Coercion To Inflate Property Appraisals Alive & Well In South Florida

The Miami Herald recently ran a story on the pressure exerted on local real estate appraisers to meet the expectations of mortgage originators and others when preparing a property appraisal. According to the story:

• "The temptation to tinker with the numbers can be intense in a market where the workflow for many has slowed to a trickle. Appraisers are the least paid in the chain of professionals involved in a real estate transaction -- a typical appraisal costs about $350. The consequences for not bending the rules can be severe. Appraisers complain bitterly of being blacklisted or not getting paid for appraisals that don't match what a buyer, seller or broker wants."

On the private website MortgageFraudWatchList.org, South Florida appraisers reportedly logged 20 attempts in less than a month to get them to misrepresent the value of a property.

For more, see Appraisers feel heat to inflate property's value (Inflated appraisals can send prices rippling up through neighborhoods and raise property taxes).