Do I have to pay for appraisal?

Question

I wanted to refinance my 2nd mortgage and lender said there would be no cost to me ex. appraisal. The appraisal came in low and the loan didnt go through. Not only did the appraisal come in low but there was a 50,000 - 90,000 difference between my last appraisals within last couple of years. Now the lender says I owe 475.00 for appraisal. I have never paid that much and think the fee is high anyway. What are my options I signed nothing and never was told I had to pay and also the cost of appraisal but have been doing business with this lender for over 5 years.

Answer 1

I am sorry to hear about your value issues. This is happening in alot of areas right now.

As to your issue... Unless you have paid for the appraisal already, you owe nothing. You did not order the appraisal, your broker did and they are responsible for paying the appraiser for the work. I agree that $475 is high, even for Southern California. Average here is $350 for a single family home.

As for the ethics of the loan officer... I have had several appraisers 'value check' a property for me and all seemed right with the world. They go out and do the work and then low and behold the value came in $30,000 - $60,000 lite. This is about the time the appriaser calls me and says, well I'll only charge the borrower/broker $100 for my time. I have yet to pay this. If you can not do the appraisal then I can't do the loan. I don't get paid for a loan that does not close and I am not paying an appraiser for not actually doing the report; especially when they 'value' checked the area/comps prior to going out.

Depending on your credit and other factors there are several lenders who have no closing cost products. They cover title/escrow and appraisal; no cost to you the borrower.

If you would like to discuss your options, drop me a line.

Kevin 866-562-6838 x 106
[e-mail]

Answer 2

1. If your "lender" was a Bank, Wells Fargo, Washington Mutual, World Savings, etc., they have "in house" appraisers which are employees of the Bank. You would not have the financial responsibility of payment directly to the appraiser.
2. Depending on the square footage & over all market value, in other words, if your home is under 3500 sq ft or under $750K value, then appraisal fees currently run between $350 to $450 in California or anywhere in the Southwest region of the US. The appraiser license rating/level will also have an impact on how much he/she can charge.
3. The loan officer should have run a "value" check, via MLS or even a verbal value check w/the appraiser PRIOR to authorizing the appraisal work completed.
4. National average of valuation reduction in the past 12 months is 8%. Some area are much higher, like Las Vegas, San Diego, San Jose, Los Angeles coastal, Phoenix/Scottsdale.
5. If you were working with a loan officer with a "mortgage broker or mortgage bank", I would challenge the loan officers ethics in spending YOUR money, without having more clearly explaining potential reprocussions, should value not come in.
6. You are only entitled to a copy of the appraisal IF you actually paid for it.
7. Another option would be to split the cost with the Loan Officer and repromand his superior for not having better control and better knowledge on the transaction prior to hiring the outside 3rd party service.
8. An appraiser IS an outside 3rd party service. The appraiser himself has the right to demand payment for the work that he did. The fact that the Loan Officer did not properly instruct the appraiser prior to just letting him go out and appraise your property, is another issue of the lack of quality, experience and ethics.

Answer 3

No the appraisal isn't yours, whether you paid the appraiser. The appraiser can no longer even communicate it with you or everybody else orther than his shopper (the guy who engaged the appraisal task) that's USPAP mandated with the help of Federal regulation. If the appraiser gave you a replica or stated the appraisal with you, he could lose his license. USPA states that if different lenders desire the appraisal, that now turns right into a clean task and a clean appraisal. The Mtg compaines do no longer desire you have a replica earlier than final becasuse they do no longer desire you to take and start up up finding out to purchase for a private loan with different lenders. The appraisal belongs to the Mtg employer that ordered the appraisal. Now the subject starts in case you do get a replica out of your Mtg employer and start up up finding out to purchase for a private loan with the appraisal in hand. The appraiser starts getting calls from lenders desirous to alter the call on the appraisal to duplicate their call under shopper. The appraiser tells them he can no longer try this by using fact they weren't the meant consumer of the record and not his shopper yet they might order a clean record and this is a clean task with a clean value. Now one and all is annoyed on the appraiser. the subject, no person is familiar with is the appraiser is extremely regulated with the help of USPAP and Federal regulation. I additionally study above that the appraiser likes to hold the cost determinations so we are able to sell it lower back. no longer real with the help of regulation an appraiser could save the appraisal and artwork record for 5 years, maximum realtors, lender and house proprietor don't comprehend the guidelines regulating appraisers. desire this enables you already know why you do no longer very own the appraisal.

Answer 4

You must have had some kind of agreement - you say you signed nothing, but the lender did not order the appraisal for no reason, so I think you are stuck for the cost. Sorry it came in so low - the market has really made a correction in a lot of areas. Just FYI you can go to zillow.com and check home sales in your area. It is free and they are pretty accurate in their value estimates - at least for my area.
Also - lenders have their own list of acceptable appraisers - not just anyone will do.

Answer 5

You were told that there would be no cost to you, ask them to stick to that agreement. It wasn't your fault that the appraisal came in low and the loan didn't go through. If you had backed out of the refinancing or did something to cause the loan to not go through, then they would have the right to ask you to cover their costs.

The last appraisal I got when refinancing cost me $350 in L.A. county, CA.

Answer 6

Ha ha ha ha ha ahaaa... sorry, I can't believe that you used the loan company's appraiser!

The $475 is probably about $175 more than you could have paid if you would have gotten your own. If you want to try and "fight" this (you're stuck for the money) then pull up you're taxes for the last year; if the discrepancy is huge you may be able to fight the appraisers figures but I doubt it. To everyone else out there....ALWAYS HIRE YOUR OWN APPRAISER!!!!!!!!!

Answer 7

For the life of me i can not figure out why people just roll over and pay this fee. It is not there to protect you it is there to protect the lender.

And as you know first hand if it does not come out right they will not fund the loan.

The first step is solving a problem is to find out if it your problem.

Answer 8

nope, the company who do the loan for you have to included in your payment of the closing