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March 22, 2014 a major landslide occurred near Oso Washington which resulted in the death of 43 people and destruction or damage to more than fifty (50) properties. Some properties were completely destroyed others partially damaged while others were damaged due to flooding caused by the river being blocked for weeks. Numerous property owners filed lawsuits against the State of Washington, Snohomish County, a local Indian tribe, and a logging company. The law firm representing the owners hired American Home Appraisals to provide appraisals of the properties before and after the landslide, litigation support as well as expert witness testimony during trial. Our appraisals were used to establish value and damages as part of the $100 million dollar lawsuit and settlement

Seattle Times News Article:  Click Here

In this case the seller, without obtaining building permits, dug out the crawl space and turned it into basement living area. The house was sold to a new buyer without disclosing the illegal basement addition and lack of permits. Within days of the new owner moving in, the unpermitted basement began to flood. American Home Appraisals was hired by the plaintiff's attorney to determine the home'sloss of value due to the unpermitted basement and flooding. Since there was a failure to disclose known facts impacting the house; we assisted the attorney in locating past MLS documents that described the property, past MLS photographs, and the "Form 17" used by sellers to disclose the condition of the property. The defendants were the property sellers, two real estate agents and their brokerages. Our appraisal and evidence discovery were used to establish damages and help the parties reach a settlement.

On March 27, 2013 an estimated 5.3 million cubic feet of earth were displaced in a massive landslide on the west side of Whidbey Island, Washington. The county's repairs to a road at the bottom of a cliff was claimed to be the triggering event for the slide. Roads and power lines were destroyed and buried under tons of soil. One home was pushed into Puget Sound others suffered major structural damage while homes at the top of the hillside lost their yards requiring the homes to be abandoned due to their new proximity near the edge of a 200' cliff. Approximately ten other undamaged homes were isolated and unreachable except by a winding dirt path down a steep hill. A lawsuit was filed by the various owners against Island County. American Home Appraisals was retained by the plaintiffs as the expert witness and to determine the values of: A) completely destroyed homes, B) partially damage homes, C) homes that were in danger from future slides requiring abandonment, D) isolated properties, E) vacant waterfront lots, F) vacant non-waterfront lots, and F) the impact on the value of all other properties in the subdivision due to their inability to access the community beach and boat ramp. Our appraisals were used to establish damages for the case.

During a flood event in Kittitas County Washington the Teanaway River overflowed its banks destroying hundreds of feet of a levy protecting several residential subdivisions. Conflicting Federal regulations prevented rebuilding of the levy which resulted in various levels of inverse condemnation impacting properties in the area. Properties suffered from immediate damage and potential danger from future flooding. In addition, homes hundreds of feet from the river were experiencing basement flooding due to an increase in the river's underground water table. The law firm representing the property owners hired American Home Appraisals to determine the un-impacted market value of the various properties as well as the impact on values due to varying levels of damage and flooding. Over the years lawsuits have been filed in Superior, State, and Federal Courts as well as appeals to the Supreme Court.

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A divorcing couple owned one of the most expensive waterfront homes built in the Seattle area. Due to the notoriety of the couple and their unique multi-million dollar home privacy and confidentiality, on the part of the appraiser, and accuracy of the appraisal report were major concerns. The law firm for one of the parties hired American Home Appraisals due to our vast experience with high-end luxury homes, customized properties, and experience in dealing with confidentiality agreements for privacy purposes. Appraisals were ordered by both sides of the divorce; however after comparing the two the appraisal provided by American Home Appraisals was used to establish value due to its high level of detail, analysis, and accuracy.

The plaintiff in this case had a view from their home reduced due to the construction of a new home on an adjacent lot. The new home was built much closer to the river than is allowed by federal and local regulations and resulted in restricting a portion of the plaintiff's view amenity. American Home Appraisals was hired to determine the value of the partial view that was lost and provide expert witness testimony at trial. The opposing appraiser provided personal opinions regarding the impact on the view. Our more detailed report quantified the value of each degree of view lost by the plaintiff and converted it into a supportable dollar figure that was used to measure damages.

