COVID-19 Legal & Risk Issues for Appraisers
Free video webinar: “Legal and Risk Issues 2.0 for Real Estate Appraisers Stemming from the COVID-19 Crisis.” Scheduled for April 10, 2020 at 9:30 a.m. Pacific. For those who cannot watch live, a video recording and the presentation materials will be made available here shortly after the webinar.
In this second Valuation Legal webinar for appraisers relating to COVID-19, I will be joined by attorney Claudia Gaglione of Gaglione, Dolan & Kaplan LLP. She is the national claims counsel for the appraiser professional liability insurance program managed by LIA Administrators & Insurance Services. We have worked together on appraiser liability matters for over 15 years, and she is my co-author of Risk Management for Real Estate Appraisers and Appraisal Firms (Appraisal Institute 2019).
We will cover:
- An overview of the primary legal and risk issues for real estate appraisers in relation to the COVID-19 crisis and anticipated economic fallout.
- Responsible suggestions for appraisers on reducing their risk going forward based on the lessons we learned from claims against appraisers after the 2007-09 financial crisis.
- Examples of suggested language to include in appraisal reports.
- Insurance concerns.
Our discussion will relate equally to commercial and residential appraisal work.
Registration is free and only requires your name and email. Following registration, you will also receive future email announcements from Valuation Legal – Christensen Law Firm about offerings such as this webinar. You can unsubscribe at any time.
LIA Administrators & Insurance Services is the sponsor of this educational event. LIA is the Appraisal Institute’s endorsed provider of professional liability insurance for appraisers.
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EXCELLENT!!!!
MANY THANKS TO Peter and Claudia!!!
We appreciate all you do, Peter!
Too bad this is going to be via Zoom. I will not register for security reasons. Hopefully, the recorded webinar will be made available later.
https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/491842-google-bans-use-of-zoom-on-employee-computers-due-to-security-concerns
The “Zoom bombing” issues you read about involve “meetings” not webinars. Except for the hosts, the viewers in webinars are not on video or audio and can only participate by chat (which can be locked when needed). We don’t see you, you only see us. A recording is available, however, on my website, as well as the slides.
— Peter Christensen
ALL IS NOT GLOOM AND DOOM
So, a couple of reminders on using Zoom to host public events:
When you share your meeting link on social media or other public forums, that makes your event … extremely public. ANYONE with the link can join your meeting.
Avoid using your Personal Meeting ID (PMI) to host public events. Your PMI is basically one continuous meeting and you don’t want randos crashing your personal virtual space after the party’s over. Learn about meeting IDs and how to generate a random meeting ID (at the 0:27 mark) in this video tutorial.
Familiarize yourself with Zoom’s settings and features so you understand how to protect your virtual space when you need to. For example, the Waiting Room is an unbelievably helpful feature for hosts to control who comes and goes. (More on that below.)
Read on for a list of Zoom features that can help you safely share your Zoom virtual cocktail hour or dance break without unwanted interruptions. Ok, Zoomer? Let’s do it!
Manage screen sharing
The first rule of Zoom Club: Don’t give up control of your screen.
You do not want random people in your public event taking control of the screen and sharing unwanted content with the group. You can restrict this — before the meeting and during the meeting in the host control bar — so that you’re the only one who can screen-share.
To prevent participants from screen sharing during a call, using the host controls at the bottom, click the arrow next to Share Screen and then Advanced Sharing Options.
Advanced Sharing Options
Under “Who can share?” choose “Only Host” and close the window. You can also lock the Screen Share by default for all your meetings in your web settings.
Prevent others from screen sharing
Manage your participants
Some of the other great features to help secure your Zoom event and host with confidence:
Allow only signed-in users to join: If someone tries to join your event and isn’t logged into Zoom with the email they were invited through, they will receive this message:
Authorized Attendees
This is useful if you want to control your guest list and invite only those you want at your event — other students at your school or colleagues, for example.
Lock the meeting: It’s always smart to lock your front door, even when you’re inside the house. When you lock a Zoom Meeting that’s already started, no new participants can join, even if they have the meeting ID and password (if you have required one). In the meeting, click Participants at the bottom of your Zoom window. In the Participants pop-up, click the button that says Lock Meeting.
Set up your own two-factor authentication: You don’t have to share the actual meeting link! Generate a random Meeting ID when scheduling your event and require a password to join. Then you can share that Meeting ID on Twitter but only send the password to join via DM.
Remove unwanted or disruptive participants: From that Participants menu, you can mouse over a participant’s name, and several options will appear, including Remove. Click that to kick someone out of the meeting.
Allow removed participants to rejoin: When you do remove someone, they can’t rejoin the meeting. But you can toggle your settings to allow removed participants to rejoin, in case you boot the wrong person.
Put ‘em on hold: You can put everyone else on hold, and the attendees’ video and audio connections will be disabled momentarily. Click on someone’s video thumbnail and select Start Attendee On Hold to activate this feature. Click Take Off Hold in the Participants list when you’re ready to have them back.
Disable video: Hosts can turn someone’s video off. This will allow hosts to block unwanted, distracting, or inappropriate gestures on video or for that time your friend’s inside pocket is the star of the show.
Mute participants: Hosts can mute/unmute individual participants or all of them at once. Hosts can block unwanted, distracting, or inappropriate noise from other participants. You can also enable Mute Upon Entry in your settings to keep the clamor at bay in large meetings.
Turn off file transfer: In-meeting file transfer allows people to share files through the in-meeting chat. Toggle this off to keep the chat from getting bombarded with unsolicited pics, GIFs, memes, and other content.
Turn off annotation: You and your attendees can doodle and mark up content together using annotations during screen share. You can disable the annotation feature in your Zoom settings to prevent people from writing all over the screens.
Disable private chat: Zoom has in-meeting chat for everyone or participants can message each other privately. Restrict participants’ ability to chat amongst one another while your event is going on and cut back on distractions. This is really to prevent anyone from getting unwanted messages during the meeting.
Try the Waiting Room
One of the best ways to use Zoom for public events is to enable the Waiting Room feature. Just like it sounds, the Waiting Room is a virtual staging area that stops your guests from joining until you’re ready for them. It’s almost like the velvet rope outside a nightclub, with you as the bouncer carefully monitoring who gets let in.
Meeting hosts can customize Waiting Room settings for additional control, and you can even personalize the message people see when they hit the Waiting Room so they know they’re in the right spot. This message is really a great spot to post any rules/guidelines for your event, like who it’s intended for.