As a direct result of the recent financial failure of appraisal management companies like Evaluation Solutions and ES Appraisal, the State of Washington recently enacted a new law raising the state’s AMC bond requirement from $25,000 to $100,000. As of July 28, 2013, all AMCs registered in Washington will be Read more…
A lawsuit filed last week by a former staff appraiser against LandSafe Appraisal Services, Inc. exemplifies the overtime liability risk faced by many appraisal firms and management companies. In February, I wrote that overtime lawsuits by appraisers present a genuine risk to many appraisal firms and AMCs. In that article, Read more…
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employees in most types of businesses are required to be paid overtime at 1.5x their hourly rate if they work more than 40 hours in a seven-day workweek, unless they are properly classified as “exempt.” Recent cases show that this law presents a Read more…
Updated 1-30-13 to add information about subsidiary ES Appraisal Services. $9,349,612.97 + $1,698,799 = $11,048,411.97. That’s how much failed Evaluation Solutions and its subsidiary entity ES Appraisal Services have left in combined unpaid appraisal and BPO fees owed to appraisers and agents/brokers — according to their respective bankruptcy filings Read more…
Update note 8/14/12: this case, particularly the plaintiffs’ attempt to create a defendant class of appraisers, presents significant new liability issues for appraisal management and appraisers. I will address the liability issues in this case and in other current AMC litigation (including the FDIC’s actions against two national AMCs) in Read more…
Update on the update: May 19, 2012 – in the last week, the FDIC sued approximately 20 more appraisers as the receiver for BankUnited in a last-minute rush to file the actions before the deadline for its negligence claims relating to that failed bank. The appraisers affected by these new Read more…
Judge Carter ruled yesterday on eAppraiseIT’s motions attacking the FDIC’s First Amended Complaint in the lawsuit filed by the FDIC against CoreLogic/eAppraiseIT and their various affiliates on May 9, 2011. eAppraiseIT’s Motion to Dismiss Count I — Breach of Contract Relating to Appraisals Delivered Prior to Signing of Formal Written Read more…
One year ago, we offered 11 Predictions for AMC Liability Risks in 2011. Being at the end of the year, it’s time for self-assessment. How did we do on our predictions? It’s important because when we do a good job at our company (LIA Administrators & Insurance Services) in understanding Read more…
In March of this year, the FDIC sued Washington Mutual’s former CEO Kerry Killinger, its former chief operating officer Stephen Rotella and its former head of residential lending David Schneider for $900 million in alleged damages resulting from their “gross negligence” in running WaMu’s residential lending business. The FDIC claimed Read more…
In the two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving Day, the FDIC sued 29 individual residential appraisers and a rafter of mortgage brokers in 12 separate lawsuits. All of the appraisers sued in this round reside in California — in the last three years, the FDIC has so far sued a Read more…