Coester VMS Bank Accounts Seized!
VaCAP has been informed the bank accounts of CoesterVMS have been seized.
We have received the following email from one of our members.
From: *****@coesterappraisals.com>
To:
Sent: Tue, Nov 20, 2018 10:02 am
Subject: CoesterVMS: Accounts Recievables** -I am e-mailing to provide clarity on a letter you may receive from FVC Bank sent by Gilbert Kennedy and Patrick Gil from Shapiro Sher. The letter was sent to provide instructions on account receivables and the proper way of handling them for CoesterVMS as of 11/14/2018. Immediately both Patrick and Gill will be your point of contact for any questions or concerns around the accounts receivables and ensure they handled properly and immediately.If you have any questions about your outstanding receivables at CoesterVMS, please contact FVC Bank, and or Shapiro Sher and they will handle this promptly. Please send a copy of all receivables directly to Patrick and Gil and please feel free to reach out directly to the numbers below and or reference the letter you received.
Their contact information is below and was included in the letter you received:
Gilbert F. Kennedy
FVC Bank
Office: (240)268-2266
Mobile: (443)299-9297
Email: Gkennedy@FVCBank.com
1600 East Gude Drive
Rockville, Maryland 20850
www.FVCBank.comJ. Patrick Gill
Shapiro Sher Guinot & Sandler PA
250 West Pratt Street, 20th Floor
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
Direct 410.385.4236 | Main 410.385.0202 | Fax 410.539.7611
jpg@shapirosher.com | www.shapirosher.com
If you are owed money from CoesterVMS…..
Please follow the instructions on the letter. There is also a surety bond in place with the Virginia Real Estate Appraisal Board to cover any outstanding obligations owed to appraisers. Please contact the VREAB directly to inquire to the procedure. REAppraisers@dpor.virginia.gov; or 804-367-8552
- The New Con: Hybrids, Waivers & AMCs Threaten Public Trust - December 16, 2024
- VaCAP Supports Shane Lanham’s Legal Fight - September 10, 2024
- It’s Just Responsible Journalism! - February 21, 2024
This could be the start of the “AMC-IMPLOSION-METER”
This is awesome…btw for anyone out there that has yet to be paid by Coestar VMS. I was able to get paid by their bond company, although it took me months and months to get my check and I had to email and call them for months. If you still need to be paid, contact their State Bond Company, which is listed on the State Real Estate Board.
May be awesome for you and whatever state you are in. This is a bit late. Your bond May have had money Left. NC BOND WAS exceeded in 2 days with appraisers getting paid pennies on the dollar. I love the enthusiasm but as one that is suing him and his company over 2 yrs for hacking Emilia’s and more and he’s now out of business there is no one that knows more than me and my lawyers. Happy you got paid by your state and not him. But it’s apparent you haven’t don’t your research Till now. If you had you would have seen the signs years ago. I’m glad you got paid but NO One Else is and that’s a fact.
This is long overdue.
Finally accepted one from them
Was that because another outside entity has taken responsibility for paying you? Or do you just like working for free
Awe how sweet. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving company.
And there are still idiots out there doing work for this crook.
Gadda, what I have come to learn over the last several years is that the banks/AMC’s know that in order for “their” AMC system to work, they will need to recruit people who are desperate to make money, and willing to follow the AMC’s instructions, regardless of how libelous the instructions are! They intimidate staff appraisers away from critical thinking by reducing work volume if they don’t do “exactly” what they’re told.
Where does it talk about Coester account payables? Isn’t receivables money that is owed to Coester?
You would not seize accounts payable. Their A/R are assets on the books. Assets are seized to pay creditors.
Shades of ES Appraisals, wonder how many appraisers got screwed this time around. And Coester had the balls to blackball me because they didn’t agree with my measurements of a house, I’ve only been doing this over 40 years. Hope they pay dearly.
They currently owe my company over 4k. We have sent certified letters to all the lenders involved in addition to Coester themselves. We are also filing a complaint with the NJ banking commission and sending them to collections
OUCH
They are into me for over 5K. I just got a bounced check notice from my bank on Saturday. Merry Christmas to me. But if anyone wants to pay him a Christmas Visit. ( Kindda like Cousin Eddie did to Clark’s boss), i have his address.
I remember when the AMCs were handed our business. They paraded Coester around as the golden boy of all appraisers. Karma
Glad they have been on my do not use/black list for as long I can remember. Never have done any work for them.
Appraiser Loft part Deux!
CRAZY, When are you folks going to STOP extending credit to these crooks. Want to end the AMC madness get paid up front like we used to back in the day. I WOULD RATHER FLIP BURGERS AT MCDONALDS THAN GET PUNKED BY THESE SO-CALLED APPRAISER MANAGERS! YOU GOTTA HAVE BALLS TO SUCCEED IN THIS OR ANY OTHER BUSINESS.
So this is evidence of factoring as well. Coester doesn’t have enough money to pay its costs and pay appraisers either, so basically every bit of revenue that they get needs to go to this bank and the bank takes its piece of revenue and interest before disbursing the remaining funds to Coester to 1) pay itself and 2) pay appraisers.
Translation – appraisers are last in line to get paid under this arrangement, if they get paid at all. In finance I believe this is technically referred to as “dead man walking”.
Brian Coester is a scam artist, Fritz Draper is a punk and Sheri Olsen is a certified idiot, this flip flam should have been shut down a long time ago, the crap pile is where all these people should go, along with the firm name, don’t forget the brother, John Coester another bum, now in the title business, stay away from him too.
