Category: E&O

Does a mortgage lender have liability to the borrower for a negligent appraisal?  As residential property prices plateau or decline in various markets and as borrowers have financial problems with fewer financing options, there are more legal claims being filed by borrowers against appraisers and lenders in relation to appraisals for loans made in recent years. Essentially, the cases are situations of “buyer-borrower remorse.” Leaving aside the appraiser’s potential liability, does a mortgage lender have liability to the borrower for a negligent appraisal? An Ohio appellate court recently said “no.” It ruled that the lender did not owe the borrower...

“[The builder] filed a grievance against me… and threatened to file a grievance every time I or others appraised below purchase price.” California and Nebraska couldn’t be more different, but both clearly want their states to be more like the fictional town of Lake Wobegon – a place where all the men are good-looking, all the children are above average and all properties appraise at or above their sale price. Parts of California Assembly Bill 948, which was signed into law in September, read like something from the satirical news site The Onion. The statute requires the state’s appraiser enforcement...