Wednesday, January 23, 2008

California Appraiser Sues WaMu

Jeniffer Wertz, a Sacramento, California appraiser who formerly prepared appraisals for Washing Mutual Bank (WaMu), has filed a lawsuit against WaMu, First American Corporation, First American EAppraiseIt, Lenders Services, Inc. dba LSI, Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. and Susan Richter, seeking unspecified damages.  The complaint alleges that WaMu stopped accepting her appraisals in 2007, a month after she prepared an appraisal which stated that the market conditions in which the house was situated were “declining.”

According to the complaint:

Wertz began providing appraisals to WaMu in 2001.  Since that time, Wertz alleged that she was earning in excess of $100,000 per year preparing two to three appraisals a day for WaMu.

In or about July 2006, WaMu outsourced its appraisal management to LSI and eAppraiseIT.  Thereafter, Wertz received a letter from LSI and eAppraiseIT inviting her to do appraisal work through LSI and eAppraiseIT for WaMu.  Wertz accepted.  Wertz was considered by both companies a preferred real estate vendor, which meant that she had previously conducted work with WaMu and that WaMu was familiar and sufficiently satisfied with her work product.

Wertz provided appraisals for WaMu through LSI until August 2007 when LSI terminated her contract allegedly because a May 21, 2007 appraisal prepared for LSI/WaMu contained a representation that the market conditions had “declined”. A sales manager at WaMu allegedely insisted that Wertz remove the representation and indicate a “stable” market condition instead and warned Wertz that without changing the market condition, she would be barred from conducting appraisals for WaMu.

According to the complaint, on June 18, 2007, LSI informed Wertz that she had been blocked by WaMu and that WaMu would no longer accept further appraisals. Wertz alleges that the sales manager’s attempt to influence her opinion in the appraisal was a violation of several laws, regulations and policies related to an appraiser’s independence from influence by anyone, including the entity writing the loan.

mortgage fraud

1. How does FIS play into this?

   Posted by  on  01/23  at  10:26 AM

2. This is a tough one, I think that you can go both ways with this one. it really comes down to who said what. it is going to to be her word againd WAMU. I can imagine that the lender did say that unless the appraisal states “stable” that they would not do the loan. but it is hard forme to imagine that the lender Told her that she had to change the condition to “Stable”. it would be interesting to follow this one and get more info.

   Posted by  on  01/23  at  05:54 PM

3. THAT LADY DID THE RIGHT THING AND AS WE CAN SEE THE DIRTY OPERATORS DID NOT LIKE IT.I CALLED SENATOR SCHUMERS OFFICE AND TOLD HIM OF YOUR WORK , I DON’T KNOW IF HE EVER CONTACTED MRS.DOLLAR.PERHAPS IF YOU CONTACTED LOU DOBBS YOUR MESSAGE WOULD REACH THE NATION.WE,THE TAX PAYER WILL PICK UP THE BILL FOR ALL THE FRAUD.I WAS BORN IN A DEPRESSION THAT HIT THIS COUNTRY HARD AND WE CAME OUT OF IT VERY STRONG.I HATE TO THINK WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT TIME. G.UBER USN RETIRED

   Posted by  on  01/24  at  03:26 AM

4. WELL ITS ABOUT TIME APPRAISER’S STAND UP TO LENDER PRESSURE I HAD THE EXACT THING HAPPEN TO ME ABOUT 2 MONTHS AGO AND I WHEN I WOULD NOT CHANGE COMMENT TO MARKET IS STABLE THEY STOPPED GIVING ME APPRAISALS AFTER 4 YEARS OF SERVICE BEING THERE MAIN APPRAISER AND ABOUT 10 ORDERS PER WEEK, IT HURT

   Posted by  on  01/25  at  01:15 PM

5. What ever happened to the warm-fuzzy feeling WaMu tries to communicate in its advertising?

   I did have a slightly negative experience with “the people’s bank” myself. A few years ago, WaMu reported to the IRS total dividends on a joint savings account for both my significant other and me. Double taxation on one account.

   Is there anybody in the money business these days who has “clean hands”?

   Posted by  on  01/25  at  01:36 PM

6. good luck jeniffer.  i just fired eAppraiseIT earlier this year for their lack of professionalism and their uncooperative nature in doing business, even though i was considered a “preferred” approved appraiser. 

   for three years i accepted their fee schedule.  but with the ever increasing costs of doing business such as higher gas prices, higher board dues, higher MLS access fee’s etc., eAppraiseIT was unwilling to re-evaluate their fee schedule. 

   eventually, what i think will happen is they will get poor appraisals from appraiser’s that will “hit the number” for them.  and the cycle continue’s....

   Posted by  on  01/30  at  12:00 AM

7. Would be interesting to see a survey as to how many residential appraisers and how many commercial appraisers this has happened to in the past five years, when the market is going up, as opposed to the late 1980’s early 1990’s when the market was going down.

   Also, we are hosting an appraisal exp in March and are looking for sponsors.  Would you be interested in being a sponsor, the fee is $300 and we could set up a table for you or your sponsoring group?

