Absolutely. The role of the appraiser is supposed to be that of an outside observer. We are required to certify to that impartiality in every single appraisal report we sign. The very worst thing an appraiser can do is to join either one side or the other. I wish I could say that it doesn’t happen very often but I’d get laughed off the island for saying something stupid like that, and rightfully so.
Lenders have several options for dealing with fraudulent appraisals. They can sue in civil court, they can file administrative complaints with the state licensing agency, they can complain to the FBI. Any of those remedies can put an appraiser out of business. One of the byproducts of licensing appraisers is that of all the co-conspirators in a mortgage fraud case, it is virtually guaranteed that the appraiser will get just as heavy a penalty as the people who initiated and profited from the schemes. Every week some appraiser ends up going to prison for committing fraud, and the irony is that an appraiser’s “profit” in these cases is always limited to the measly appraisal fee – they never get a big piece of the action; so crooked appraisers commit their crimes for cheap.
Our bitter reality is that there are a lot of appraisers who, in an attempt to keep the work coming in, will lie on appraisal reports in order to enable their client to do what they want. It is these appraisers who demean themselves and us all by betraying the fiduciary position we are supposed to uphold. It is these appraisers who represent the single greatest threat to our occupation as well as to the safety and security of the lenders and other users of appraisals who rely on them to make informed decisions.
You’ll NEVER catch me sticking up for a crooked appraiser. Matter of fact, if anyone has a legitimate complaint to make against an appraiser – one that they have proof for – I’ll be happy to assist them in filling out the forms and putting the complaint together.
