"Your status has been changed to Ineligible and will no longer accept appraisals performed by you"

[Sandra Farrance]

The dreaded form letter was received by me in July, 2009. Several weeks prior to receiving this letter, orders from my biggest client, ceased. On further investigation, I learned I was removed from the lender's list due to a Field Review. Without having an opportunity to respond to this Field Review, I was simply removed. I received a partial copy of this Field Review several days later. I was informed I had 21 days to respond and after submitting my rebuttal received another form letter from Chase Home Lending saying they would get back to me within 90 days.

The Field Review was astonishingly inaccurate and so extremely biased, it appeared to me that the Reviewer had an pre-arranged agenda to discredit me. I spent the next several days writing a rebuttal, a 27 page document supporting my appraisal. The Field Reviewer supported his value based on three distressed sales and/or foreclosures. I further supported that the Reviewers work was sloppy, careless, unsupported and inaccurate. In my response to the lender, I refuted all of the statements made by the Reviewer and clearly, with documentation, supported my work.

I further informed the lender that due to the Reviewers damaging review, has caused me emotional distress, damage of reputation and loss of income. Due to my being "blacklisted" from Chase, other lenders have now rejected me as their appraiser due to their affiliation with them.

I further requested that they provide me with the entire review so that I may present his work to the Appraisal Commission, noting that the Real Estate Appraisal Division may be the best judge of this most serious matter and consequences caused by an Reviewers incompetence.

It is now September and have not received a response from the lender. At the moment, I am working with my attorney to bring suit against the Reviewer along with the lender. Those of you who have incurred similar damage may wish to join me in a Class action law suit. Please provide your comments.

[Larry Murry]

Sandra,
Out or curiosity, did the review appraiser sign the report, or was that part blank?

[Sandra Farrance]

They only provided me with the 2nd page of the report and the addendum. No photos either. Thanks for reading my letter!

[Sandra Farrance]

Only the 2nd page and the addendum was given to me. No photos, either.

[Sandra Farrance]

I understand, Larry, from your "page" that you are a Realtor and not a State Certified Appraiser, am I correct? FYI: Collecting a fee for valuation of real estate in any form (except for prospective listings) is illegal in Connecticut. I know understand why your comments and questions were confusing to some and somewhat irrelevant.

[Larry Murry]

No, I am a California state licensed appraiser. I know of appraisers that have received this same letter.
Looking at the realist it is clear that the appraisals in question were in default. Look up the property that is the subject of your review and see if it is in foreclosure. It may not be, but that seems to be a common thread in these matters. Your comps gave you a higher value and the reviewer had comps that gave a lower value and you are basically accused of inflating values because that loan in now in default. Your case may be different.

[Sandra Farrance]

All of the review appraisers comps were foreclosures. I was not working in a predominant foreclosure market. There were 20 sales with in the subject neighborhood and three foreclosures; the reviewer chose the lowest sales in the town. In some towns, such as Bridgeport, the foreclosure market is the market but not in the town in which I performed the appraisal. Thanks for clarifying your licensing; I hope the California market is good for you.

[Larry Murry]

This is happening all over the country. I am a member of Appraiser Forum and they have been discussing this for a while. I can tell you that I have had review appraisals before and the review appraiser always signed the report.
Some appraisers that have received this letter are being investigated by their state authority.It appears that you have received this letter because someone defaulted and you just happened to be the appraiser that did the job.
You mentioned a lawyer. There have been suggestion of a class action against Chase since it is so wide spread.

[Sandra Farrance]

This is not as a result of a default on a mortgage. Chase performs reviews routinely on appraisers. I routinely to reviews on other appraiser's work too. I was removed from the list because the review appraiser was an incompetent appraiser. His report even spelled the lender's name wrong along with 100+ other mispelled words and inaccurate data. This is it in a nutshell: You do an appraisal. A review appraiser disagrees with your report. You are removed from the client's list. You have no say in the matter; you are simply removed, even though the reviewer is the one that is incompetent. You stated you a member of the Appraiser Forum. I could send you additional information if you wish.

[Larry Murry]

Thanks but not necessary to send further information at this time. I have read several stories. But I do find it interesting that since you received the letter, you haven't received anymore assignment. Do you believe your name has been sent to all the AMC's?

[Sandra Farrance]

An appraiser's nightmare -- An inaccurate and incompetent review appraiser that causes a competent appraiser to be removed from the lenders list without having the opportunity to respond before hand is unjust. I recently completed an assignment for a mortgage broker who had to reject the appraisal as the lender was Chase. I was given the opportunity for a rebuttal to Chase and I submitted a 27 page report showing how poorly the reviewers work was and incorrect his value is. They told me it would take up to 90 days; a loss of income for 90 days waiting for a lender to reverse the "blacklisting". It could happen to any appraiser, anytime--having to wait 90 days for a reversal.

[Cynthia]

Incompetent reviews are a big problem. So far I have won each rebuttal but the reviews have been so bad it horrible. Many are getting paid $100 - $125 to do a review of a complex property. It appears the low fees may be effecting the work product.

[Sandra Farrance]

Thanks for writing back! I am confident that I will "win" the rebuttal. What about your loss of income during that time? This nightmare can happen to anyone, as you know. It is horrible--emotionally and financially. A review is very difficult work; you not only have to thoroughly review the original appraisers' work, but then you must perform a new appraisal. A review appraiser should be chosen based on their competency, not because of their cheap fees.