They call and ask for a 1004 for $300 here in South Florida. And get it done in 3 days. Karma oh how I love that girl named Karma. Hey Brian, maybe you can go do some BPOs for $20 a piece now. Lots of free time.
I am in Ohio. They owe me. How do i collect
see my post below
Jim Davis
Jim.Davis@vericore.com
1800 433 4903 xt 1128
A+ better business rating collection agency, me a few other guys are using them to collect, but read my post below
I’m right here in MD and I have his address. I think I might spend Christmas Parked in front of his house with a sign that says I hope your Christmas is fine because you have ruined mine.
Hi Ric S……Sorry for your Lost Wages….He owes me $800.00 for two appraisals done back in July…one of those appraisals was for a 5,000 SqFt. mansion here in Los Angeles…I guess I can use that appraisal as a sample for another AMC.
We are the red headed step children in the lending business….I don’t know what I did in my last life to go through so much abuse in this Lifetime….Air Conditioning and Heating would be a better trade…..Merry Fricken Christmas.
Hi Jim my name is Pamela i am in Texas Coester owes me big time. Who do I get in touch with?
Good question. May not have money or other assets to pay. Try lender and borrowers.
Coester owes me about $4800. I sent Letters of Demand to the individual lenders advising that THEIR agent, Coester VMS has failed to pay for (and list the reports and amounts). In my letter I gave them 7 days to pay or I intended to sue them in small claims court. One lender out in California paid me. Also file a complaint with the commission that has jurisdiction over AMCs,
Can you post your letter?
Demand letter
Pamela, try each and every one of the lenders that hired them to get appraisals from you. Send demand letters to each and every one. Also check to see if Texas allows the filing of mechanics liens by appraisers. Probably not, but worth checking.
For ANY LENDER that tries to pass the buck saying they aren’t responsible for their agent’s actions, file a complaint with their federal regulator. IF any of these are VA or FHA also file formal complaints against lender with those agencies as well. Lenders are responsible for all the actions of their agents.
Read ALL of the requirements in your state for an AMC. THEN read the lenders obligations under Dodd-Frank.
Any Virginia appraisers that get stiffed should send THEIR bills direct to the attorney general that refused to prosecute Coester back when he was operating without a license. (& Im only being partially facetious about that!)
Pamela, not to pour salt in a bad wound but HOW after all that has been in the news on Coester VMS since at least 2014 did you allow him to get into your wallet ‘big time’?
I’ve called lender demanding payment. I believe they use a hud closing agreement that they show that appraiser has been paid. So it sounds like they are responsible. Hopefully they will pay
Send the bill to the homeowner. Tell them services have been rendered, payment is still expected, and they can sort it out with the lender if they’ve already paid, but you expect to be paid. They can’t refry those refi’s if the customer is upset about double billing. 10 years in it and you’re still working with amc’s? Sad. I’m whistling past this one with ease, because I seek out direct assignment panels. It’s not rocket science.
Small rural area. Not much work without them. Been appraising for 40 yrs
Lender says they will pay. We’ll see
My bad. So everyone in town goes through one lender and that one lender uses an amc? This is 2018 and that’s not how it really works anymore. Small towns are connected places too. So just trust the lender whom already sold you down the river to an amc, sounds like a logical position to take. Send the bill to the homeowner and let the lender have a taste of their own medicine.
what do you mean by direct assignment panels…u mean like mercury, lenderX etc..?
Direct assignment panel is in other words, a cost plus distribution system. The lender sends out appraisals through their choice of distribution network software providers, and hires their own panel manager and small set of distribution clerk staff. They accomplish the same thing amc’s do, with less overhead, fewer employees, less hassle, and in turn pay appraisers closer to market rate since the appraiser is not forced to fund the operational budget of amc’s via fee shopping and/or consistently lower appraisal fees. The distribution departments are returned to their proper place, being simple order management clerks, rather than the amc model which provides a financial incentive for amc’s to drive down appraisers fees in order to pocket the difference as they do not return cost savings to borrowing consumers. Amc’s can use the same distribution platforms so mentioning a software choice is irrelevant. Either an appraiser is working direct in mortgage lending, or they’re sharing a variable or larger portion of the ‘appraisal services fee’ with a third party middle manager company. The best lenders only hire qualified persons with active appraisers licenses to be panel managers.
Want to read page 2 of this document. ‘Shall henceforth be….’
Coester, like most amc’s, has an amazing ability to waste appraisers time on exponential levels for no compensation, no cost savings return to borrowers, pocketing the difference, millions of emails.
Always desperate, all the time. What’s your fee and turn time?
Remember, these amc’s ask the same questions to the ‘inspector’ the ‘eval provider’, etc, etc.
Race to the bottom for everyone involved with amc’s, not just the appraiser.
Wasting time, you mean like spending time researching a property and discovering its a complex assignment only to get the following response today.
” I did look up the property and while I understand you have some concerns to complexity to this order the downside is you’re in a very competitive area/market with San Diego that appraisers are completing for the $350 fee. Please let me know if you are unable to take this order so I can reassign for you as well.”
In other words, we’ve already quoted the borrower (TRID), so who cares that with 78 sales over the past 6 months (1 mile radius), only one has sold above the subjects contract price ($1,140,000).
