Upcharging for appraisals.

[Larry Lyke]

I would see sending my invoice to the recipient of the appraisal report as delaying payment also, because the lender per se doesn't pay this invoice.

The product recipient is being billed separately by the management company.

Also, the lender would have to then send my invoice to the service provider which would delay payment.

It's highly speculative to think that the lender doesn't know what appraisals cost. Before they hired a provider, they used to order the appraisals direct. Also, they are willing to pay the management company extra for the additional services that the management company provides.

If including your fee in the appraisal report becomes a traditional in this country, you'll soon be buying imported underwear from foreign sweatshops that have little messages attached, 'Help, rescue me' ... your britches were made for $0.65 here in the Republic of China.

And you, sucker are paying $29.95 -- and for what!?

 

[Frederick R. Ruffell]

Well guys, I talked to a representitive at appraisal.com and asked, very directly, what their position was. Got the old run around. I asked "are you the lender's agent"? answer was "No, we are just helping them process their appraisal work." My conclusion is that the lender is my client and should be made aware of my fee. If I cannot do this in the form of an invoice I have to do it some ther way, I have chosen to disclose it in the body of the report and i do not feel this is inappropiate in this case. Afterall the issue of fee's are addressed in USPAP and in the certification.
Enough said, lets put this one to bed

 

[Larry Lyke]

Frederick R --

I don't know of any constraint to your deciding who the client is and then acting thereon.

It's just that, whoever is acting in another's behalf is the client and the end user is by extension thereof tangentially your client, i.e., a sub-client.

This still means you have to rely on your own decision to announce your fee in the product you are producing.

It's a little like the manufacturer having somebody on the packing line putting the manufacturer's invoice in a box of shoes. Only the purchaser of the box of shoes will find out how little the wholesaler actually paid for them once he goes to put them on at home.

Why would you put an issue to bed once you've had your say but when you are still unsure of your decision, at least according to what you've said.

The issue that concerns you so much is not one jot different than drop-shipping a product. The goods goes to one address and the bill goes to another!

 

[Verne Hebert]

"Pissed-off in San Diego" ...and rightfully so.

Nice work! Reconcile it and bill it.

Let's teach a class this winter....Parasite Management.

 

[Richard Carlsen]

I agree with Larry. Why muddy the waters? The AMC is your client. The bank is theirs. That does not make the bank your client.

In a fiduciary relationship, you are to always do what is in the best interest of your client. Disclosing a fee when they have specifically instructed you not to is not in their best interest. It puts their contractual relationship in jeopardy.

I would be surprised if you do a lot of work for them in the future, especially if this was the first order.

 

[Frederick R. Ruffell]

Hey Richard,
Read the thread, I have already said that appraisal .com denies being an agent for the lender.

 

[Mike Garrett RAA]

who is on first?

Most requests of this type state the name of the client to be inserted in the appraisal report.

 

[Richard Carlsen]

I missed that one. Teach me to start work at 5AM.

However, I stay with my point.

Just because the Dot Com says that he is not the client does not make him a non-client. Remember that in forming an agency relationship, perception plays a major role in establishing the agency.

So if you see the Dot Com as your client, take orders from them, do their bidding, work in their best interest and your compensation come form them, there is a good argument that an agency/client relationship exists, regardless of what the Dot Com says.

i.e. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, etc.