Real Estate Professionals Free Trade Coalition (Appraisal/Title/Mtg Agency/Survey)

Many State Boards are clearly guilty of extorting appraisers for fines and penalties for items of concocted minutia. What are often times problems that are of no consequence regarding a final valuation estimate, are nothing less than proverbial molehills turned into mountains.

Appraisal reports that are often well written and are on target for a reasonable value estimate are:

Unjustifiably attacked by Appraisal Boards seeking monetary penalties from good appraisers whom may have:

I. Written a cost approach in the report and cited a book and page from a cost manual, but have not made a photo copy to put in their work file. As a result they have their license suspended and also who must then pay for attorney to come to their defense when they have in truth done absolutely nothing wrong.

a. Appraisers have been fined for placing a wrong zip code on a report, or for taking a street scene that the state board deemed as unacceptable, and other such items that have absolute no bearing on the outcome of a valuation.

II. Make the State (actually; MAKE THE BOARD MEMBERS individually) liable to pay the appraiser damages sustained by the appraiser as determined by their appraiser peers, and in addition MAKE THE BOARD MEMBERS reimburse the appraiser for any unwarranted legal fees incurred by the appraiser when vindicated.

III. Allow appraisers to bring appraiser peers of their choosing as expert witnesses to be able to be seen and heard at any review board meeting.

IV. Disallow non-USPAP compliant reviews made by board members against the appraiser under speculation.

V. Make all evidence used in prosecuting appraisers available to the appraiser in question, so they may prepare for their defense.

VI. End appraiser intimidation. Many times appraisers are faced with either signing a stipulation they don?t agree with or having the complaint escalate with the threat of $10,000 or more in imposed fines.

VII. Stop the conflicts of interest. Many times the investigator, case advisor, review appraiser, and the expert witness are all the same person. This is an obvious conflict of interest.