DIVORCES Q&A

Why is the appraisal such an important part of the divorce proceedings?

Real estate usually represents one of the largest assets that a person may own. It’s critically important that you have a reliable appraisal that can be defended in court. If not, you may end up losing thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars worth of equity needlessly. 

I already have an appraisal from when I refinanced my house a few months ago. Can’t I just use that in court?

An appraisal that has been completed for a different purpose is unsuitable for divorce work. When an appraiser first accepts an order, he or she is required to consider a number of factors before deciding on how to complete that order. Among those considerations is the identification of the client, the purpose of the appraisal, the intended use of the appraisal, the intended users of the appraisal, and the scope of work that is required. All of these factors have an effect on how the appraisal is developed and reported. An appraisal that was completed for refinancing purposes would be developed and reported in such a way as to be useless for divorce purposes. Nonetheless, some parties attempt to use such an appraisal in court. If they are confronted with a knowledgeable appraiser and attorney on the opposing side, then that appraisal could be deemed useless in court.

Both of us have agreed to have a friendly divorce and don’t want to have to argue over the value of our house

That’s great when it works out the way that you intended. Unfortunately, if you add an incompetent appraiser into the mix then you might find yourself having to argue with your spouse even though you’d rather not. Your spouse could have the best of intentions but could be led astray if he or she hires their own appraiser who is incompetent and ends up valuing your property too high or too low. All of a sudden you have a ‘value problem’ even though that’s not what anyone wanted. The solution to this problem is to hire the most competent appraiser you can find so that his or her value can be adequately defended.

 Are most appraiser’s ethical?

Appraisers in Illinois are bound by state licensing laws as well as professional standards known as the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, or USPAP. USPAP contains hundreds of pages of standards, many of which are routinely violated by some appraisers. The most significant violation occurs when an appraiser agrees to value the property in a direction that favors the client. In effect, the appraiser is developing an appraisal in such a way that the value is exactly what the client needs. This is blatantly illegal. All appraisals are to be developed in an unbiased way irregardless of what value ‘the client needs’. Unfortunately, some spouses find themselves to be the recipient of such an appraisal. It’s very difficult to defend an appraisal when it has been intentionally developed to be misleading. Some appraisers have gotten into the habit of illegally providing appraisals with these ‘needed values’ because they do a lot of work in the mortgage industry. The mortgage industry is not subject to the same scrutiny as the legal profession and the practice of providing ‘needed values’ is all too commonplace. So all of a sudden those types of appraisers find themselves in a court environment where they have to defend their work in front of the judge and in front of another appraiser. That’s usually where everything falls apart. It may seem tempting to hire an appraiser who will illegally provide you with a value on your house that favors your cause. But ultimately, you could be much worse off if confronted by an appraiser on the opposing side who has ethics and the ability to expose the appraiser’s actions. 

What is the biggest mistake that people make when considering their appraisal options for divorce?

There are three main mistakes that occur frequently. The first mistake occurs when a person doesn’t place a lot of thought into their appraisal needs because they are expecting a amiable divorce and the spouses have already agreed upon a value for their house. This situation can be shattered unintentionally if either spouse or their attorney hires an incompetent appraiser. Now all of a sudden there’s a big discrepancy in value simply because one incompetent appraiser delivered an appraisal that is way too high or too low. It’s usually too late to start from the beginning again and find yourself an appraiser who has the skills to defend their own report and show what’s wrong with the other report. 

The second mistake is that many people will simply find any appraiser that they can for the lowest fee. Developing a defensible appraisal for divorce purposes takes time and will be more expensive that an appraisal for mortgage purposes. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen appraisers on the opposing side who charged their client $300 for an appraisal and are completely out of their element in court. Their client may have saved money initially on the appraisal fee but may have then thrown away thousands of dollars in equity because that appraiser did not charge a high enough fee to be able to do the work that is required for this type of appraisal.

Finally, another typical mistake is for people to rely upon a value developed by a real estate agent. That agent may know the market very well but will not have the training to adequately provided support for their work by showing individual adjustments that are extracted from the market. Furthermore, real estate agents aren’t subject to any professional standards insofar as real estate valuations are concerned. Their opinion is worthless if they are not subject to standards that require them to be unbiased.
 

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