This same company paid me $690 some months back for a similar assignment (different lender), but because this lender quoted the borrower $450, they will keep shopping for any of the 900+ appraisers licensed in my single county who say yes to $350.
Seek the truth.
You must agree with their methods, that’s why you continue to keep them in business by providing services for them. When an appraiser is able to get leverage and get better fees from amc’s, they have not gained any ground towards industry reform, in fact, quite the opposite happens. When appraisers rake fair market fees from amc’s, the amc in turn pressures appraisers with less leverage elsewhere to work for less to then cover the operational budget shortfall. If appraisers are willing to be this down and dirty and ruthless in their business dealings, they should just do everyone a favor and transition into sales instead.
letter is bogus, they sent me back an email telling me I need to deal with coaster vms
Same
Seriously…do NOT DEAL DIRECTLY WITH COESTER. They have cancelled their bond in North Carolina. The bond is required by NC law for an AMC to do business. They’ve cancelled other state bonds as well! This letter is NOT bogus!
I just talked to Gilbert at the bank and he said not to call him or the other person. He said to call Coester. But Coester is no longer. Good luck to you all.
They paid me over $125k over the past 3 years and only owe me about $3,700. They were a great client up until mid 2018. I’ll take my losses and move on.
I agree. I think when he found his new fluff she is running his show. I understand he bought her a Gold’s Gym, rebranded it and is there (just hearsay), but believable.
That should be an interesting paper trail of money.
They currently owe my company over 4k. We have sent certified letters to all the lenders involved in addition to Coester themselves. We are also filing a complaint with the NJ banking commission and sending them to collections
13k to me
Whoa!! What state are you in?
wow that sucks, are you trying to collect?
NJ, attorney letters went out to Coester, cc’d lenders and states
check out my post below with the company im using
thanks, but at this time I’m already invested with my atty, if that changes I’ll jump in with you or if there’s a class action I’ll be happy to get in. My guess is that they will be gone before though. Fritz told me he got canned too.
Last time ES did the same thing, majority of the work was done for JP Morgan Chase, we tried suing Chase because they were actually the CLIENT, and the judge in Florida threw out the case. Guess the SOB had Chase stock. Good luck everyone that’s owed money.
DianaN a LOT has changed since that case. It would be interesting to hear ASC’s view on how their “no daylight between the AMC and Lender” policy applies when the AMC collects; the TRID says a certain amount is being paid for appraisal and the final disclosure shows the full amount of the collected fees as an escrow or settlement expense paid by the buyer for a specific purpose when in fact it was never paid for that purpose.
It’s things like this that show how really poorly our laws are written for protection of consumers. Congress knowingly passes laws they know have no teeth in them.
To protect the public trust…no doubt.
Sheri Olsen was let go 2 weeks ago, she said she went back last week to work for free and she was the only person there
She must be a glutten for punishment.
It would be reassuring for Appraisers to know that someone reliable other than Coester has taken charge of paying Appraisers fees.
I spoke with a lender today who I sent my invoices to, they forwarded me a letter Coester sent them today telling them their bank accounts are now unfrozen and it is back to business as usual..I told her the letter is bogus, all the staff is gone…lol..nice try Brian Coester
Its BS, they are trying to stall and go into bankruptcy where they cannot be touched. They are such POS over there. Send letters to all their lenders
Kathy, please post that Coester letter you were forwarded. Appraisers are collecting data they can use to get paid. That letter may help someone. 🙂 Thanks in advance!
COPY OF LETTER FROM COESTER TO LENDERS. AT THE BOTTOM IS THE PERSON TO CONTACT REGARDING PAYMENT, HOWEVER, WHEN I EMAILED HIM HE SENT ME AN EMAIL BACK WHICH HE SAYS “FOR CLARIFICATION PURPOSES I AM A CONSULTANT TO COESTER AND AM WORKING WITH THEM TO DEVELOP A POSSIBLE PLAN TO PAY YOU AND OTHERS BUT THERE ARE INSUFFICIENT FUNDS NOW TO PAY PAST DUE AMOUNTS. WE WANT TO ASSURE YOU THAT THE COMPANY IS OPERATION AND WORKING TOWARDS A FINANCIAL SOLUTION. I KNOW IT IS DIFFICULT, BUT TRY TO BE PATIENT. THANKS……..IF IT IS BUSINESS AS USUAL, HOW CAN YOU OPERATE WHEN YOU DON’T ANSWER THE PHONE. I HAVE CALLED COESTER A NUMBER OF TIMES, TRIED EVEN TO GET SOMEONE TO ANSWER AS A POTENTIAL NEW CLIENT, YOU GET SENT TO THE VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS AND THEN SIT ON HOLD FOREVER, NO ONE EVER PICKS UP….BUSINESS AS USUAL….YEAH RIGHT
You’re screwed and they will get away with it like ES did.
funny thing, they tried to order a appraisal from me the other day.
I would do it then hold until payment
Kathy, you are my HERO!!! Thank you for sharing this info! Appraisers need to stand together and share info like this!
Thanks for sharing this, they owe me more than 20k. And nobody, from any department, answers me the phone or emails.
Funny they say business as usual..how can you conduct business if you don’t answer your phones and all your staff is gone?
Kathy. Re your questions and concerns re the letter, inquiries and responses. To quote Coester who summarizes things best “it’s business as usual”
And everyone else from the bank to the regulators is either a liar, mistaken or just plain wrong.