In this case the owner of one of the most expensive homes built in Montana was arguing that the state over-valued his 24,000sf vacation home located on the 21 acre Shelter Island in Flathead Lake. In this case Richard Hagar, SRA of American Home Appraisals was hired by the State of Montana to review the property owner's appraisal for compliance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) and provide expert witness testimony regarding the market for homes with a value above $20 million. After a four day trial the Tax Appeal Board ruled in the State's favor.

Abbey Land LLC vs. The State of Montana's Dept. of Revenue.
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Property Tax Appeal - Class Action Suit

In this case a waterfront property owner disagreed with the tax assessed value of his property. The owner filed a class action lawsuit, on behalf of other waterfront property owners, against the State of Montana arguing that their method of determining property values for tax purposes was flawed. In this case Richard Hagar, SRA of American Home Appraisals was hired by the State of Montana to review the property owner's appraisal and provide expert witness testimony regarding the appropriateness of the state's use of mass appraisal techniques when valuing high-end waterfront property on Flathead Lake.

Solem and John Does vs. Montana Department of Revenue

On November 30, 2010 a waterfront home on the west side of Vashon Island burned to the ground. It was later discovered that the large multi-story home with a detached garage and Mother-In-Law suite had been constructed too close to the shoreline in violation of the state & county's building codes, the owner failed to obtain building permits, and there wasn't an approved water system, or fully operational septic system. A multi-million dollar claim was made with the insurance company for the replacement value of the house. The homeowner's appraiser stated that the home's value was only reduced by the costs associated with obtaining necessary permits and installing the approved water and septic tank systems (also known as the "cost to cure" method). American Home Appraisals and David Connelly were hired by the insurance company to determine the true market value for the unpermitted home, review the owner's appraisal for compliance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), and provide expert witness testimony at trial. After a two week jury trial, our firm was able to demonstrate that the property owner's appraiser had incorrectly applied the "cost-to-cure" method in valuing the property and provided proof that the market value was less than half of what it would have been if it had been legally constructed.

Schmidt and Demeter vs. American Commerce Insurance Company.
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A Seattle area mortgage brokerage firm, along with its owners and several related parties, were federally charged with real estate, mortgage, and appraisal fraud in part of a $47 million dollar fraud scheme. Federal prosecutors hired Richard Hagar, SRA of American Home Appraisals to help profile actions of the perpetrators and determine the value loss associated with the twenty-one (21) properties involved with the crime. Our firm performed reviews of the original appraisals used to obtain mortgages and provided new appraisals to accurately determine the value of the properties when they were purchased or financed several years prior. The total loss to lenders was in the millions and resulted in multiple convictions.

FBI Press Release:  Click Here

During investigation of the $47 million dollar mortgage fraud noted previously, federal investigators from the FBI discovered numerous other related schemes and parties including upscale homes in the Seattle area and developments in Quincy Washington. Four Seattle-area residents were arrested on a 21-count indictment charging them with conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud, and mail fraud. The mortgage fraud scheme ran from 2006 to 2008 and defrauded more than 10 banks, financial institutions, and mortgage lenders of more than $8.6 million. More than 50 mortgages were involved on properties in a variety of communities around Puget Sound including Medina, Renton, South Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond, and Kirkland. The parties charged included Jonathan Mendoza Martinez, 34, of Bellevue, Washington; his sister, Jazmin Villalba Martinez, 30, of Seattle, Washington; Celia Perez Morales, 35, of Kirkland, Washington; and Jorge Castrejon Pichardo, 41, of Mountlake Terrace. Richard Hagar, SRA of American Home Appraisals was hired by the attorney for one of the accused mortgage brokers to help investigate, profile, and explain the fraud scheme so that a defense could be prepared. Richard reviewed more than 30,000 pages of evidence including loan documents, appraisals, listing/sale agreements, escrow files, bank records, and email. Richard's investigation discovered that many of the loan documents purportedly signed by the mortgage broker were fraudulently prepared and signed by other parties in the mortgage firm and not the accused. Critical evidence was missing from several loan files and some purchases were found to be at market rate. The discovered evidence along with a profile of the crimes were used by the defense attorney in obtaining a reduced sentence for the individual mortgage broker (8 years in prison vs a possible 30 year sentence).

