TAF paid over 500K to the Law Firm trying to destroy Shane Lanham

[Surf Cat]

Miller's verbiage in her report was way worse than Lanham's....
IMO....

I never observed Miller's report...but that case is said and done though.....even had the serial refi owner's as stars of a short movie to push the narrative.

I would certainly like to have a view of all the reports that were "right" (the higher values) in all these cases.

 

[RCA]

Just because an appraiser didn't apply a market conditions adjustment (or write a good summary of the neighborhood or explain that prices are higher south of than north of that busy road) doesn't mean the appraiser didn't know how to do it. Or that their QE instruction didn't cover those topics.

The point is that I KNOW that in the SF Bay Area, unless you can handle MARS regression - you cannot reliably extract good measures on trend over time. I would assume that Baltimore is a complex appraisal environment because of the age of the homes, their price and the many factors that can go into market value.

1. Most factors are non-linear and require non-parametric data mining tools.
2. There are many factors that have to be extracted in addition to time or date-of-sale, each of which are in themselves complicated.

"Didn't do it" isn't proof of "can't do it"

I don't know what you are talking about with that nonsensical statement. -- I'm saying if you don't have the education and competence, "you can't do it." WRT the appraiser Lantham, I don't know anything about him. But if the property in question was purchased 3/22/2017 and the Lantham appraised 7/14/2021, - we know prices were surging in most metro areas at that time and after nearly 4 years to come up with a value of $472, a 4.8% increase over nearly 4 years, that is hard to believe! I don't think it is a stretch to assume, Lantham doesn't know how to extract time adjustments in this area. It most likely requires MARS regression to do a good job on. Probably 99.9% of residential appraisers can't do MARS regression - because none of the appraisal organizations teach it. - And they should have been teaching it 20 years ago. It should be de facto required to be a licensed appraiser.

Using the result to back into the predetermined motivated reason is what the cat ladies did. You don't need to emulate that sort of illogical methodology to make your case.

I've made the case. Sue the bastards and the rest should lose their license if they can't adapt for whatever reason!

 

[RCA]

No doubt about it. These two institutions along with the GSEs are primarily to blame for this mess.

Lantham, I am sure, KNOWS he did not have any bias in his valuation. It would most likely have been the same regardless of race. These Blacks who sue appraisers are just despicable people taking advantage of the current WOKE movement and systemic deficiencies.

 

[RCA]

What is ironic is that TAF shoulders the responsibility for not teaching appraisers the tools they need to appraise homes in complex metro environments with older homes that have been updated many times in the past 20 to 50+ years. Then they fork out $500K for an attorney to sue the poor appraiser they deficiently educated in the first place. TAF itself should be sued in this and other cases for not ensuring the proper education of appraisers doing this kind of work. And the licensing exams, which they are also responsible for are partly (perhaps largely) to blame. As well as setting the low bar to be licensed. Yes, TAF, possibly along with those AI personnel and others assisting in designing appraiser education programs and criteria for licensing are really, IMHO, the ones to point the finger at. Of course, the GSEs don't help at all, they are just a bunch of idiots who don't know what they are doing when it comes to complex residential areas. They ALL have their heads stuck in the sand - and there is really, so unfortunately, nothing they can do about it because they are just not smart enough.

 

[Dublin ohio]

Then they fork out $500K for an attorney to sue the poor appraiser they deficiently educated in the first place.

Where did you get that information from. Regression

 

[sputnam]

Very much our business considering what TAF is.

Again... How TAF makes its decisions regarding which law firms to employ is none of your business... unless you are on the board. Has anyone even considered whether TAF engaged the law firm before the lawsuit against Shane Lanham was filed? Of course not. It's just knee jerk.

 

[J Grant]

Again... How TAF makes its decisions regarding which law firms to employ is none of your business... unless you are on the board. Has anyone even considered whether TAF engaged the law firm before the lawsuit against Shane Lanham was filed? Of course not. It's just knee jerk.

If the story is true, that an appraisal organization such as TAF, which I assumed was professional and neutral, is paying significant funds, or any funds, to an attorney to destroy the reputation of an individual appraiser, it very much is our business. As in, literally, we can all lose business income along with a professional reputation as a whole over these suits.
Fannie and Freddie have failed to challenge the higher value appraisals and accept them as credible by not challenging or questioning their credibility publicly or in committee meetings - as far as I am aware. That feeds into the narrative that there is an "appraisal bias problem" that needs further study. Do you think that has not already hurt us? It already has. And I don't mean just about not using certain words, which we can accommodate.

Leaving these suits not opposed and prone to settle will further damage everyone in the profession wrt trust and reputation. If you think banks and companies want to throw business to a profession tainted with the charge of racism, think again.

The entities, agencies, and private companies who profit from promoting alternative valuations are using this issue as leverage to claim their products will avoid the taint of racial bias, with the assumption that appraisals have that as an issue.

 

[ucbruin]

Do we really know if the 2nd appraisal hasn't been provided (discovery)....

 

[J Grant]

Lantham, I am sure, KNOWS he did not have any bias in his valuation. It would most likely have been the same regardless of race. These Blacks who sue appraisers are just despicable people taking advantage of the current WOKE movement and systemic deficiencies.

I believe the homeowners in this suit were Hispanic.

 

[Dublin ohio]

If the story is true, that an appraisal organization such as TAF, which I assumed was professional and neutral, is paying significant funds, or any funds, to an attorney to destroy the reputation of an individual appraiser, it very much is our business

Where are you getting this drivel. The TAF contract has nothing to do with the case against Shane. The optics may not look good. But that is all it is is optics