Question is is FVC Bank Who Coester says is their primary Lender going to take the same position as Chase did when it said they were not responsible for paying the Appraiser
To Certresidential, Probably will and get away with it like Chase did.
Stop crying and do something positive, organize. When they reopen their doors from a picket line and keep the scaps out. Carry some signs and sticks, people will open their eyes. That’s the way things get accomplished in America. This is supposed to be a Union site, start acting like one.
if they do not come back good, pick the largest mac in the country and protest them by using the same tactics.
“From as far back as we can remember, people have been protesting — from *burning the bra to the burning issue of racism. Some protests led to significant change, like Ghandi’s passive resistance against the British oppression of indentured Indians in South Africa, and the National Woman’s Party Suffrage Campaign which resulted in the groundbreaking move to allow women the right to vote in U.S.”
Successful protesting isn’t just random chaos. It is a planned organized mobilization designed to effect change. So how do you guarantee your protest makes an impact?”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-art-of-protesting-how-to-organize-a-protest-that_us_588b2de1e4b0020b224b43a0
**Please keep politics off this page.** It’s called “AppraisersBlogs”….let’s keep it “appraiser” and “appraisal” related. Seriously. (you could have talked about protesting without bring politics into it)
ARE YOU NUTS? OF JUST STUPID! MIKE I FEEL FOR YOU THEY DON’T KNOW YOU ARE A UNION GUY? MAYBE I’M WRONG.
THE PEOPLE THAT CLEAN HOTELS/MOTELS HERE IN CALI GOT MOER SCENCE THAT THIS FOOL.. THEY HAVE UNIONS AND OCCASIONALY GO ON STRIKE!
Curtis, just FYI, this website is not Mike’s website nor the AGA’s. So, it is not a “union site”. The owner is an active appraiser who also happens to be an AGA & VaCAP member. She started this blog in 2011, way before she was a member of VaCAP and AGA.
Also, please be respectful to your fellow appraisers. Please do not attack someone for having an opinion that differs from your own; if you disagree with someone, please express yourself respectfully. Snide or rude comments are not constructive and certainly not helpful. Thank you for your cooperation!
Thanks for the info, I mislead myself or was misinformed. Anyway, I guess you folks saw the picture of the Trump Demonstration and thought that Trump was the issue. If you could read you would have seen that the article is entitled The Art of Protesting: How to Organize a Protest That Brings Results.
Anyway, I’m through! What a bunch of idiots.
Curtis, there is no need for name calling. We need to look past our differences to see what unites us. Now more than ever we need to unite. We do appreciate your contribution!
100% agreed, don’t need any more political views on here, plenty to go around on TV and social media. Let’s stick to appraising.
The amc appraisers are upset because they were taken advantage of by the non union middle manager amc companies. And now they’re protesting… Rich. Those appraisers could have however, made better decisions regarding which companies they were supporting by providing appraisal services to them. The world is what you make it.
I saw where 1 appraiser was into coester for 13,000, I wonder how many appraisals it took to get to that figure. I never accepted even 1 assignment from them due to the extremely low fees. What’s it like feeding at the bottom?
Being nasty accomplishes nothing, why not be supportive to those who may of not had a choice and had to work for the the thieves at coester. Maybe we could unite and fight for change. And for record, not all of coester fees were low, as an appraiser who did some work for them, I always countered their offers and 95% of the time, my counters were accepted. I fortunately was able to see payment times getting further out and stopped accepting work, I had a gut feeling things were getting ready to implode there
When it comes to defrauding consumers, one always has a choice.
Your right, I hope they recover fully. I guess I’ve just become cynical over the pass 10 yrs & just loose track. This business used to be interesting & fulfilling but now seems to be nothing but a battle.
ComAppraiser this is not supposed to be a union site, nor is it one. It operated long before AGA was graciously given a voice here. RIght along with a host of other non AGA folks.
AGA tried to take action against Coester over 4 years ago. Yet people continued to work for him long after we and others pointed out so many of his firms negatives and poor reputation among appraisers.
If people want to picket his place of business that is up to them. AGA represents it’s MEMBER appraisers.
Contrary to common union practice, pickets rarely accomplish anything beyond getting the news out. Are there any appraisers left that don’t know full well how risky it is to accept any assignment from Coester VMS? I think fee money is long gone. Personally.
I think a much more effective approach would be for every single appraiser that is owed money report them to their own state (where the work was performed) as well as the state in which their corporate offices are located. Make it a point to educate themselves as to ALL the allegations raised against BC or CoesterVMS by all parties, including former employees; criminal complaints, tax liens, etc. and put that information into a formal complaint to state authorities.
I’d personally also put the same information into the lender-clients regulators hands and inquire WHY they continued to use a firm known to have such a bad overall reputation?
If fee money is gone, then so should appraisals go the way of the DoDo Bird.
Agreed – There should be a boilerplate limiting condition in every single appraisal that says in effect “If the fee for professional services remains unpaid more than two weeks after the date of this report it is automatically rescinded as of it’s signature date just as if it had never been transmitted; and no reliance may be made on it or recourse obtained to it.”
Never happen, but it’s a thought.
Add it in? They don’t read reports anyway.
Marvin A Davis
mdavis2866@aol.com
Just spoke to him today who advised us that he was brought on to fix their financial issue. He stated they removed the freeze on their account and they are working on paying people but had no time frame…..Ill believe it when I see it….. Either way I have already sent out letters to over a dozen of their lenders and have received multiple mixed call backs. Some lenders are stating there is nothing they can do since they already paid on others are working with me to try have us paid. The good part is that all that I have spoken to are ceasing any further business with them
Is anyone interested in a collective law suit
And how much does that consultative service cost?
