Class Valuations assigned an appraiser who was rude, hostile, ill-informed, incompetent and he LIED. His lies are documented and I have filed a formal complaint against that appraiser with the Pennsylvania Department of State, which has the jurisdiction over the licensing of Appraisers. Pending the outcome of this process, if my complaint is not addressed adequately by Class Valuations, I intend to file complaints with the BBB, and with the CFPB against Class Valuations, too.
I am writing this review after several weeks of following up and hoping that Class Valuations would do the right thing. I am a Real estate investor and own several properties. Class Valuations was the AMC that was used by the lender for the re-fi's that I was doing. The properties to be evaluated are in the City of Philadelphia, but the appraiser that they sent came from a county outside of Philly. This appraiser was clearly very incompetent when it came to understanding the dynamics of the Philly real estate market. My two properties being appraised for the re-fi are on the same block. Both of those properties have been gut-rehabbed. The appraiser picked two comps that were in the same zip code but were clearly properties that needed rehab. One did not even have a Use & Occupancy certificate from the City of Philadelphia and was sold subject to buyer obtaining their own U&O, which would most likely take somewhere close to 100K in renovations to meet the minimum standards of the city of Philadelphia. His third comp was from a different zip code, which was two zip codes over. Based on these comps, he came in 30% to 50% lower than the lowest value using any other publicly available sources of values.
I challenged the valuation and sent the mortgage broker several other properties that had sold in the same zip code. The first one was a similar property, on the same block, right around the corner from mine. I also called the appraiser to discuss with him and he told me "that anything I say to him is garbage and anything I send to him will go into the garbage" and then he hung up on me. When we got the "re-evaluation" back from Class Valuations, the appraiser was too lazy, or too arrogant to realize and admit his mistake. Instead he wrote that the property on the same block was "listed in the MLS System as expired and cancelled. This can't be considered." It took me all of 30 seconds to look up the records of the City of Philadelphia and it confirmed that the property had sold for the price and at the date that it was showing in the public records. Basically, to cover his own INCOMPETENCE he decided to LIE and say that the closest comp could not be considered. This is not a matter of "opinion" - this is a matter of "fact." The comp that we showed him did in FACT sell for the price and his reasoning for dismissing it does not stand up to scrutiny.
Another comp which I had provided is 0.7 miles from the subject property and in the same zip code, and the appraiser states "is located in a far superior neighborhood. This can't be considered." However, the comp he has picked is 2 zip codes over, 1.4 miles from subject property (twice as far as the comp I provided), and in an entirely different neighborhood. It is on the other side of Broad Street which is the main street that divides Philadelphia - and he felt that was an appropriate comp, while the one that is in the same zip and about 12 blocks over is "far superior neighborhood and cannot be considered?" Once again, his reasoning does not stand up to scrutiny.
The mortgage broker that I am working with has tried unsuccessfully to get Class Valuations to have another appraiser review the work. I have called Class Valuations and they have told me that they cannot discuss the case with me and all communications have to come from the mortgage broker. As I said up front, I am a real estate investor and own several properties. I know the areas and the valuations far better than an appraiser from out of town. The fact that Class Valuations has assigned an incompetent, unprofessional and extremely rude appraiser, and then failed to take appropriate action to remedy the shortcomings of their assigned appraiser makes them responsible and equally complicit in the incompetence. read more