“I was just asked by an AMC to get a background check. Do I have to comply?” As risk management advisors for Appraisers and Inspectors, this is one of the questions we hear over and over again. Let’s face it — appraisal fees are lower than ever before. Essentially, AMCs are asking you to do the same amount of work for less pay. In some cases, they’re even asking you to do more work. Does it make sense then that you have to get a background check in order to work for a specific AMC? Unfortunately, the increased costs associated...
Federal Court Rules on USPAP Confidentiality Issue in FDIC Lawsuit Against Appraisers in Colorado On September 5, 2013, in a professional negligence case against two Colorado appraisers by the FDIC, a federal court ruled on an issue concerning USPAP confidentiality. It was a simple issue, but it’s one of the very few court decisions relating to USPAP’s poorly written confidentiality rule (this previous post here explains why the rule is poorly written). This is the rule: An appraiser must not disclose: (1) confidential information; or (2) assignment results to anyone other than: the client; persons specifically authorized by the client; state appraiser...
My money is definitely on another financial crisis I recently read a summary of an interview of James Gorman, CEO of Morgan Stanley. When Gorman was asked about the chances of another financial crisis like the one we had 5 years ago occurring, he replied that “the probability of it happening again in our lifetime is as close to zero as I could imagine”. To this statement, my reply is quite simply “bull—-!” Here are the reasons why another financial crisis can happen in the next few years. Government and personal debt remain at unsustainable levels. The US budget is...
Are AMC Bonds Working? Current AMC Bond Requirements Eighteen states now require AMCs to carry surety bonds to be properly registered to operate in those states. The required bond amounts vary from $10,000 in New Mexico to $100,000 in Washington. A list at the end of this post shows the required bond amounts in each state. Are AMC Bonds Working? The requirement for AMCs to carry bonds serves two purposes. First, the bond assures that if an AMC fails to comply with its financial obligations under a state’s AMC law, there will be funds available up to the limit of the bond...
Many appraisers don’t know about or don’t understand the new FDIC and “regulatory agency” exclusions found in many appraiser E&O policies. Why is it relevant to know if your policy has an FDIC or regulatory agency exclusion of some sort? The main reason is because the FDIC sues appraisers for professional negligence — such lawsuits are discussed in prior posts: here and here. How do you determine if a policy being offered to you contains an FDIC exclusion? First, no policy sold by LIA in its appraiser E&O program contains any FDIC or similar regulatory agency exclusion. If you are...
We often receive calls from appraisers who have been blacklisted by a lender they do no direct appraisal work for. Typically, the story is the same. They are being dropped from an AMC panel that has given them a lot of business because the AMC found out one of the bigger secondary market loan buyers/lenders has blacklisted the appraiser. This is a lender they do not work for and/or haven’t done any work for in years. The blacklisting is based on some alleged issue with an appraisal done for another client and usually involves a review of the old appraisal...
The Statute of Limitations for a Claim Against an Appraiser Why You Should Keep Your Workfile for 7 to 8 Years In 2013, many lawsuits against both residential and commercial appraisers continue to relate to appraisals performed years ago at the peak of the real estate price bubble, 2005 to mid-2008. These lawsuits are filed by borrowers, lenders, investors or the FDIC and typically allege that an appraiser’s inflated value resulted in the plaintiff borrowing, paying or loaning too much money. The plaintiff blames its loss on the appraiser and sues for damages. When reporting a claim like this to...
According to the Appraisal Institute’s recently published 2013 Real Estate Appraisal Outlook, U.S. appraisers anticipate that litigation valuation/forensic appraisals will be one of the top five areas of growth in the next one to two years in both commercial and residential appraisal. Indeed, approximately 33% of surveyed commercial appraisers anticipate more demand from law firms and lawyers in the near future, with 24% of those surveyed expecting an increase in valuation consultation and studies in support of litigation. The appraisers’ prediction may be spot on the money as at least one U.S. municipality has begun to implement a plan to...
With appraisers being asked to do more work for the same amount of money and with lawsuits against appraisers being more prevalent today than ever before, it is increasingly important for real estate appraisers to check and double check the data they use when preparing a report. Since many appraisers are still feeling the economic impact of the real estate downturn on their bottom line, more and more are looking to reduce the cost of the data they use. While this may seem to be a simple and sound economic decision, it can lead to some serious negative consequences. USPAP...
In the last several years, we have seen more negligence claims relating to appraisals performed for tax purposes, especially appraisals for conservation easements, charitable deductions, and estate or gift tax. The IRS is particularly focused at this time on scrutinizing appraisals of conservation and preservation easements submitted for the purpose of substantiating a charitable deduction by the property owner/tax payer. Here, the property owner is generally proposing to record an easement over his property to protect a natural aspect or preserve historic features like a building facade. The easement typically will be donated to and held by a charitable organization,...