You guys paid for it!
Hope it was worth it. They’ll recomp the costs via lower fees to appraisers in the future.
What’s new?
Oh here is what I am doing and I recommend you all get on this as quickly as possible.
This is my 2nd time a mgmt. co. failed to pay me. The 1st company was called on point appraisals. The problem is by the time I pursued payment, they had already claimed chapter 11 and company was dissolved. When that happens it’s next to impossible to get paid.
I can almost guarantee you that Coester is in the process of doing the same thing. They are trying to delay us by telling us, they are still in business and working things out in order buy time to close doors and dissolve, which will leave us with our hands in our pockets.
I looked up a company that has A+ rating with the BBB and tons of great reviews. They are called Vericore and I told them that there are many more appraisers in my shoes. With that said strength is always in numbers and I feel the more of us in the process the stronger this process can be. They work on 25% contingent commission meaning if we don’t get paid, they don’t get paid but also stated that Maryland, which is where Coester is from is a state that allows collections to tack on there percentage on top of current debt which can leave us to pay 0 to 5% of collected total in the end. Company seems awesome and I highly recommend you start your process before it’s too late……
let me know how you make out, you can reference NJAPPX, we have already started on our process.
my point of contact is
Jim Davis
Jim.Davis@vericore.com
1800 433 4903 xt 1128
How are you doing so far?
NJAPPX,
I’m an appraiser in NJ and Coester owes me the same as well. I just found this thread as it was not coming up for some reason when I searched for Coester before. I’ve tried calling directly many times and dealing with Narcissa. Always late but always got money until now. I saw on a FB thread that another appraiser threatened Narcissa to be a co-conspirator and she ended up wiring him the money. Any luck with Jim Davis yet? Thinking of joining you on that front.
Just got this email regarding Coester’s Bond in NC…it’s already been exceeded;
December 4, 2018
Re: Principal: Coestervms
Bond No.: TXIFSU0633863
Obligee: NORTH CAROLINA APPRAISAL BOARD
Please be advised that International Fidelity Insurance Company (the “Surety”) issued an Appraisal Bond to CoesterVMS (“Coester”). The penal limit of the bond is $25,000.00. This letter will advise you that the Surety has received claims against the above referenced bond in excess of the bond’s penal sum. As a result, the Surety will pay claims on the bond on a pro rata basis according to the amount of each parties established claim.
The Surety requests that all potential claimants, that have not already done so, file their claim by sending correspondence and supporting documentation to the addressed or e-mail listed above no later than December 30, 2018. Please note that after December 30, 2018 the Surety will proceed with pro rata distributions to all valid perfected claimants. However, after the penal limit has been exhausted, all claims received after that time will be advised the penal limit has been reached and the bond has been released.
This letter is sent without prejudice to the rights of International Fidelity Insurance Company and its principal and it shall not constitute a waiver or release of their rights, defenses, claims or setoffs, including, without limitation, those based on timely compliance with applicable notice requirements and statutory or contractual periods of limitation.
Very truly yours,
INTERNATIONAL FIDELITY INSURANCE COMPANY
Damitta Straughter
Senior Claims Administrator
cc: Jeri Mach, Underwriting Manager – Commerical Surety
They owe me more than 20k. As a solo appraiser, this affects me a lot. No one answers the phone, nobody answers the emails. It’s crazy. Does anyone know any new information?
That sucks, 13k to me and in the same boat. Sorry
Wow you are screwed, just like ES screwed appraisers a few years ago. Class action suit didn’t work, I would go after the lenders that you did the work for, they were the true clients.
Try the place I am using for collections…they have an A+ with the better business bureau….read 2 posts up
20k? It’s 2008 all over again
More than 50 orders, since July they stop paying, I guess I was the only one in my area. If I had imagined that this would happen, I would have stopped accepting orders in September. My bad.
You’re saying they stiffed you for 50 appraisals?
I got stiffed for about 25 orders. They would send me an email saying the deposit would be made into my bank account however they were never made the deposits. Could that be considered bank fraud? Is that not covered under bankruptcy but more of federal crime?
I would think so, but at least they weren’t taking money OUT of your account. 🙁
Defrauding borrowing consumers is supposed to be a crime too. If an amc does not return cost savings from reduced costs of appraisal services to the borrowing consumer, that’s also a form of fraud. Also against the management rule for appraisers since appraisers should not provide a thing of value to become the preferred order assignee.
The actual law as the spirit of the law was intended, or the law as conveniently interpreted by the players in this grand ponzi scheme? Skip the junk fee argument, forget about consumer safety, and let’s just get down to billing I suppose. Don’t’ be surprised when nobody is willing to look that deep into the larger picture.
I’ve only had one company go under in 27 years. I received a letter asking if I like to be paid 5% of the fee or wait with no guarantees of payment AT ALL. In the end I received ZERO payment.
That happened early on in the AMC development fiasco. I learned a valuable lesson. This scenario has been playing out all over the country for all these years? From day one of the blatant failure of Dodd-Frank, regulations were never enforced. Even after these well documented failures, regulations are still NOT being enforced. How does that happen? It happens because appraisers are not equipped with the knowledge to stop it. We are not lobbyists.
