The Role of Attorneys in the Appraisal Process: An Unnamed Audience For the AI’s Recent “Helpful Tips” Release

Earlier this year, the Appraisal Institute issued a paper titled “Helpful Tips for Consumers”. The stated purpose of the release was to help guide home buyers and sellers through the sometimes convoluted appraisal-related steps in the process of buying or selling a home. In reference to the article’s publication, the AI’s president, Joseph Magdziarz, stated that “too many consumers in this struggling real estate market face problems with appraisals when attempting to buy or sell a home. But rather than passively enduring delays in closing a sale, homeowners and buyers can take proactive steps to avoid pitfalls.”

Yes, they can, and they should. As an attorney, however, I felt that this AI release would have been more elegantly – and more usefully – aimed at attorneys whose clients are in need of appraisal services, rather than speaking directly – or, at the very least, exclusively – to the buyers or sellers themselves. Among the tips set forth in the AI’s article, homeowners and buyers are encouraged to:

• Understand the role of appraisals;
• Make sure their lender hires a qualified appraiser;
• Request a copy of the appraisal report from the lender;
• Examine the appraisal report and ask questions;
• Appeal the appraisal if appropriate;
• Ask the lender to order a second appraisal by a qualified and designated appraiser; and
• File legitimate complaints with appropriate state board or professional appraisal organizations.

All of this is excellent advice, of course. My problem with the manifest, however, is twofold. First, how many private homeowners and buyers will actually see these tips? Is the AI planning on sending a “helpful hints” packet to homeowners across America? Probably not. And second, of those who do read the tips, how many people going through the already discombobulating process of acquiring or selling a home will have the wherewithal and proper understanding of the process to correctly follow through on each of them? Not many. Who does? You – their real estate lawyer.

This is what we, as attorneys, are here for. We guide our clients through convoluted processes; we act as the translators of murky governmental and bureaucratic procedures. We “file complaints with appropriate state boards” and we appeal that which needs appealing. We wrangle with lenders in order to ensure that they are using unbiased and well-qualified appraisers, and, when our client needs an appraisal report, we make darn sure that the appraiser knows what he’s doing. And when that final appraisal report is issued, we don’t toss the unopened envelope into our client’s lap. We are the reviewers, the question-askers. We stand between our clients and the chaos into which real estate transactions can so easily devolve.

So yes, good advice from the AI. They just missed the target a bit on their most important audience – you.

For more information on how to help your client navigate the appraisal process, please give me a call at (888) 580-USAG (8724) Extension 705, or email me at jedgerton@usappraisalgroup.com.

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Jessica A. Edgerton, Esq.

After graduating cum laude from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2004, Jessica practiced as a litigation attorney in Boston and Chicago. She is now the Business Development Manager for US Appraisal Group’s Attorney Services Division, and lives in downtown Chicago.
Email: jedgerton@usappraisalgroup.com
Mobile: 312-342-0880