Realtor Fined $10,000 for Impersonating an Appraiser
Being an appraiser isn’t for the faint of heart. The job requires thick skin, a strong moral compass, and an unwavering commitment to impartiality. There are times when you have to stand your ground, even when clients plead with you to sway the value. Sometimes, the market tells a story that’s not what people want to hear. Whether it’s a low appraisal for a refinance or a high one for a divorce, appraisers have to stay true to the facts. No matter how much pressure is applied. Objectivity is everything.
That’s exactly what I was reminded of when I met Abigail, a kind, elderly lady who had recently purchased a distressed, estate-owned two-family home. Abigail’s dream was to renovate the property and hold it as a rental, something she could only do with a high-interest construction loan. She’d poured everything she had into it—money, time, sweat. Six months later, after an exhaustive renovation, the house was complete and it was time to refinance and lower the staggeringly high monthly payments. And that’s when I arrived to complete the appraisal.
After the inspection—measuring, photographing, assessing the property—I returned to my office to prepare the report. The next day, the numbers came in. The market trends, the adjustments, the comps—all of it led to a number that was far lower than Abigail expected.
The calls started almost immediately.
First came the loan officer, pushing back, citing how the last appraiser had come in much higher and how that appraisal had allowed her to borrow money to purchase and renovate the home. Now, with the current appraisal, the deal was dead. Then, Abigail herself, her voice cracking with frustration and fear. “Why is my house worth so much less now?” she demanded. “I’ve done everything right and the market is going up!”
Her distress was evident. This wasn’t just a financial loss; it was her dream crumbling. With her high-interest loan now unmanageable and no way to refinance, Abigail found herself trapped. The renovation had become a nightmare.
I felt horrible, and to be honest, a little defensive, so I offered to take a look her prior appraisal. What I discovered made my stomach turn.
The previous appraisal had been done by a real estate agent—a realtor, not a licensed appraiser. There were 2 estimates of market value listed: an “as-is” estimate and a post-renovation value, and a suggested list price “as is” and post renovations. But here’s the catch: these values were artificially inflated, clearly padded to meet loan requirements, with no support from legitimate comparable data or proper appraisal methodology. They were high enough to make the numbers work for the deal, but not at all reflective of the true market value.
I was shocked.
It turns out that the national appraisal management company behind the valuation had knowingly hired this realtor to conduct the appraisal. Their goal? Maximize their profits by using someone who wasn’t qualified for the job. They charged Abigail for an appraisal, yet she was unknowingly left with a report that wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on. Worse, the realtor—posing as an appraiser—had skewed the numbers, and now Abigail had over-improved the property based on those inflated values. Unable to refinance out of her renovation loan, foreclosure loomed on the horizon.
I could only imagine her despair. The system had failed her, and now, she was paying the price.
It wasn’t just Abigail who was affected, though. The realtor’s actions were illegal. In many states, realtors are only allowed to estimate a list price with the sole purpose to try and obtain a listing and only certified appraisers are permitted to give formal property valuations, and for good reason. When someone steps outside the lines, they put everyone at risk—borrowers, lenders, and even themselves.
After multiple hearings with the State Board and mounting legal fees, the real estate agent’s attorney finally struck a deal. Jail time was off the table, but the agent still faced a hefty fine for impersonating an appraiser.
The final penalty for impersonating an appraiser? $10,000.
Meanwhile, the appraisal management company remains under investigation. The penalties for their role? Still to be determined.
This is a warning to all involved in the real estate and appraisal industries: cutting corners for profit comes at a cost. The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice were established to ensure public trust. When those guidelines are ignored—whether by national appraisal management companies or unethical realtors—the damage is far-reaching. Not only does it jeopardize public trust, but it also risks severe legal consequences.
For realtors and appraisal management companies: consider this your wake-up call. State agencies are watching. And next time, it could be you.
When I hear these stories it always shocks me of how they get a loan through with this kind of report. When I work with an AMC the report is always nitpicked to death to be perfect… yet this sounds like it was written on a napkin ? Please update us on the AMC case when you can.
A fine is clearly so insufficient. This Realtor needs to lose their license. Has NO business working in real estate so they can harm other consumers. We need more details, what state? Which AMC? AMC needs to be put out of business, and serious consequences for the lender failing in their duties as well. I hope, somehow, this borrower receives enough compensation to make this situation right. They were a victim of fraud in my opinion. Kudos to the appraiser who looked into what happened!! Thank you!
