Shocking news out of New York: it has been alleged that mortgage lenders are pressuring appraisers to artificially inflate home values.  To say that such actions is an open secret would be a gross understatement.

The issue is somewhat proximate for me.  When I was young my dad was an official at a bank in our town.  He desired more autonomy and decided to leave his job and go into business for himself as a real estate appraiser - something he had experience doing.  He had a good network of local lenders that he knew that he could work with.  But a funny thing happened.  The lenders weren’t satisfied with some of his appraisals because he didn’t always just tell them the number they wanted to hear.  He gave them what he felt was a fair, justifiable number.  The lenders, many of them his friends, began to send their appraisal business to other appraisers who were more pliable.  My dad didn’t waver from doing what he thought was right.

Eventually he closed the business and sought other employment.  Some might perceive this as failure, but I was and remain utterly impressed.  It is rare to find someone with the integrity and character to do the right thing even if it can lead to financial hardship.  It was a lesson that was not lost on me.

Related content:

This entry was posted by Brian on Thursday, November 1st, 2007 at 9:48 pm and is filed under Ethics Scandals, Legal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Please note the copyright policy.