Posted on: 31st Mar, 2009 08:25 pm
5 years ago we purchased our home. Now we are looking into refinancing with a lower rate and shorter term with the same bank. However, the appraisal we just had done does not report the same square footage as our appraisal when we purchase our home 5 years ago. I recently realized we were not given a copy of the original appraisal and the bank says they can't find it either. If our first appraisal shows more square footage then the second appraisal that means we paid more for our home than we should have paid. What course of action can we take and who is responsible for making sure the appraisal square footage is correct? How can I get a copy of the original appraisal? What should we do
Hi LisaPrice!
Welcome to forums!
You can get the original copy of the appraisal either from your lender or from your original appraiser. In my opinion, you should contact another appraiser and appraise the property again. This will help you in knowing the exact square foot of the property. Then you can contact an attorney and take his suggestions on this issue. He will help you to decide what step you need to take.
Feel free to ask if you have further queries.
Sussane
Welcome to forums!
You can get the original copy of the appraisal either from your lender or from your original appraiser. In my opinion, you should contact another appraiser and appraise the property again. This will help you in knowing the exact square foot of the property. Then you can contact an attorney and take his suggestions on this issue. He will help you to decide what step you need to take.
Feel free to ask if you have further queries.
Sussane
How much was the difference if you recall? It is quite common for appraisers to measure slightly different. If the difference in square footage is within about 5% or even sometimes up to 10%, it may not be enough to have a very significant impact on the value.
As far as getting a copy of the previous appraisal, the lender must provide it to you. If they do not have a copy, they can request another one from the appraiser, but the appraiser is under legal obligation to only provide a copy to the lender without written permission from the lender to send it directly to you. I know it's wierd.
Also, just as a piece of information, if it has been more than 5 years, the appraiser may not even have the file anymore. We are only required to keep our files for 5 years or up to 7 if it was part of a law suit. I always shred my old files every summer, so depending on the habits of the appraiser, they may have it or they may not.
As far as getting a copy of the previous appraisal, the lender must provide it to you. If they do not have a copy, they can request another one from the appraiser, but the appraiser is under legal obligation to only provide a copy to the lender without written permission from the lender to send it directly to you. I know it's wierd.
Also, just as a piece of information, if it has been more than 5 years, the appraiser may not even have the file anymore. We are only required to keep our files for 5 years or up to 7 if it was part of a law suit. I always shred my old files every summer, so depending on the habits of the appraiser, they may have it or they may not.
Thanks for the replies. The bank says they are still searching the archives for the appraisal (it has been about a month). I don't think they have it. We contacted the appraiser and he doesn't have it anymore. We are just waiting to see if the bank finds it. The difference in the square footage might add up to about a $30,000 difference.
I would suggest you to wait for sometime and check out if the bank could find the original documents.