So far, outside of the state coalitions, the only other organization willing to fight for us is the AGA. How does it all work? How do we all get on the same page? I do not know, but I would be willing to hand over the money I’ve lost in fees over the past ten years to ask for help and maybe a little guidance.
I’ve responded to some of the fee quote requests with honest fees. I was never assigned the orders but I know appraisers in my area that lowballed market fees and they received the orders. Maybe some of them had no choice but to revert back to the fees from 1990 for family reasons. I took on two additional jobs to make up for the loss in work. Good going AMC’s, you sucked the life out of people’s livelihoods for personal gain.
As far as I can tell, we’re not the bad people here! We play by the rules to our own demise? Many of the economic failures in this country are real estate related. Real estate hits home whether you rent or own. It’s one of the most basic foundations of our economy. How is it possible that the legislatures find this funny?
Simple. Learn to say no. Learn how to identify and market to lenders whom do not use amc’s. It’s not rocket science. In a free market, individual actions and choices matter.
I would like to know why appraisers can’t be paid by the title company, just like how all the other fees associated are paid.
Good question but a better one is why we are not paid right up front just like most of the AMCs are before they ever place the order?
Title company payment would be tantamount to a contingency payment. IE: they only pay when escrows close. We do not do contingency work. If thats what they want, then raise the fees to $1,000 for non complex and I’ll even consider it.
There is absolutely NO JUSTIFICATION OR EXCUSE for not allowing us to collect our fee at the door. If the homeowner doesn’t like the quote they can go back to the AMC and ask it to be reassigned to someone else. Just like clients could do in the old days when banks placed their own orders.
On top of all this, I’ve NEVER heard a valid explanation for why appraisers get paid 30 days, 45 days and even 60 days net. You would think that these companies would have enough resources to pay the people that are actually making the product they sell. They have bonds – yet they still run out of money? Who is charged with monitoring this money? I work with clients that consistently pay 48 hours after the delivery of the report and others that pay 7 days and 10 days. ?????????????????
It all starts with using first payments to pay earliest bills (salaries; utilities, leases etc.). They are then always in arrears to appraisers. Using future jobs to pay assignments already turned in.
From Coester:
“Due to financial difficulties all payments on orders completed prior to 11/15/2018 cannot be paid at this time, our BK attorneys will be in contact with all creditors. Coester can guarantee payment next day on all orders completed on or after 11/16/2018. We apologize for any inconvenience.”
I look forward to seeing Any Coester at a convention. Should be fun!
Yeah, right. That’s just their way of trying to fool appraisers into continuing to accept their orders! Seriously guys…stop doing business with these crooks. **BUT…be wary…once CoesterVMS closes it’s doors, the owner will just resurface with an AMC with a new name.
I’m with you LayDeeTee, no disrespect to all those who are owed money, but I don’t have a problem with Coester because they treated me like an assembly line worker five years ago when they first wanted to do business with me and therefore I have never done an appraisal for them. In my area, I seldom am working on a property that is less than 800,000 in value. With our market changing, many of my appraised values are coming in far below the contract price or the purchase price of a year ago. Oftentimes resulting in a difference of 100,000+. I deal with a lot of liability, angry property owners that want to contest my appraised values and rich people that are sue happy. My reports have to be well documented and supported. There’s no way I was going to deal with Coester’s low ball fees and slave master attitude. The appraiser’s true bottom line is protecting your license and not having to use your E&O insurance. If you get investigated by the State, they’re not going to ask anybody at the AMC to do any explaining, only you. And if you mention the AMC as part of the problem, they’re just going to laugh at you! BTW, AMC’s report appraisers to state boards more than property owners.
We are owed over 10k between 3 appraisers. They scammed us since the beginning of the year. We never had a large volume of orders from them maybe 3 a month. But what they did was email us that the payment will be deposited into the bank account and since our assistant didn’t have access to online banking she marked the orders as paid. we only noticed that no deposits were made when funds kept getting lower after bills and payments.
we contacted them 2 month before everything came to light and at first they emailed back and answered our calls saying they are checking accounting errors, then all communications stopped.
i am in IL and my licensing board basically said they can’t do anything to help me. Makes me mad that i can get reprimanded for accidentally cashing 2 checks for the same order ($600) but an AMC that is also regulated they will not lift a finger. can’t even file a complaint since form is only made for complaints against appraisers.
if any of these lawsuits are going after Coester nationally or in Illinois let me know i would be glad to join and i have email from Brian Coester telling me they are working on recovering my 10k in missing payments.
Gary, unfortunately you and all the other appraisers that are owed money by Coester are going to get screwed just like all the appraisers, myself included, that were owed money by ES Appraisal Services a few years ago before they filed bankruptcy.
We tried a mass suit against Chase who was the major client that all the work was done for, and the court ruled in favor of Chase. I’m sure Brian Coestar has a tidy sum tucked away in some off shore accounts that can’t be touched.
That is EXACTLY why I refuse to allow ANYONE to have access to my bank acct’s. I want the paper check. I can do my own receivables and I know the money went in. Besides, now I can have fun having him arrested for writing a bad check.
Ric I have a check that bounced from Coester. How can I file to have them arrested for bad check. Pam
Pam, I’m getting the run around on who I need to file with. One commissioner said I can file in any county and another said in the county where the instance occured. But it looks like i will be safe and file a complaint where his office is. I will know more after I get it figured out.
