Appraisal Report

 

eAppraiseIT, LLC v. Pamela Crowley

Hearing on 06.28.07

Appraisal Report Integrity in Jeopardy

Every appraiser, lender and investor should pay careful attention to this court case. The issue of whether anyone can unlock a signed document by a
licensed professional and change that document in any manner places the integrity of that document in jeopardy.

Pamela Crowley, founder of www.MortgageFraudWatchList.org, is a certified appraiser who has the courage to do her job protecting the public welfare.
She discovered that certain parties maybe unlocking signed locked documents. This case is about what she discovered and how she made other appraisers aware of this potential problem.  www.AppraisersForum.com is the appraiser chat room where appraisal topics such as these are discussed.  What happened
to freedom of speech?  Financial institutions rely on appraisal reports in the assessment for collateral decisions. In my opinion, no one has the right to change
a signed document by a licensed professional.  

First, a state licensed professional signs his or her name and is responsible for the content of the appraisal report. The licensed professional appraiser has
the responsibility and liability for the information relied upon by the client in the appraisal report. The certified appraiser is charged with the responsibility of watching out for the public welfare. Congress made this point very clear after the Savings and Loan crisis, in the late 1980’s and the early 1990’s, which cost the American people billions and billions of dollars.

Second, as a real estate appraiser I have certain questions regarding the unlocking of appraisal reports. How long has this process been going on? How many appraisals have been affected? What other changes to appraisals may have been made other than allegedly placing a seal on the appraisal report?  How wide spread is this? Some types of changes which might be made are: comments of condition of property, zoning, boxes changed from tenant to owner occupied, pictures removed showing a property in disrepair and opinion of value. I want to make this perfectly clear; I am not saying that any of these types of changes have occurred. However, my concern as a real estate appraiser is that once an appraisal report is unlocked, anything is possible! What quality control procedures are in place by the appraisal management companies to assure the appraiser, lender and investor that the appraisal report
has not been altered?

In conclusion, this case is not about Pamela Crowley who, in my opinion, as a certified appraiser has done everything in her power to protect the public welfare. This case is about whether anyone has the right to make changes to a report signed by a licensed professional. Are clients sure that the appraisal report they have in their possession has not been altered?  One thing is for sure, whether you are an appraiser, lender or an investor of mortgage backed securities, you want to make sure the integrity of the appraisal report has not been jeopardized.

Charles L. Drecksler, Certified General Real Property Appraiser
Drecksler & Associates, Inc.
444 Manget Street, Suite 400
Marietta, GA 30060-2755
Tel: 770.916.1074
Fax: 770.916.1014
www.RealEstateAppraiser.com
Appraisals@RealEstateAppraiser.com

07.13.07

Send mail to appraisals@realestateappraiser.com with questions or comments about www.RealEstateAppraiser.com.
Real Estate Appraiser dot com is owned and operated by Drecksler & Associates, Inc.
Real Estate Appraiser dot com is operated by a certified general appraiser.
Last modified:  06/24/08