I had the exact same thought! $10K is nothing. That AMC shouldn’t be allowed to operate—either corruption or dangerous incompetence. I recently tried to report a guy in CA for appraising above his license level (the report was bad, borderline fraudulent which is why I called), and the state didn’t care. He was a staff appraiser at a company that rhymes with ‘Roperty Riences Roup,’ doing an appraisal for Chase. The state said it was up to the lender to catch it. This is exactly why these things happen—there’s no real enforcement, and when there is, it’s just a slap on the wrist.
I met an MAI one time at at class long ago. The class was not an appraisal class. He discovered some large fraud at a bank. I forget exactly how, but he had proof. He reported the fraud to the FIB. The FIB called the bank and asked the bank if they wanted them to prosecute the appraiser. Nothing was done to the bank.
Be careful what you ask for. You are considered the enemy even though you’re the most honest, ethical guy in the entire process.
My mentor told me in the late 90’s to ‘know your role, shut your hole’.
We never turned in bad appraisals, because the state board never did anything back then.
Today, if you look at someone wrong and you get investigated and fined.
Amen. The fine for the so called Realtor should be high enough to get the victim to an at least amount to make her whole. The AMC DEFINITELY needs to be shut down in every State they operate in and also be fined. I agree, we all need to know who the AMC is.
YOU NEED TO CALL OUT THE AMC.
Appraisers need to know which AMCs to stay away from, if you do AMC work.
The only way any of this gets better is to starve the beast.
While this is a logical solution it’s not practical. There is a reason the AMC’s continue to get away with this. Self-centered, “I’m in it for me” decenters in the appraiser ranks. They don’t or can’t process the fact their willingness to play the game is simply contributing to a quicker demise of the very source of their income for the quick dollar; akin to cutting their own throat. It is an appraiser problem as much as an AMC problem.
This was no ‘oops’ moment or accidental negligence that was worthy of just a fine. This was outright premediated fraud. Shame on all parties that were part of keeping this fraudster out of jail.
Agree! Now, lets hope the AMC and lender suffer more serious consequences. If details come out, we all need to try to have ALL their licensed revoked. (the not an actual appraiser as well)
We have to attach a copy of our license and include our license number in the report. Did the agent use a fake number and license? No AMC could accept an appraisal from a real estate agent or broker.
Why would you ever include a copy of your license with the actual report? License number r is enough.
Most require it these days.
Wanna bet? You give AMC’s WAY too much credit for honesty.
Abigail needs to sue both the realtor, AND the AMC. Very possibly the original lender that hired the AMC as well.
Watch these realtors/agents.
I had a call a few years ago from an unknown realtor asking very specific questions about appraisals and the adjustment process. It was a very unusual call and not the typical call you’d get about solar or swimming pools. I got suspicious and started asking her what this was for, and she flat out told me that she supplies a BPO/CMA to AN AMC with specific market data so they can send it to an appraiser to complete an appraisal. I almost fell out of my chair. I tried to get more information from her, and she hung up probably knowing it was going to be in trouble for her.
I put out her info to all my local appraisers and the local MLS, which said they couldn’t do anything about it.
Jeff, this is exactly what is happening. Wrote this post up this morning.
Article quote: the national appraisal management company behind the valuation had knowingly hired this realtor to conduct the appraisal. / The amc company functions as an agent of the lender, described in federal regulation. The amc companies actions are not apart or independent of the lender, they are always on behest of the lender, as the amc is a contracted agent of the lender. The lender is responsible for the amc companies oversight to assure compliance with all applicable regulations. The ‘controlling appraiser’, all amc’s are required to hire at least one licensed appraiser who’s primary focus is assuring the amc maintains ethical and legal compliance pertaining to all matters valuation related. Large amc’s often hire multiple appraisers for both management and customer level fulfillment. Although not identified as controlling appraisers, their function of demanding ethical compliance in all valuation related business activity is expected due to their possession of individual appraisal licenses which compels them to follow uspap at all times, or share in liability and fines for violations. The fact the realtor was fined by the board, and was hired by the amc, results in a defacto conclusion the amc and the lender they represented should be held liable alongside. The realty agent could not have been a rogue player if the amc persons were orchestrating the event(s), and the lender was providing the required oversight.
