The Zach Simas Coercion Campaign
A double standard inside the appraisal industry has been exposed yet again. Fellow appraiser Zach Simas recently detailed a blatant attempt at corporate coercion by Class Valuation, commonly nicknamed “ClassLess” across our profession. While the national appraisal management company skates through multiple federal lawsuits and major compliance scandals, the independent appraiser who stood his ground on ethics is the one facing a state board investigation. This reality lays bare a deeply broken system where middlemen hold the power and the boots on the ground carry all the risk.
The trouble began when Zach completed an FHA report for Class Valuation on a single parcel property in Humboldt County. Months later, the AMC demanded he retroactively alter the report to include a second parcel that wasn’t even on the title as of his original effective date. Zach correctly identified this as a new scope of work and a brand new assignment. Class Valuation’s internal management initially confirmed Zach was entirely correct. On July 15, Chief Appraiser John Dingeman admitted in writing that the paperwork showed one parcel and agreed it was a new appraisal assignment. On August 13, Susan Erickson from QC Escalations apologized in writing and confirmed the lender had been told the same.
Then came the four day pivot. On August 17, the very same Susan Erickson completely reversed course. She claimed the omission materially affects the description and analysis and sent a chilling directive stating it may be in Zach’s best interest to correct and address the omission in that report rather than treating this as a new assignment. It’s a classic corporate high pressure tactic deployed against an appraiser refusing to break federal rules. When Zach stood his ground and reported the AMC to the California Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers and HUD, the system backfired. Instead of punishing the AMC for violating appraiser independence, BREA opened an investigation into Zach over the exact report Class Valuation had already cleared twice.
This coercive pressure isn’t an isolated incident; it’s standard operational behavior for an AMC facing legal threats from every direction. Class Valuation is currently a defendant in multiple major federal court actions that highlight a thoroughly broken corporate model. Golar v. Class Valuation is a federal collective action alleging massive overtime violations where former staff appraiser supervisor La Rica Golar exposed how the AMC skims massive portions of consumer fees before calculating employee production splits. Bernholtz v. CrossCountry Mortgage and Class Valuation is a consumer class action over hidden fee bundling where the lawsuit alleges borrowers pay premium appraisal fees up to $1,000 without ever being told the AMC keeps the largest slice for itself while paying the actual professional scraps.
Furthermore, past investigations show Class Valuation reviewers rubber stamping reports with massive factual errors, such as marking a property on a tight, non-compliant well and septic setup as having public utilities, which led directly to borrower foreclosure. In their rush to push appraisal modernization and eradicate licensed professionals, Class Valuation even hired Paschal Uchendu as a property data collector. Uchendu was a convicted felon awaiting sentencing for orchestrating a $1.2 million armed robbery of a courier van, showing a complete lack of regard for homeowner safety and data security.
It’s entirely backwards that a national AMC can face class actions for fee skimming, separate lawsuits for wage theft, and public exposure for sending felons into homes, yet regulators turn their guns on the independent professional who blew the whistle. State boards have remained structurally obsolete, focusing entirely on minor technical dings against individuals while lacking the authority or the appetite to police multi-million dollar corporate entities. When AMCs control the assignment portals, the tier rankings, the software access, and the compliance checklists, appraisal independence becomes an illusion. Middlemen shouldn’t be allowed to operate in the dark, bundle fees, coerce field professionals, and then weaponize state regulatory boards the moment an independent appraiser says no. Zach’s case proves exactly why we have to keep every email, refuse compliance pressure in writing, and continue exposing a corporate model that lives up to its ClassLess name every single day.
- The Zach Simas Coercion Campaign - October 15, 2026
- UAD 3.6 and the Danger of Corporate Pragmatism - October 14, 2026
- Our Metrics, Their Millions: Exposing the Backdoor Data Rush - October 13, 2026
And yet, Class is still out there harming consumers and appraisers daily.
When will they be taken down? What entity will have the fortitude to hold them accountable? We see the weakness in our governing systems, failure to enforce laws daily with this trash.
And yet, appraisers are still willing to work for such a harmful company-if you are one of them, wake up. Do better.
So many stories. Still no accountability…
https://appraisersblogs.com/systemic-failures-in-fha-appraisal-n-loan-review/