, competent appraisers were heralded as heros for going after the bad apples. Today, our industry is rife with fraudelent and incompetent appraisers. Its a problem throughout our society. Look no further than the scoundrals who run our national monetary policy/banking system. Who turned their heads when they were creating the current financial crisis with their shady back-room deals? While our so-called government leaders are good at passing legislation to govern us in our daily business practices, they are poor executers of that very legislation. Ethics mandate we turn bad appraisers in, but as small business people, we face ridicule, countless hours of aggravation and possible lawsuits. The state isn't equipped to take care of it and with more budget cuts on the way, it will ony get worse. When I get complaints from clients and others about a bad appraisal, I ask them to send me a copy. If I think it is deserving of turning in, I encourage the disgrunted client who paid for it to take the lead. Other than this, blogging forums like this are sadly becoming one of the last means of exposing our dirty laundry.

 

[Mztk1]

Does confidentiality agreements protect criminal activity?

Yes.

Remember the news about 2 months back on confidentiality between two lawyers and their client. Their client admitted to them that he had murdered someone that another person was serving a life sentence for having killed. The lawyers confidentiality were finally released because the client died and had written instructions that they could release the information after his death. The other man spent over 30 years in person for something the lawyers knew he didn't do but couldn't disclose it due to confidentiality.

 

[Couch Potato]

I did a review appraisal 10/2007 on a condo appraisal dated 07/2007.

1: Original appraisal used comps from summer 2006 with a value of $2.45M
2: My review with sales within 6 months indicated a value of $1.6M
3: I reported that the original appraisal was full of errors.
4: I believed that I shot it down, but it sold in November for $2.45M
5: Records show that a mortgage for $1.6M was issued at closing.
6: A Lis Pendens was just filed.
7: The lender was not my client.


My question is:

Should I inform this defrauded lender of the contents of my report done for a different client?

And the reason you failed to pass the bogus report along to the appraisal board with a complaint was??????

If the fraud was that obvious, why wait nine months to do anything?

If you can actually figure out how to report fraudulent appraisers in the State Of Florida, I wish you very good luck. I was on the phone for an hour and 45 minutes trying to get information on how to do just that. It seems to me that in FL they want fraudulent appraisers to continue, business as usual. I have heard the same thing from other appraisers. And by the way, here is something else that I have heard. The old company I used to work for in Fort Myers does a lot of reviews. They did a review appraisal on blatant lies. The subject was on a no access, freshwater canal and they used all direct access canals to get value. When he called the state and finally got someone, they told him that he could not turn in that appraisal based on shoddy comps because its "An opinion of market value, which could differ from one appraiser to another". The only way he could turn it in is if there was something else that was a blatant violation. Lucky for my ex-supervisor (who is a very good appraiser) he had already noticed this appraisal was done by a trainee whose supervisor held a license in Tampa and couldn't appraise that far south. But that was the only reason he was able to turn it in.

I definitely wish you good luck and hope you can report it. I wish all the idiots would get out of our business and start flipping burgers or selling used cars.

Sam

If the correctly described the subject and comparable sales, then is was a correct decision to say it was not something FREAB could do anything about. FREAB will never go after someone on matters of opinion, and comparable choice falls into that category. FREAB will likewise never go after someone over the value stated in an appraisal report. In fact they will sometimes go after appraisers whose value opinion is right on target. FREAB is not the value police or comparable sales choice police, they are the appraisal rules police. A factual, provable violation of the rules will get attention every time.

 

[Reelestate]

I thought my review killed it and I had done my job. It wasn't until the recent Lis Pendens was filed did I find out that the sale still went through. It is possible that the final lender was stupid enough not to order a review themselves. A gross overstatement of a value opinion might not be considered fraud legally, but this thing was way off and shopped until someone bit.