   Thank you,

   Posted by  on  01/30  at  03:35 AM

8. How about Mortgage Service companies that have lost mortgage payments, take a borrowers money, but don’t credit their mortgage, it happened to me. I believe the FBI is now checking it others that it’s happened to.  Chase Mortgage Services, with amount of $1200 Plus, taken in June of 2007, so trying to take time to fight their error, my home is now in foreclosure.  I found they are so over whelmed with accounting problems, when they lost my payment and I’m still fighting their error.

   Posted by  on  01/30  at  04:46 AM

9. I have had similar experiences with LO’s. and Underwriters.  My addendums are getting longer & longer.

   Posted by  on  01/30  at  07:00 AM

10. This doesn’t surprise me. I wish I had the information to sue also. We are now seeing many of these AMC’s broadcasting orders for cheap fees and demanding 2 day turn times. What happened to quality?

    Posted by  on  01/30  at  07:43 AM

11. Good For Jeniffer!!!!!!

    Posted by  on  01/30  at  08:02 AM

12. I hope every appraiser that is fearful of losing a client for providing high quality, ethical appraisals that comply with USPAP is encouraged by this.

    I am so tired of losing work to unethical appraisers.

    Posted by  on  01/30  at  10:36 AM

13. have the right apprasier and knowing what to expect from them really makes a differnece. aslong as the broker and the appraiser are working together. it really becomes a problem when one whats a little more from the other. an it is usually the broker wanting more. that is when the appraiser needs to remind the broker why and what an appraisal is. Brokers want to close deals however they need to do it the legal way.

    Posted by  on  02/01  at  10:22 AM

14. This was happening to me from August 2006 until June 2007. I was “recommended” by loan officers from ALL banks I work with to “change the market to stable from declining” It’s no secret we are in the real estate market we are in. Real Estate with loan interest rates became a Multi Trillion Dollar Ponzi Scheme. I think it will be 5-10 years before things get any better. They are going to get MUCH worse than they are right now. Just about all of US banks are technically insolvent and it is just a matter of time before it all implodes.  I was an appraiser for years running a successful small business. Now I cant survive anymore and had to close my business. I am so frustrated. Now I am in serious debt and my life if ruined. Thank you Wall Street and all the shady lenders and brokers out there.

    Posted by  on  07/16  at  12:52 PM

15. Its happened to me, and I have the stupid lender comments in writing to prove it.  I always try to get them to put their really blatantly stupid requests in writing.

    I have a big file I am saving up for a really big stupid lender class action suite.  What I can’t figure out is with so many of us appraisers out there that have been SCREWED by dirty stupid lenders, why we don’t join together and have a class action against those that can be identified as being really stupid so we can operate as professionals in a free market with the intellectual propriatary agreements that lawyers have in their profession with their products.

    I am no less educated or certified then the lawyers are and yet.... they make a whole lot more than I do for every real estate sale they close.

    Posted by  on  01/07  at  10:20 AM

16. Another profession being destroyed by corporate take over. Appraisal has long been a profession of trust and confidence. This relationship is between the lender and the appraiser. That’s right the appraiser is supposed to be the eyes of the lender. An appraiser is expected to be looking out for their client. The one who is lending the money. Is the property a sound investment and security for the loan being provided? Can the lender recover their investment in the event of a default by the borrower? When did it become necessary for there to be an intermediary between the lender and the one they hold in trust to provide them with an honest and sound estimate of the value of the asset that is being provided as collateral? Why is it the lender does not have the appraiser report directly to them via their own independent representative and I don’t mean a commissioned loan agent. In a world of streamlining processes we must remember that no one is going to take care of your interests better than you and or those directly representing you that are accountable to you. When volume represents income watch out. The incentive to crank out as many transactions as possible becomes irresistable. Anyone standing in the way of volume is an obstacle and ultimately an enemy of profiteering. The system creates it’s own problems. When quality is compromised for volume there is no other outcome than a breakdown. There are those that calculate the casualty losses as part of the expense of “doing business” the appraisal profession and those long employed in it are just part of the expendable casualty losses that are disposable as long as the profit is made for as long as it lasts. Then on to the next plunder. These Businesses are built on a life span that will extract as much profit for as long as possible and when the gig is up they will off it to the first sucker that comes along. When it runs it’s course that all folks. Dust off your tracks and spend or hide the take. Another scam another rip off. How many more rip offs can the American Public absorb or Our Government that pays for them through our tax dollars?

    Posted by  on  03/24  at  07:43 PM

17. Regulations and policies related to an appraiser’s independence from influence by anyone, including the entity writing the loan. Some say it is the love of money that is the root of all evil.  Others say that the only people, who believe that, are the ones who don’t have any money.  Regardless, it seems so much more important during a recession. More people are getting payday loans yet donations to foundations and charitable contributions have increased from some people.  (Some no doubt in order to get a tax break, but hey – every little bit counts.) How do you feel about payday loans and money?

    Posted by IvanB  on  04/13  at  08:34 PM