Thank You
Not sure what y’all are trying to accomplish here. There is a huge line in payments and other things going on. I wish ya all the best to get payments. But filing with the states and more most likely is wasting your time. Either file in the bonds or file with the lenders. You’ll spend more time trying to go to courts and more money. The business is gone. I’m just telling y’all what I know as a result of a 2 yr lawsuit for email hacking. Many of you have no clue about this.
Gary, You should contact Maureen Sweeney and ask her advice. She used to be a regulator in Illinois. She probably can do nothing about getting you paid but she may have some great ideas about legislation necessary in IL to stop this type of thing.
Received Check # 555 dated 12/13/2018 in payment of appraisal #@$%^&.
Never paid in full!!!
Receipted this way don’t fowl the collectibles. A business takes a lot of thought and hard work
I simply do not understand why any appraiser or a company with several appraisers would allow any AMC to go much beyond owing them a couple thousand dollars (3, 4 5 appraisal reports) for much past 30 days before asking themselves…wait a minute…is something amiss here? It just seems to be questionable business practice.
I realise one thing. I’m fortunate in that my wife is a real estate attorney. At 30 days a friendly reminder is always sent via email and/or by letter. When any company goes past 45 days a demand letter is sent which typically prompts them to pay quickly.
In my opinion, one of the biggest problems Scott is the VA system. Every lender knows, or should know that technically the appraisal fee is due at the time the notice of value (NOV) is issued, and that there is a 30 day grace period. Although a small sample size (80 to 100 a year), I find that nearly 40% of the time lenders do not pay within 30 days if no proactive action is taken.
I have no friendly 30 day reminders, but instead sent out late fee notices where in my state (10% yearly cap), a whopping $5 late fee is permitted per month (appraisal fee $600). Half of the time, and after the late fee notice ($605) is sent out, payment might be received several weeks later and most often never includes the late fee. Good luck ever getting paid from a loan servicer doing a liquidation sale.
The system is broken.
Seek the truth.
Agreed. For all my years completing VA work, I have yet not to be paid. (knocking on wood). Sometimes it takes them 90 days. I’m chasing several right now that are 60 and 87 days. I’ve been nice and not sent out a demand letter yet on those two. If there is not a couple of checks in my P O Box by tomorrow, a demand letter is going out via certified mail. Me, you (or any appraiser) should never have to do this.
The system is definitely broken.
We worked with Coester for at least 3 years and they always paid. But the reason we allowed it to go that far is they emailed us that direct deposit will be made and secretary marked those orders as paid. However Coester never made those deposits. Which is at least unethical if not violation of some laws.
Helping unaccountable middle managers defraud consumers is never a sure thing.
I just don’t understand why so many appraiser across the country holding bad checks from a company who KNOWS they are going to bounce does not file criminal charges for the passing of a bad check. It’s not just a matter of one appraiser holding one bad that bounced. Isn’t this a criminal offense?
Is writing a bad check a felony?
A bounced check typically becomes a criminal matter when the person who wrote it did so intending to commit fraud like several bad checks in a short timeframe. This can be seen as felony in states, especially when the are for more than $500.
http://www.ckfraud.org/penalties.html
This article is awesome because despite a half dozen more recent articles, commentary is still moving along here with new appraiser disclosure. Here is an interesting line of reasoning. Amc’s have turned appraisers into customers. As consumers of their services, we have been consistently harmed. Also the appraisal management companies standard operational methods as well as continued failures to provide payment for services has harmed both appraisers and mortgage lending consumers through many stages of the mortgage lending process, likely exacerbating mortgage lending risk for investors due to unscrupulous assignment and management practices.
The CFPB is known to have focus on regulating lenders and their subsidiaries under the CFPB director and various judges under the ‘administrative adjudication proceedings’ program. Now that amc’s are officially licensed entities, they can also enjoy the regulatory oversight.
Administrative adjudication proceedings | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(how administrative adjudication proceedings works above)
Enforcement | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(enforcement details, top)
“A central part of the CFPB’s mission is to stand up for consumers and make sure they are treated fairly in the financial marketplace. One way we do this is by enforcing federal consumer financial laws and holding financial service providers accountable for their actions.”
Enforcement Actions | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(list of recent enforcement actions.) It is possible that if a request for adjudication is filed with the cfpb, these amc ailments would fall under the standard enforcement categories of; mortgage services, fair lending, and deceptive practices? Just brainstorming.
Not enough appraisers are contacting lenders and soliciting services directly, refusing to abide this institutionalized abuse with amc’s. If more appraisers contacted lenders, more lenders would move to direct panel management. In addition to seeking collection from the amc, the lender for all unpaid billing should be contacted, from their underwriter to the mortgage manager to the originating mortgage banker himself. The amc is not going to investigate themselves and the services they continue to sell to lenders is quite different than what we as industry workers know is actually routinely happening. I’ve never before seen such a large institutionalized group of ‘managers’ whom mismanage just about every single activity they’re tasked with so badly that people lose jobs and careers on a consistent basis.
This could be your best post ever Baggs. Sounds good to me.
Thank you. Isn’t this the root cause of it all, the improper cfpb safe harbor interpretation rule which nullified the RegZ C&R rule? It just seems like a simple solution to utilize their internal processes to test the legitimacy of these interpretations at a higher administrative level than those whom provided the interpretive language regarding dodd frank reg z on C&R in the first place. It’s like, our ailment is the lender and amc lobbyists whom silence appraisers’ voices. Is the solution then to argue the case to judges and administrators whom are not legally allowed or obliged to entertain lobbyists? The management company pillaging and exclusion from fair participation has gone on long enough and this argument needs to be heard by a bench.
