Appraiser Pressure Up To 90%

A key element in "property flipping" and "cash back" mortgage fraud scams is the use of artificially inflated appraisals. A recent article by Kenneth R. Harney (reported online at Realty Times) reports, among other things, that:

1. A recent national survey of real estate appraisers indicates that those who claim to have been pressured to raise property valuations by mortgage brokers, real estate agents, lenders and individual home sellers is up to about 90%,
2. In lining up an appraiser for a particular property valuation, some mortgage loan originators will pressure appraisers by engaging in a practice known as "pre-comping" (also known as "dialing for values"),
3. Some real estate agents respond to receiving unfavorable appraisals by letting lenders know that mortgage customer referrals to them (the lenders) may stop if they continue to use the appraisers that are "coming up short" on their property valuations.

To read more, see Appraisers Say Pressure on Them to Fudge Values is Up Sharply

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