The pertinent question; Was this a singular instance of deception at one single amc company? Indications of systemic mounting issues with the amc industry as a whole? Where is the audit to demand all the amc’s and lenders records to investigate how many other times this may have occurred, the potential scope of violations throughout the industry, properly identify everyone involved? Sanctioning, fines, license revocations. A one off event, or a reflection of the amc’s operational culture?
Many amc’s funnel substantial work to realty agents, work which which used to go to appraisers. The amc takes on a substantial amount of other tasks for lenders, then claims their amc companies should not be subjected to meaningful oversight, because they’re tasked and licensed under the limited scope of ‘appraisal management’. When does the mortgage lending oversight board get involved? The ASB, OCC, FHFA, CFPB, state AG? Just another day working under the amc model. They make their own rules.
I tell all re agents/brokers that they can send me all the market data they want and that I’ll look at it, if they want to waste their time, BUT I’m the one who still has to do the research and choose the comparables and that I’m not obligated to use their market data. I also tell them that if they have something relevant that’s not in MLS, they’re welcome to provide specifics and a closing statement and I’ll look at it. I just say, thank you very much and let it go. The vast majority of the time, they send nothing, but if they do, whatever they send typically isn’t comparable at all. Imagine that, huh?
Been there; Oh I see by the arrangement of these ‘comparables’, you searched the MLS system based on price and not by more closely associated feature quality and size. If bpo’s were held to similar standards of review as appraisals, most would be rejected. But as the amc industry has non qualified people managing other non qualified people, and everyone whom may be qualified has a financial motivation to look the other direction, and is likely sending more work requests to non appraisers than appraisers over all, systemic training deficiency and counter productive modeling has taken firm root.
Will an appraiser impersonating a realty agent which may harm a person to the tune of a hundred grand or more, also result in a mere $10k fine? We could start operating like amc’s, write off the fines because the profit presented from unethical illegal behavior would clearly be higher than any applied fines. That’s what amc’s do so why can’t appraisers? I’m getting a realty license just so I can tap back into all the no value drive by inspection completion type work which amc’s no longer send to appraisers. I talked to an agent last week whom said she loves PIR’s at $50 each, ‘they’re so easy and only take a few minutes’, getting a cool $1k a month on the side.
Amc’s have been very proficient at one thing; Driving appraisers out of business and redirecting our work elsewhere. Lenders could never have been this efficient in dealing with 1.5m – 2m realty agents all jockeying for work which is more appropriately placed with a body of roughly 40k appraisers. Who the hell cares if a borrower gets harmed along the way or not? They don’t. Otherwise they’d be using appraisers instead for a much more sensible consumer protection safeguard.
Several years ago I performed a review on an appraisal I found all 3 of his sales comps did not even exist. I delivered me review report to my client. I looked at my States Appraisal Board to see what the penalties were for the original appraiser. I have never seen the fraudsters name in any sort of action for him. I csn only assume the lender never filed a complaint.
This happens all the time. It’s the in-house lending that’s the worst at using BPO’s by Realtors for loans. Appraiser’s are just seen as being in the way of loans closing and a problem for Realtors and loan officers- those that benefit from commission on the product and transaction. Nothing new here…but more fines and accountability is needed. Dodd Frank isn’t and didn’t work.
This was likely a private hard equity lender. They are not subject to the same requirements that a federally insured institution, GSE or govy loan would be. This was not an evaluation which met interagency guidelines either. Private money lenders use BPOs all the time. It sounds like this Realtor completed a report that fell outside the legal limits of a BPO, and was classified as an appraisal by the state regulatory agency. It would take an astonishing level of incompetence on the part of the AMC/lender or identity theft (using someones license) by the Relator for them to think they ordered an appraisal in the first place. The borrower likely got a copy of the BPO (“appraisal”) that made her think that her business plan was sound.
The borrower seeking a loan, whom was placed in front of an ‘appraisal management company’ by her lender. Then received a product which she mistook for an appraisal, from the ‘appraisal management company.’
Article quote: First came the loan officer, pushing back, citing how the last appraiser had come in much higher and how that appraisal had allowed her to borrow money to purchase and renovate the home. / Sounds like an appraisal to me. That happened before a regulatory agency was ever involved. Article clearly states the realty agent was charged with impersonating an appraiser. Try again. Does not compute.