FBI Press Release:  Click Here

An appraiser was charged by the State Appraiser Licensing Board with numerous violations of appraisal regulations. The state charged the appraiser with violations of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), a competent appraiser's typical standard of care, failing to include vital information, as well as other state laws. A finding of guilt would have resulted in the appraiser's certificate being permanently revoked. The appraiser's defense attorney hired Richard Hagar, SRA of American Home Appraisals to review and appraisals in question and help with preparing a defense for the appraiser. After an analysis of the appraiser's work files, appraisal, appraisal orders, and the client's agreed upon "Scope of Work" it was discovered that numerous charges against the appraiser were no longer applicable. The reduced findings resulted in the appraiser paying a fine and obtaining special education instead of the license revocation that was original sought by the state.

In this case a recently installed faucet broke and caused a massive waterleak while the owners were on vacation. Water saturated all three floors, poured into the air ducts for the forced air heating system which turned the water into steam that saturated the entire house. The owners filed a high dollar amount insurance claim for the damage. The insurance company hired American Home Appraisals to determine the value of the house, prior to the faucet break, in an effort to determine if the claim exceeded the value of the house. Because of our experience with older homes, our analysis of the owner's photographs determined that many of the photographs could not have been taken in a house the age of the subject. Evidently the owners were submitting damage claims in excess of their actual losses and using photographs from a different home. In addition, the owner's appraiser used inappropriate sales in an attempt to establish an inflated value. Our review of the appraisal indicated that it was not compliant with USPAP, thus baring its used in trial. Our more detailed and accurate appraisal was used to establish the true market value of the home in this federal case - thus saving the insurance company tens of thousands of dollars.

A government agency was preparing to build a new fire station in a residential area and would use the power of eminent domain to acquire numerous residential properties. The agency had appraisals prepared for the various properties. Upon reading the appraisals the effected owners did not believe that the low value conclusions were accurate so they hired American Home Appraisals to review the government's appraisals and if they were found to be defective, prepare new more accurate appraisals on their property. In-depth reviews of the government's appraisals indicated that their appraiser had used incorrect comparables and/or sales that were from a prior year which resulted in values that were substantially below current market value. We prepared new appraisals using current, nearby relevant sales which resulted in higher more accurate value conclusions. After receiving the appraisals the government agency agreed with the new values and paid the owners more than it originally proposed. The government agency then hired American Home Appraisals to prepare new appraisals for properties that were a target for future acquisitions.

A family compound comprised of four homes, each located on a separate lot, were located on the South shore of Lake Washington. A creek, that had not flooded during the past 100 years separated the properties and was used by a limited number of spawning salmon. The creek, the primary drainage for a park and residential area, flowed under a major arterial via a 36 inch pipe. The City of Seattle decided to "enhance" salmon habitat by removing the pipe and replace it with a wide arch that would allow the creek to "flow naturally" under the road on its way to the lake. Upon installation of the arch, 100+ years of accumulated settlement and debris started to wash down across the owner"s property and to the lake. The new settlement filled in the creek, reducing its flow, and triggered flooding of the houses. Sand and rocks built up a new delta shifting the shoreline 100' further into the lake past the existing docks; rendering the docks "landlocked" and useless. The new shoreline is now beyond the property owner's legal property limits thus rendering the various "waterfront" properties unable to gain legal access to Lake Washington (they are no longer "waterfront"). The new shallow creek delta prevented upstream salmon migration; dead salmon were now common during spawning season. The property owners filed claims of inverse condemnation against the government. American Home Appraisals was hired by the plaintiffs to determine the loss of value between the value of the property with waterfront and their value today no longer having access to the lake combined with seasonally flooding and dead fish scattered about on their property. The appraiser working for the city used typical waterfront properties as comparables which resulted in an inflated value. We were able to demonstrate that the subject properties no longer had access to the lake; docks couldn't be used for boat moorage, fishing, or swimming, plus there was additional impact in value due to flooding and dead fish. In mediation the other appraiser's opinion of value was dismissed and our appraisals were used in establishing the multi-million dollar settlement.