Serious incompetence - ignore or fight?

Wifey and I are getting a home equity line of credit. Bank needs to do an appraisal on our house. We got the appraisal report this week (appraisal date 4-28). It's of the wrong house.

Let me repeat: the appraiser did the wrong house. Can't even read the address on the front of a building but can "appraise" houses.

The report is now mixed data between the two houses. Clearly the government records they pulled are from our house. But the pictures and stuff are the wrong house (not to mention the two directly disagree - should have been another clue to the appraiser), like the government lists our house as a split level (which it is) and the appraisal shows pictures of a single story, and lists our house and pulled comps of other single stories.

Im sure the wrong house still came back with a high enough number for us to get the credit. And I don't want this to drag out for weeks as I play telephone with 4 levels of incompetence. But I'm worried that eventually if I leave this it will come back to bite us.

So, fight or keep quiet?

Awesome.

If you're getting what you need out of it, and it's lower than what it should be, submit it as proof for lower taxes until you're reappraised a few years later?

I would at least make sure I told the bank about the mess up and keep some sort of record that you did so they cannot claim that you fraudulently used your neighbors home as collateral on your loan.

It may slow down the loan approval while it gets straightened out though.

We need Carguy123 to chime in on this one since he is in the business.

Fighting incompetence is a losing battle since there is way to much of it to defeat.

Not exactly what I would call a fight, but I would certainly let the bank know of their mistake and then contact your state's banking regulatory board and the BBB and let them know what happened.

In reply to T.J.:

This so much this, tell the bank. They have to work with these people all the time. Might put him on a do not use list.

Yeah it might take a bit longer, but it should be fixed. Its kinda an important part of the whole process....

T.J. wrote: Fighting incompetence is a losing battle since there is way to much of it to defeat.

No, no, no! “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.”

We must fight until our dying breath.

Yep, must be addressed. I hate to admit, I recommend not being nice, and going in aggressively. Seems the only way to get stuff done in our society. Note: I find myself unable to follow my own advice.

While not wrong house level of incompetence, we did have an appraiser completely berk up our house quite a few years ago (he underreported the square footage by 20%, and messed up ehat kind of siding it had) and I did report him to the state board. It actually did a lot of good! It was hurting the credit union as well, so they did a lot extra for us to show their appreciation.

It really paid off last year though when we sold the house, there was an irregularity in the details and having the correction from the state and the credit union cleared it up. We could have faced done pretty serious consequences had we let it slide.

By all means, fight this!

What bank is this???

The appraiser likely does not work for the bank, but is contracted out. The bank needs to know this; but the reviewers should have caught it.

You are paying for it, so fight it.

When we bought our daughter's house years ago, the inspector inspected the wrong house.

I'd vote for getting a correct appraisal, I used the bank appraisal when we bought our house to lower our taxes the next year.

mtn wrote: What bank is this??? The appraiser likely does not work for the bank, but is contracted out. The bank needs to know this; but the reviewers should have caught it.

Its my favorite, US Bank.

I feel they are basically totally incompetent in all aspects of banking, but we already had mortgage and accounts with them so we thought getting a HELOC from them would be the easiest (we are only planning to use it for short term, and we are dumping US bank as soon as we can, but quickness was high on our list of importance in our original decision to go with US Bank).

Funnily enough though, I agree this probably wasn't fully their fault.

I'd "fight" it- but just point out the very obvious error.

It's really important to get it right, and keep the paperwork accurate. Due to a moron claiming that my dad's 70 year old home was brand new, their property taxes went through the roof. Thankfully, they were able to find a 60 year old picture of the house, preventing the error.

Get it right.

That needs to be corrected. There are too many ways for it to come back and bite you to just let it slide.

I'd have them correct it. Note, I didn't say "fight it". There is no fight over this, it's simple error and something as substantial as a mortgage has to be correct. I'm sure that when the various parties involved realize their mistake they will redo the work correctly.

If not, thank them for their time and take your business elsewhere. Life is too short to reward incompetence.

I went to the bank. They were very apologetic, and "escalated" the issue (even spoke directly to the branch manager), but of course they have to call someone else at US Bank who has to call someone else who has to call the appraisal company secretary who has to call the manager of the employee who has to call the employee. We will see what happens. I asked them to plaster my cell number all over everything so if anyone has any questions at any level they can call me directly and I can explain (like that will happen).

My guess - it goes up the chain and someone looks at it and says: "Whats the address of the house? Oh, that matches what is on this report. No issue here. Next." Do not have high hopes.

Is the appraisal beneficial to you or not? That should be the determinative factor of whether you fight it or not.

You applied for a line of credit and got it. Pretty sure I'd just keep my mouth shut unless I knew it would bite me in the butt somewhere down the line.

When you pull up your address on Google Street View, what shows up? Just curious...

The appraiser works for the bank, not you.

Not your problem. They shouldn't have hired a bonehead.

Ian F wrote: When you pull up your address on Google Street View, what shows up? Just curious...

The correct house does (like a 5+ year old photo, but still). They could've never left their computer chair and written a more accurate appraisal.

SVreX wrote: The appraiser works for the bank, not you. Not your problem. They shouldn't have hired a bonehead.

Yea, but who pays for said bonehead?

When we got a HELOC, all we had to do was sign paperwork. Of course this was pre-Dodd -Franks. A few years ago we went and took out a short term first mortgage (the original had long since been paid off) to pay off the HELOC balance that never seemed to go down. Seems the wife forgot all of her promises to pay off stuff. The bank that did that mortgage did it in-house, because the amount was way below the tax value of the house. We also got another HELOC with this bank, but I dared my wife to EVER use it.

It shouldn't be a fight. It's in the bank's interest to have the correct house appraised. Keep in touch with your contact, but the bank should want this corrected at least as much as you do (probably more...)

I'm in the get it corrected rather than fight it camp. Having said that you went with them for speed, someone on their side screwed up and will inevitably delay it. To compensate you I'd expect the bank to pick up the tab for the appraisal. Don't yell and scream, don't threaten, just keep pointing out it's their screw up and work up the ladder to get it resolved to your satisfaction. I'm amazed at what my wife gets with the 'I'm sorry, I understand you can't help me so can I speak to you manager' phrase repeated higher and higher up the food chain until she gets what she wants. And trust, she always gets what she wants. Ask me how I know!!9