The severe hardship imposed by amc’s means appraisers are not able to sell quality service to the majority of lending related companies. We’re forced to accept unethical behavior in a pay to play environment with severe uncertainty or be excluded from the working marketplace. This kind of consumer and worker abuse is supposed to be what regulatory authorities are in place to prevent. Back to C&R and how the 10k/20k was supposed to wipe these companies out overnight or force them to bill separately for services to lenders. C&R against amc’s could be a multi billion dollar suit if successful.
Amc’s could at any point simply bill separately for their services. The fact they’re unable to do so decades later proves they have never provided a service worth paying for. They grow swiftly only because of how they were able to collude with lenders to defraud consumers and appraisers alike by withholding cost savings and forcing discounted non free market pricing structures upon appraisers.
Coester VMS UPDATE——UPDATE——-UPDATE——UPDATE
Got this in the mail today
Great information Ric and thanks for sharing it. ALL should keep a copy of this. It’s probably not a legal precedent, but it’s a start in the right direction.
SIERRA PACIFIC MORTGAGE GOOD FOR YOU! Credit where credit is due. Maybe you can establish a direct relationship with the former Coester managed appraisers directly.
They could have prevented this in the first place by not using amc’s. Paying bills is a basic expectation and they’ve done nothing more than that. Wake me when the lender actually cares about appraisers and stops using amc’s altogether.
Thx Mike, Working on it.
That is truly “awesome” that Sierra Pacific Mortgage did that. I do a lot of work for them (not through AMC’s) and it’s nice to see a company that actually has integrity.
Is this for real? Has anyone gotten their money through this process? They owe me 4k from April-June of 2018, and I filed a civil suit against them. I would love to save a flight from FL for my court date if I could just get paid without going to court.
Good for you Vicki. More Appraisers should go on record by filing against him for contractual theft of services. Add to the long train wreck of lawsuits he’s already got in the pipeline. The Feds must have got wind because they just got an $80k federal tax lien judgement against him.
He has some domestic charges, including child abuse, as well. He’s a real scumbag.
Go after the lenders. I am and one has paid. Haven’t heard from the rest. But this week I’ll be filing small claims cases against them.
Good luck, we went after J.P.Morgan Chase when ES folded and screwed appraisers out of thousands of dollars, and the FL judge threw the lawsuit out of court. Wonder how much stock he owned in Chase. 🙁
There is no money. I spoke with the person at the bank and he was very brief and said that they’re not assigned to pay any appraisers owed and that not to call the other person. Basically, Coester owes money to this bank and they seized his account receivables and f***d us all in the a**. Then Coester has the cojones to send us a letter saying to collect our money from the bank.
I did work for Coester for 3 years and they always paid and timely. Good fees too. However, in 2018 the fees went down to the $320-$335 range. I had nothing to worry since they’d been such a good client. Then in June the payments nearly stopped and we started having issues. Well, I collected over $125,000 in those 3 years. They owe me about $3,700. I’m moving on. It’s not worth it. I’ll spend my energy and resources getting new clients.
Thank you for the reply 🙂
Jek raises a good point. When ANY AMC starts lowering their fees it is a warning sign of instability. That’s largely how the old LSI went from a fairly decent corporate client to a bottom of the barrel form fillers mill.
His experience over 3 years paid off in the long run. A $3,700+ loss on $125,000 is less than 3%. ABout the same as ‘Square’ fees. On the other hand, I personally wouldn’t accept any AMC giving me the non payment finger. It’s a matter of principle.
Jek raises a good point. When ANY AMC starts lowering their fees it is a warning sign of instability. That’s largely how the old LSI went from a fairly decent corporate client to a bottom of the barrel form fillers mill.
His experience over 3 years paid off in the long run. A $3,700+ loss on $125,000 is less than 3%. ABout the same as ‘Square’ fees. On the other hand, I personally wouldn’t accept any AMC giving me the non payment finger. It’s a matter of principle.
The fees I was getting were actually excellent, but I now believe it’s because it was already known they wouldn’t be paid. That explains the spurt of work from April to July, which then came to a halt. In my research, it seems most of us are owed 3k-5k. Perhaps that was done on purpose because over 5k is a much more serious crime???
Makes sense. If there is no intention of paying, then the sky is the limit! I hope appraisers object (challenge) his alleged bankruptcy. Proving fraud might be one way of doing so.
I’ll certainly bring that to the court’s attention, and show up with all details from the reseach I’ll be doing until then.
Good for you Vickie! So many of us are tempted to just turn the other cheek and move on but that’s why these kinds of things keep happening. Few are willing to make perpetrators pay the price.
Can’t say how proud it makes me of my peers when I hear they (you) are doing what needs to be done. Thank you for helping to take out the trash.
Vickie, I’d like to talk to you about your research, I am headed to Rockville to file a bad check case and a theft of services case against him.
They got me for $5,175. But I have recovered $450 of it so far. Why is over $5K more serious. I thought it was grand theft after $1,000.
They got me for $5,175. But I have recovered $450 of it so far. Why is over $5K more serious. I thought it was grand theft after $1,000.
I wasn’t sure, hence the question marks. It was just strange that most people seem to be in that range. Not just in this blog, I’ve googled the heck out of this.