Paid for home appraisal, never got report - what's next?

July 11, 2016 11:19 AM

Home appraiser ghosted on us and we are out a couple hundred dollars. What recourses do we have, if any? Is this a police matter?

We paid for a house appraisal 6 weeks ago because our tenants are interested in buying. The appraiser said they would send us a report and it never happened.

The appraiser has stopped picking up the phone, and whenever we have gone to her office during business hours, nobody's there. Emails get no response either.
Googling her name, I can see that she is still around (facebook, linkedin, etc.), and there are no reports of her being in an accident or anything.

I would like to know if this is something I could call the police about, or if there is anything else I could do. The money does not matter as much as the fact that she is getting paid and flaking out.

If I decide to call the police, I thought about sending her one last email to give her a chance to provide services or re-do the appraisal visit and explain to her that we will contact the police if she does not get back to us. Would this be appropriate?

Thank you!

posted by ADent to Law & Government (11 answers total)

Where are you?
In my state appraisers are regulated by the Department of Commerce, and they have the ability to revoke a license or issue a fine. I would start there.
posted by littlewater at 11:26 AM on July 11, 2016

Did you pay by credit card? If so request a charge back.
posted by bq at 11:27 AM on July 11, 2016 [5 favorites]

Response by poster: I left out the subject of payment because I was embarrassed.

We paid cash and she did not offer a receipt, which I thought was weird at the time but then forgot about.

I have facepalmed like crazy about this.
posted by ADent at 11:36 AM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

Do you have any written documentation of the contract?

How did you hear about this appraiser? If she came recommended, go back to whoever referred her to you, especially if it's a realtor. They want to know if someone dropped the ball, and she'll not get further work from them.

You could start with posting nasty reviews on Yelp or Angies List, and progress to small claims court.
posted by suelac at 11:40 AM on July 11, 2016 [2 favorites]

While it may vary between jurisdictions, failing to perform a contract you have been paid for is pretty much the definition of a civil matter, and the police are unlikely to be interested. While this could, technically, be fraud, even then the police are frequently not the main investigators of offences. If you call the police they might point you somewhere where you can make a complaint, but a bit of googling for your local commercial regulator might be more productive. It looks like you might well be able to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission

If you want to get the money back, a small claim is your most likely option, but it's unlikely to be worth it as a purely financial decision.
posted by howfar at 11:59 AM on July 11, 2016

Best answer: What is your goal? Is it to get the $200 back? To get an appraisal? To get revenge? To warn others?

You paid cash with no receipt. It is my opinion you will never get the money back even if you go to small claims court. You might eventually get her to perform on the contract, but do you trust an appraisal from this person? I think you ought to do two things. One, find another appraiser. Two, I would want to let others know through telling whomever recommended her, posting a Yelp review, posting on her FB page, and generally using social media. It won't get your $200 back, but it might get you some satisfaction.
posted by AugustWest at 12:06 PM on July 11, 2016 [12 favorites]

Response by poster: I was hoping to get the freaking appraisal from her, but you are completely right, AugustWest. I hadn't thought about the fact that her work might not be up to standard.

I will post a couple of complaints online and call it a day. I am not so much set on revenge as I am on sending her the message that cheating people isn't as easy as she thinks, so I would like to give her a bit of a hard time, even if it's just a couple of online reviews that will make her think twice before selecting the next victim.

Is it to get the $200 back?

I didn't have any hopes of getting the money back, but for the record it was $300 and as a certified thrifty person, it hurts.
posted by ADent at 12:15 PM on July 11, 2016 [2 favorites]

So in a somewhat similar situation, I took someone to small claims court. I prevailed and they didn't pay -- and then a few years later they were desperately trying to track me down in order to pay. I assume the judgment showed up...somewhere? Their credit report? I really have no idea, except that they paid me. 8/10 -- would use small claims again.
posted by BlahLaLa at 12:24 PM on July 11, 2016 [9 favorites]

I didn't have any hopes of getting the money back, but for the record it was $300 and as a certified thrifty person, it hurts.

I hear you, I truly do.
Don't beat yourself up - this kind of thing can happen to perfectly intelligent folk with oodles of common sense all the time. Crooks and Swindlers are often extremely charismatic and charming, and they are very good at lulling people into a false sense of security.

Move forward, don't dwell too much on what happened and even though you're a thrifty person and losing $300 hurts, be glad it wasn't more than that, which it most certainly could have been!! (oh - and obviously learn from your mistake!)
posted by JenThePro at 1:33 PM on July 11, 2016

Uh, yes, call the cops.
posted by jeffamaphone at 2:49 PM on July 11, 2016

Depending on what state you live in, you can look up contractors and other licensed people to see what sort of complaints have been filed. A friend in VA does this after they got burned on some home remodeling that wasn't done to code. You can file a complaint, as well. Look up Department of Consumer Affairs, or something like that.
posted by SillyShepherd at 4:41 PM on July 11, 2016 [1 favorite]