Solidifi User Agreement… all Indemnity Clauses are not created equal… This is a response to the article that Dave Towne wrote regarding Indemnity Clauses and that they are common in today’s world and appraisers better get used to it. It is also true that all Indemnity Clauses are not created equal and the devil is in the details. This topic came up because of the agreement that Solidifi requires that all appraisers that receive assignments from them must agree to. Let’s delve into the Indemnity Clause which is in that agreement. First the agreement is between Solidifi and the appraiser...
It’s been an interesting ride down the fearfulness side of many appraisers since last week’s essay I wrote about Indemnity Clauses. But I’ve also received praise from some of the best well-known people in this industry who understood the position I took, and complemented me for presenting the info. That means far more than the diatribes I get from folks who shake in their boots and don’t bother to fully read what is presented. As I wrote to someone last week, what I should have included in my essay, and will do so now is that if you can’t (or...
Solidifi Agreement provides little or no protection for the appraiser… Many appraisers have seen the Solidifi agreement that appraisers must agree to if they want to receive appraisal assignment from them. This 18-19 page agreement written by a lawyer which was paid by Solidifi provides lots of protection and power for Solidifi and little or no protection for the appraiser. Many of you might be on the fence, should I agree to this or should I not and know that I will lose some business. If Solidifi is your major provider of appraisal assignment they have just put you between...
…appraiser who claims to NOT SIGN any kind of appraiser employment agreement with an Indemnity Clause in it… This essay is not positioned as a promotion of AMC’s, which after writing to the end I realized some may believe. I don’t like the AMC business model. But for the time being, we are stuck with AMC’s if one desires to work in the mortgage lending arena. However, some lenders are beginning to realize the AMC business model is proving unworkable and unwieldy, and are moving back to direct assignment placement, or use one of the available ‘portals’ to distribute and accept assignments...
Appraisers signing off catch-all certification… When we crafted the language in the AMC Act back in 2011-2012, we followed what most every other state included insofar as indemnification was concerned. (225 ILCS 459/165) Sec. 165. Prohibited activities. (8) Requiring an appraiser to sign any sort of indemnification agreement that would require the appraiser to defend and hold harmless the appraisal management company or any of its agents, employees, or independent contractors for any liability, damage, losses, or claims arising out of the services performed by the appraisal management company or its agents, employees, or independent contractors and not the services performed...
AMC Vendor Agreement Controversies – Bad, Worst & Ugly AMCs And the winner is… According to a recent non-scientific survey conducted by AppraiserNews, the World’s Worst AMC Alive is Clear Capital. Honorable Mention goes to Coester VMS and Streetlinks. And the Worst Vampire AMC title goes to AppraiserLoft which is no longer operational. Excerpt: We’d also like to note the passion with which appraisers made their votes, describing the many ways that these AMCs deserved their titles! One final remark: It is sad that so many appraisers still hesitate to go public with their comments about AMCs, (justifiably) fearing that...
E&O vs. General Liability First some background. Errors & Omissions (E&O) is malpractice insurance for mistakes in your report- say you measure square footage incorrectly. General Liability (GL) covers property damage and bodily injury while you’re at the premises and more. Examples of GL claims are, if during a walkthrough you knock over and break a vase (property damage), or back over and injure a homeowner as you exit the driveway (bodily injury). Business Owners Packages (BOPs) typically go beyond the job site, providing coverage for losses to your own business, such as a trip and fall at your office,...
Burdensome indemnity language required by a lender or AMC Appraisers are often required to sign lengthy contracts to obtain assignments from lenders or Appraisal Management Companies. These contracts outline the scope of work, when the assignment is due, how to transmit reports and other items that require review and understanding. Once the contract is formalized, the appraiser is then legally required to comply with its’ provisions. One important and often troublesome requirement is the Indemnity Provision. The concept of indemnity means “security against hurt, loss or damage”. Through indemnity, one party can shift the responsibility of loss to another party...
Appraisers to be paid within… It is all-too-rare that we hear positive news regarding the appraisal profession. There is an awful lot of complaining that goes on, most of it justifiable, but little good news that gets shared. Part of the problem is that there is no central source for information regarding our profession which appraisers might utilize in order to find out what is going on across the country and affecting our profession, and could be used to enhance our industry and our citizens in our own state. From what I have seen, most of any good news is being...
Having the most unfair agreement will cause the lender or AMC to lose those appraisers I recently ran across the provision below in a new contractor agreement between an AMC and its panel appraisers, when one of LIA’s insured appraisers asked me to take a look at the agreement. The contract contained the average indemnification provision found in most unfair AMC contracts in which an appraiser promises to defend and reimburse the AMC for “any and all liabilities, damages, costs and expenses (including all legal fees) arising out of or relating to any claim, action, suit, complaint, liability, damage, or other...
