Course Summary
The core purpose of this seminar is to educate appraisers about the legal risks they face by using real world professional liability situations and lawsuits.
The seminar is divided into two parts. The first part primarily focuses on liability issues arising from appraisal assignments for lending purposes. The second part focuses on liability stemming from non-lending work, such as expert witness, divorce and tax assignments.
These are the kinds of questions answered by the seminar: Who sues appraisers? What do they sue for? When does the FDIC file a lawsuit against an appraiser? Can an appraiser be sued more than five years after the appraisal – i.e., what are the relevant statutes of limitation? How should I handle responding to a subpoena? What effect does a state disciplinary matter have on my potential liability? How long should an appraiser keep a work file? What should go into a work file to help the appraiser in defense of a lawsuit? Do residential or commercial appraisers face more risk? What about review appraisers – do they get sued? What does E&O insurance cover?
Course Objectives
The objectives of the seminar are to educate appraisers about:
- The most common sources and causes of professional negligence lawsuits against appraisers.
- The relationship between the USPAP concepts of client/intended user and who can sue an appraiser for negligence.
- The danger areas of appraising with respect to potential liability.
- What appraisers can do to minimize liability risk (the emphasis is on the need for better and clearer disclosure, not disclaimer language).
- How to deal with common liability threat situations.
- The progress of a typical appraiser liability lawsuit, and the most common claims and defenses.
- The importance of the appraiser’s work file and what elements of the work file are most relevant to liability prevention.
- The role of professional liability insurance.
Course Instructor
The instructor is attorney Peter Christensen. He is the general counsel of LIA Administrators & Insurance Services, which provides professional liability insurance to about 20,000 appraisers. LIA’s E&O insurance programs are endorsed by the Appraisal Institute and the International Right of Way Association.
Cost
$50 – AI and Non-AI Members
LUNCH INCLUDED
Equipment
There are no required materials or equipment for the seminar. The learning experience is intended to provide students an awareness of legally risky situations so that they can spot the situations and handle them appropriately when they occur either in their reports or in their personal interactions. For later reference, however, students are supplied with a memory chip containing the Powerpoint slides and several related articles.