by Peter Christensen As two recent attacks show, cyber crimes pose a real risk – legally and economically – to appraisal firms, management companies and other businesses involved in property analytics. If an operation like CoreLogic can be victimized by Read More …
Blog
Appraiser Disciplinary Complaints: Who is Filing Them? What for?
We were doing some research for a project and came up with some basic data that appraisers may find interesting about disciplinary complaints to state appraiser licensing agencies. Who files the complaints? What’s the basis? Well, here’s some data from Read More …
Appraisers Insured by LIA: Free Live CE Seminar in Santa Barbara on June 12
For real estate appraisers insured by LIA — especially those in or near Santa Barbara: Thank you for buying your E&O insurance from LIA! LIA is hosting a free live CE seminar in our hometown Santa Barbara. The seminar is Read More …
“Hybrid Appraisals” – Speaking about the Liability Risk to Appraisers and Others at The Appraisal Foundation’s Joint Council Meeting
“Hybrid appraisal” liability? I am looking forward to speaking about the subject at a joint meeting of The Appraisal Foundation’s two advisory councils — The Appraisal Foundation Advisory Council (composed of 60 non-profits and government agencies) and the Industry Advisory Read More …
Are Commercial Appraisers Entitled to Overtime? A Pending Class Action Filed Against a Bank Might Answer that Question
Overtime class actions by residential real estate appraisers have ravaged large appraisal firms and management companies for the last six years. While there were a few earlier cases, the first signs that overtime litigation under the federal Fair Labor Standards Read More …
Newly Published California Case Helpful to Appraisers: Tindell v. Murphy
Today, the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District certified for publication its recent decision in a case entitled Tindell v. Murphy. The case involved mortgage borrowers who sued a real estate appraiser blaming the appraiser for a purchase they Read More …
Appraisal Firms and “Hybrid” AMCs: Beware of the Dynamex Decision and Its Impact on Classifying Appraisers as Independent Contractors in California
Classifying “staff appraisers” as independent contractors, rather than as employees, is a very common business practice among real estate appraisal firms. It also has become fairly common for appraisal management companies (AMCs) not only to manage the delivery of appraisals Read More …
AMCs and Lenders Fighting Over Next Generation Valuation Products and Technology
The residential valuation business for mortgage lenders has been taking big steps lately toward wide scale replacement of the historical Uniform Residential Appraisal Report (URAR or 1004) form used in mortgage lending. As this movement happens, some would-be providers of Read More …
Appraisers in Arbitration – Legal Risk?
As real estate appraisers seek to diversify their services beyond traditional lending work, one of the fields I think appraisers should be looking to more is serving as an arbitrator. When disputes concern real estate interests, appraisers are well-positioned to Read More …
Classifying Appraisers as Independent Contractors – an Issue for Appraisal Firms and Maybe Some AMCs Too
A hot legal issue that is more often affecting appraisal firms and similar businesses, such as inspection and field service management firms, is the classification of workers as independent contractors, rather than as employees. In some lawsuits, plaintiff workers argue Read More …