Sure it computes. I indicated that one option was that the Realtor stole the identity of an appraiser. Flat out fraud on the part of the Realtor for which she should go to jail. The alternative is that it was a poorly written BPO that looked like an appraisal to the state regulatory agency. Depends on the state, but the difference between a BPO and appraisal can be defined by statute and/or the actions of the appraiser/Realtor. If it was represented as an appraisal by the AMC/broker then the borrower might have a case, but only against the AMC/broker. So either a crime or incompetence/negligence.
if the Poser Appraiser does not have an Appraisal License, then it is hard for the Appraisal Board to fine a non licensed person. Thats why, if I am reading the story between the lines, the Real Estate Board fined the Agent posing as an Appraiser. For the appraisal to go forward and a prior loan made, there had to be a real active license number and name used. Not just a number picked out of thin air. Or I agree it does not make sense.
Spot on Baggins. It can be twisted and theorized any way one wants but, at the end of the day, it is still the obvious. Facts are facts
Unsupported enuendo are not facts and used in an attempt to obscure the obvious. This of course is predicated on the reporting being accurate.
So it is unclear in the story, if the Pretend Appraiser/Agent made up a phony license number or used another appraisers name and license number? I have seen it before where, someone used another appraisers name and license number to complete a report. So when another appraiser’s name and license number are illegally used in a made up report and it is discovered by a bank, a lender or FBI it becomes a Federal Crime due to the attempt to loan money from a Federal Institution. If a real appraiser, whose name and number are stolen as in “Stolen Identity” their entire business is turned to Mud and dropped by all lenders and they now have Zero Income until it can be determined what happened. Over 25 years ago, my Appraiser identity was stolen by another expired license appraiser pretending to be me and accepting checks at the door during inspection. I had to shut down my appraisal business until the Perpetrator was arrested. Meanwhile, I packed up and left town in an old Honda Car and started my appraisal company a couple of years later in another town far, far away. The Perp went to trial and took a quick plea of guilty. I told the court system if I needed to be in court, then my air faire, hotel lodging and all expenses needed to be paid or I was a no show. So they decided not to need me in court. Abigail needs to find a real good real estate attorney to be made whole again. This is terrible and a sad story for the homeowner who was deceived by several bad actors and posers.
This sort of thing has been going on for decades. Color me not shocked. They’re gonna do what they want to do. All we can do is cringe. How ’bout them waivers and digital/AI/CG masterpieces, huh? Smirk.
Note To Self: If you intend to impersonate someone it better be someone who rakes in $20,000+ per day rather than $300 to $400. Preferably an investment banker or high profile trader.
Retired! https://www.womenslaw.org/laws/co/statutes/ss-18-5-113-criminal-impersonation
Criminal impersonation. Causing someone to lose their retirement or investment home and possibly face bankruptcy qualifies?
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1028
https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/brokering-real-estate-without-a-license.htm
Research keywords; Impersonating an appraiser penalty
Tag on any individual state name to that search, there is a wide variety of rules for each state ranging from simple misdemeanors to felonies depending on the level of harm and intent. Forfeiture of assets. Decades of imprisonment. To relatively light penalties and fines.
Appraisers, realty agents, and amc’s take note. In some states the fine for impersonating a licensed person whom causes financial harm to another may be only $10k, in others it may be a decade in prison. So, in what state did this violation occur, and in what state is the amc that facilitated the request located? Same for the lender whom processed the ‘appraisal’, in what state? Sounds like something the Attorney General should be in charge of, not the local appraisal and amc oversight board. Everyone research your local boards penalties and cases, bring more information. If this is true, anonymity is neither warranted nor possible. Just another day in the appraisal industry.
Thank you Baggins! We need your help. at appraisersforum the GSE mouthpieces are spreading all sorts of disinformation about their criminal activity!!
Post links.
I’d like to see what they are saying.
Imagine that. A Realtor disguised as an appraiser is fined $10,000 for fraud but an appraiser, cleared by VA, is spending tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees for a witch hunt. Makes little sense. That’s how screwed up the system has become.
I think the story is BS. The author doesn’t even mention the State where this supposedly happened. If it did happen, there is a public record of it.
Who do you work for The GSEs or an AMC?