This post was updated on April 13, 2011 to reflect a subsequent order by Judge Lodge accepting and rejecting certain of the magistrate judge’s recommendations. See note at the bottom for the update. When I first saw the complaint filed by the plaintiffs in this lawsuit in federal court in Read more…
Sometimes a court’s opinion does not need any explanation to put it in context. I’ve reprinted a recent California Court of Appeal unpublished opinion in full below. It resolves the appeal of an appraiser who lost a case against Flagstar Bank. The appraiser filed the lawsuit after being sentenced to Read more…
On February 1, 2011, the Ohio Supreme Court will hold oral argument on a lender’s appeal in a case that it lost against an appraiser in the trial court and then lost again in an Ohio court of appeal. The appeal relates to whether the lender’s claims against the appraiser Read more…
“Can I sue an appraiser?” “Should I sue the appraiser?” As a lawyer working in the field of valuation liability and regulation, I’ve seen hundreds of cases filed against real estate appraisers by borrowers and property owners, variously claiming that an appraisal for a loan was either too high or Read more…
This is an early report about claims against appraisers in 2010. The good news is that the professional liability risk to appraisers remains manageable with prudent loss prevention, despite a large number of claims stemming from the mortgage crisis. The bad news is that claims against appraisers in all forms Read more…
Agents for major insurance provider Lloyd’s have begun giving notice to many appraisers informing them that their E&O policies will not be renewed after mid-November 2010. According to the notices of non-renewal, the underwriting group at Lloyd’s who covered them has decided to stop insuring real estate appraisers. This turn Read more…
It’s unfortunately gotten so bad with people trying to blame their problems on appraisers that appraisers now even get the blame when the problem relates to a BPO done by a real estate agent. Some evidence of this fact comes from a local headline and article yesterday in a Hudson Read more…
The FDIC has now taken over more than 250 failed banks since January 1, 2008. As the receiver for these failed banks, the FDIC has filed over 160 lawsuits against mortgage brokers, title companies, attorneys, appraisers, borrowers and other parties it blames for the banks’ losses. So far, the stakes Read more…
One of the emerging ways that an AMC, or possibly even a lender, can expose itself to potential liability for selling or using an alternative valuation product (i.e., a non-appraiser valuation) is via alleged patent infringement. As reported earlier on this site, CoreLogic filed a patent infringement lawsuit against eight Read more…
The FDIC continues to prove itself as the biggest current threat to appraisers and appraising. Since January 1, 2010, the FDIC has filed 60 lawsuits as a plaintiff in federal court in connection with its receivership of failed banks. This compares to 76 lawsuits for all of last year. Unfortunately Read more…