Tulsa Appraiser in Hot Water

[Terrel L. Shields]

Seems an appraiser in Tulsa who is also a State Solon, is accused of buying property that he had appraised for court foreclosure. The report calls him a "licensed appraiser" but my state list shows him to be Cert. General. The TW article is dated 9/20/2002

The Tulsa World article claims a company he owned twice purchased property at a Tulsa Co. Sheriffs sale after he had acted as the appraiser on the property.

Okla still holds to the old 3 commissioners system where 3 people knowledgeable in real estate can sign off on a value. Typically when asked to do so, I have appraised the property then got two of my subs to sign off as well. A court has been asked to vacate a sale where State Representative Stites had both bought and appraised a property.

He responded that he was not aware of what the company bought and that the appraisal was unbiased because the other two persons would have "to collude with me and set an arbitrarily low value."

ter

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Update

Being TOP of the Page ABOVE the fold on the SUNDAY paper is not good news for Mr. Stites. Seems he is now accused by the city and recorded on tape as threatening Code Enforcement officers in the city over a burnt out duplex. Something to the effect he would neuter the law in the legislature.

Put the horses in the wagon, its all downhill from here for Mr. Stites.....

 

[Austin]

No problem if he is a Democrat. The oppressed class has a license to steal. Only the privledged (those with a mom & dad) and elites (those whose dad had a private sector job and supported his family) are capable of peforming an illegal act. To a Democrat, political corruption is just a method of leveling the playing field so they can get their fair share. After all, they are the people that lost life's lottery and that is just not fair.

 

[Tom Hildebrandt]

Terrel

We have a three commissioner system here in NC, but I do not think it applies in foreclosures. It applies in almost all other types of property issues as a right of either party to request the commissioners to agree to a value. Any finding by the commissioners is not binding on either party unless specifically agreed to by both parties.

Typically in condemnation cases, this ocurrs prior to court ordered mediation. The court provides an approved list of commissioners, but neither party is limited to the list. Each side picks one commissioner, and they pick the third, at least normally. The whole thing is pretty loose, and good attorneys (or bad attorneys depending on your point of view) know how to finess the system. I served, very uncomfortably, as a commissionmer in one case where one commissioner (an attorney) was the law partner of a relative of one party in the case, and the other commissioner never showed for any of the meetings. It was never clear to me why I was there, I never signed anything, we never agreed on anything, and so far as I know the case did a slow death. I do know that until you sign something and submit it to the court you do not get paid, so my work (about 4 hours in time) was pretty pointless.

At least one designated appraiser in the local market made his big bucks early on doing just what you described, at least that is the rumor, it was well before my time. The argument goes something like, well, I gave it a fair value, and no body else stepped up to the plate so I bought it at a fair, and the best, price. Since I did not intend to buy it when I served as a commissioner, there was no conflict.

Austin, you have been drinking too many libertarian martinis. Ease up on the Democrats, there jsut misguided good old boys.

Regards

Tom Hildebrandt GAA

 

[xmrdfghap]

Ter, Chad is an IFAS isn't he?

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Dangifino, but making the Tulsa World front page two days in a row is not that good of advertising. As I write 10 pm Channel 6 news is reporting on the story and he has issued an apology....I gotta feeling he will have a lot of humble pie to eat before this is over....Better he than me. I know what it is like to make the Daily Oklahoman buried on page 5 as the last line in the story & I didn't like that!

Ter

 

[xmrdfghap]

No problem if he is a Democrat.

So there must be a problem? He is a Republican. He is an IFAS. Guess everything else applies anyway doesn't it?

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

The Tulsa Appraiser and State Rep. Chad Stites case is getting even more bizarre. Buried in
the Tulsa World articles this Saturday was the revelation that Stites was investigated by the
Oklahoma Real Estate Appraiser Board (OREAB.) FYI, the OREAB is an agency within the
Oklahoma State Insurance Dept. According to the TW, Stites was investigated last
December and a screening panel recommended further disciplinary action against Stites for
inflating the value of a Tulsa home during an appraisal.

However, “instead of proceeding to a three-member panel that was appointed to hear the
matter” the Insurance Department’s legal staff dismissed the complaint. Derek McCammon,
chairman of the board’s disciplinary subcommittee, said 5 cases from 2000 are still pending
and 18 from 2001. Only 6 hearings were conducted in 2001, none so far this year. He lays
the blame upon the legal department of the Insurance Dept. Apparently the OREAB is
considering whether it can void the dismissals and may ask the Attorney General for an
opinion if they can do that.

A few years ago, if I recall correctly, the AF questioned whether having the OREAB as a sub-
agency under the Insurance Commissioner was a good idea. I saw little wrong with it at the
time, but now I see the problem. The Oklahoma board needs to be independent of the
Insurance Commissioner who is an elected official.

Meanwhile, Stites has been asked by the Republicans to quit the race and resign; the
Democratic challenger has a very good chance of unseating him, and certainly, it appears
that if the facts are as the paper states, it would be a net plus for our profession.

Ter

 

[xmrdfghap]

Nice report Ter. If NJ can replace a candidate, why not OK? You know, Oklahoma should hav teh best state government in the nation....after all, we have the best politicians money can buy...........

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

News even gets worse today (Sunday) when Stites makes front page and above the fold headline. He is now accused of appraising an office for the Sheriff, letting an employee buy the office in the Sheriff's Sale, then the employee transferred the property to Stites a week later.

He'z ah dead meat, yah? Deader 'un Hawaii Rep. who really did croak and is still on the ballot. Maybe the Sheriff has some repo'd plots out at Peaceful Valley.......