Clarocity Now Called Zaio Rips Off Appraisers
Clarocity changed back to Zaio…screwing over every outstanding appraiser payment…
Last week VaCAP shared information on Clarocity Corporation and how the main investor StableView Assets was seizing the shares and foreclosing on the working assets, which includes Clarocity Valuation Services. StableView in turn had an agreement to sell Clarocity Valuation Services to iLOOKABOUT. We warned to proceed with caution or do not proceed at all. We described the situation as a “soap opera.” We continue to monitor them and have learned many things. We debated on sharing this information with everyone, however we feel obligated to keep our members informed.
First of concern is the name Clarocity is no longer being used. It has been changed back to Zaio. This in itself raises a huge red flag as Zaio simply does not have a positive reputation among appraisers. Much is also learned by the investor comments on the Bullboard. Investors, who are also getting the short end of the stick, have uncovered some pretty concerning information and one investor has come right out and stated:
“What we have here is a significant MORAL HAZARD facing the CEO and Control Person. The presser clearly states that Stableview plans to seize the assets but leave behind the $7.53M in debt AND OTHER ACCOUNTS PAYABLE. Which translates into Colin screwing over every outstanding appraiser payment for which work has already been completed. I DONT KNOW HOW A SINGLE APPRAISER COULD ACCEPT AN ORDER FROM CLAROCITY WITH SUCH NOTIFICATION!”
There really is nothing else we can say. See the entire comment and others on the Stockhouse Bullboard here.
AMC being sued for Bifurcation! VaCAP was forwarded an article this afternoon by one of our members. The article from Foreclosurepedia is dated August 15, 2018 and concerns a class action lawsuit filed by property inspectors. ServiceLink Field Services, a division of ServiceLink is being sued for misclassifying employees.
From the complaint filed in the Superior Court of California, ServiceLink is being accused of not paying a minimum wage, not paying inspectors all wages owed, not providing inspectors timely paid rest periods and timely unpaid meal periods of sufficient length as required by law, not reimbursing inspectors for business related expenses, not paying inspectors additional pay for rest period and meal period violations as required by law, not providing inspectors with itemized wage statements, and not providing paid sick leave as required by law.
We expect to see more law suits like this forthcoming and as consumers learn of these practices, lenders will also be on the receiving end of lawsuits. See the article and court filing here.
North Dakota Responds to the ASC for more information on their appraisal waiver request. See the documents North Dakota sent to the ASC here or below.
- It’s Just Responsible Journalism! - February 21, 2024
- Limitations for Damages Against Appraisers - January 9, 2024
- AMC Engagement Letter: Appraisers Do Not Include Your Invoice - July 28, 2023
Appraisers screwed again and the lenders don’t give a damn. Thanks
Not a soap opera at all….
“It’s a horror story featuring Shane, Dave, Colin and Jim where shareholders and appraisers get absolutely slaughtered.”
Read more at https://stockhouse.com/companies/bullboard?symbol=v.cly&postid=29616971
For all those appraisers who have been ignoring the warnings, you get what you deserve at this point!
But But But…. They owe me money for jobs i did last month and I just took 5 more yesterday. You mean to tell me they won’t pay me? I am still owed $10K from Coester as well. What am i to do? Should I complain later? Should i come here 3 months later and complain? Maybe i can go to court? This internet thing is hard and i really trusted them to pay me and give me many orders. What will i do next?
Clarocity is not the real issue. The real issue of concern to all appraisers is the attempted con job and subtle coercion by officials and State Senators in North Dakota over the ASC.
They cite only 170 ‘in area’ appraisers while excluding a hundred so-called out of the area (multiple state licenses).
While North Dakota is about the 19th largest state in land area, it is the fourth lowest in overall population. The 2018 population was only 760,077! (2018). That makes it among the lowest population density areas in the nation.
The In-state appraiser to population ratio is 1:4,400 (appx). The per capita ratio of appraisers nationally is only 1:4,182. Considering differences in population density North Dakota has only nominally fewer appraisers than anywhere else in the country. Add in the adjacent state’s appraisers (which is reasonable due to the special nature of farm and agricultural real estate appraisal) and that ratio increases to 1: 2,484. That latter ratio is higher even than California which is only 1:3,300 (+-).
The number of in-state licensed and certified appraisers in North Dakota is insignificantly fewer than the rest of the nation, based on population. Further, ND is much more rural than many parts of the country, with very large swaths of agriculture accounting for much of its land use.
I contend it is the much more difficult nature of rural real estate appraisal that accounts for higher appraisal fees than surrounding states where population densities are higher and land use is more eclectic.
Banks choose to report only stats that favor their causes. Showing 1-4 unit fees about 20% higher than nearby states may well result from the much greater difficulty in appraising very sparsely populated real estate that includes SFRs with dozens to hundreds of acres of land in agricultural use. Ag land is in a special appraisal category all by itself; reliant upon knowledge of soil fertility and productivity studies.
If the expertise necessary to analyze the inherently more difficult real estate costs more, and a banker is truly surprised then perhaps they should consider alternative career paths.
Keep in mind, that ANY waiver granted to a state for residential uses also carries over to ALL uses including commercial.
North Dakota has no documented shortage of appraisers compared to the rest of America. What it really appears to have is a shortage of integrity among its bankers that are seeking to eliminate consumer protection benefits associated with appraisals.
The applicants own studies and numbers show a greatly increasing number of farm loans being made in recent years. Not SFRs. FARM appraisals appear to be where the greatest demand is. So one must ask why banks and state regulators want FEWER rather than greater protections against losses?
Dig through the data they submitted to The ASC. The manure is scattered liberally throughout it. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to get past the smoke screen.
It appears their elected state officials care more for the bank’s ability to produce greater campaign contributions than the entire population of the state is. North Dakotans should be asking themselves exactly who their elected representatives take direction from. Voters and citizens, or banks?
I urge all appraisers to review the above data and if you concur, write to the ASC and let Mr. Park know we support the ASCs traditional cautious approach versus the North Dakota Bankers Association and those who owe allegiance to them.
The North Dakota Coalition of Appraisers may need the extra help in getting their voice heard.
Glad I don’t work for Clarocity.
Me too
They don’t pay the appraise
Appraisers whom were responsible and read industry news saw this coming a mile down the tracks.
The other guys… Someone sold it and they bought it. It’s hard to feel sorry for appraisers whom were ripped of by amc’s, all the while knowing they were selling their appraiser peers down the river. Amc’s are not too big to fail and those roosters came home to roost right on schedule.
They scammed people when they were Zaio, they continued doing so under Clarocity. Now that their brand name Clarocity is in peril, they are going back to Zaio hoping people have forgotten about their past scams?
There is talk of an investigation for Insider Trading going among those con artists at Clarocity.
https://stockhouse.com/companies/bullboard?symbol=v.cly&postid=29657154