For most working individuals, the home is the largest investment and most valuable asset you own. It consumes our time, money, energy and is the ‘base camp’ of family and friends. It can also be used as equity for education loans, repairs, retirement, or inheritance for children. The value of the property is of considerable importance. This is especially true today as interest rates are at an all-time low, and people lives have changed to include working and schooling from home.

The process to purchase, sell or refi a home is a complex web of often well-intentioned law, regulations, and guidance. However, no aspect of that process is more complex, hidden, and hard to fathom that the Real Estate Appraisal. Numerous real estate transactions- moving forward smoothly- are suddenly and mysteriously stopped by a low appraisal. Consumers often find themselves trying to figure out the rationale of the appraisal and meet brick wall after brick wall.

• The consumer pays for the appraisal, but the lender is the customer.
• The appraiser offers an opinion and cannot be sued- but the opinion is virtually impossible to challenge.
• In a re-fi there isn’t even a real estate agent to assist int the complex language and forms required to even ask for reconsideration.

What if there are numerous factual errors in the appraisal? The consumer bears the burden of proof up against the professional lenders and appraisers.

What if you finally decide you feel that the Appraiser was negligent and or unprofessional in their duties? Most people do not even know that they can file a complaint against an individual Appraiser because the complaint process is so well hidden in the Board of Appraisers web site. When the form is finally found it is a small text box requesting information to go to the Board for its decision.

The importance of the identifying the legitimate value of property has been given by the government to Appraisers and there is virtually no checks and balance process for the people most impacted by these opinions – consumers.

Rep. Alison Hepler (D-Woolwich) recently introduced legislation to bring some transparency in to the Real Estate Appraisal process. LD239 A/A to Improve Transparency of Real Estate Appraisals.

This bill seeks to address the dire need for an advocate to assist consumers in understanding the appraisal and if they have cause to appeal or file a complaint against the Appraiser.

Further, it requires the Board of Appraisers to list on the landing page of their web site the ability of consumers to file a complaint.

It requires the Board of Real Estate Appraisers to develop a step by step complaint process that indicates the kind of information that should or should not be included in the complaint.

It requires an annual report to the legislature about the number and disposition of complaints and requires that the public is able to access licensee information including letters of guidance that were the result of a complaint.

If you believe that this legislation is important the issue of consumer rights in real estate appraisal needs to be addressed – please contact your legislators and the Members of the Committee on Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business. (IDEA Committee) IDEA@legislature.maine.gov