Emotions are running high in a meeting room in the WTC building next to Utrecht Central Station. The three-member disciplinary board of appraisers is listening to accusations from both sides. “You are acting as if I were trying to deceive someone,” says the accused appraiser, a man in a suit. “This is simply rude.” He looks with piercing eyes at the complainants, a couple from Culemborg. They describe their working method as “scandalous and unacceptable.”
The issue revolves around the preparation of an appraisal report. In January 2023, the Culemborg couple will sell their semi-detached house to an acquaintance. “I know the buyer,” says the man of the couple. “I am self-employed and he is a blacksmith. We sometimes do business with each other.” The blacksmith was interested in the house because he invests here and there in real estate. “He let me buy it,” says the man. “It was done in good faith.”
the neighbor’s house
The blacksmith had an appraisal report drawn up before buying the house, so that he could pay a fair price. The appraiser valued the semi-detached house on behalf of the buyer at 177,500 euros, after which the man made an offer and bought the house from the couple. They agreed that the handover would not take place until the end of 2024; until then, the couple will be able to continue living there.
A few months after the Culemborgs sold their house to the blacksmith, the neighbors sold a similar townhouse for a much higher price. The couple feels cheated. The man and woman think the appraiser has prepared an incorrect appraisal report and has valued the house at too low a price.
The financial adviser who assisted the couple during the disciplinary proceedings claimed in court that his clients lost 40,000 euros, partly due to the poor work of the appraiser. They accuse the appraiser of colluding with the buyer to ensure that the latter could obtain the property at well below market value. In their opinion, the appraisal report is insufficiently substantiated.
He submitted a report
The appraiser doesn’t want to hear about it. He points out that the couple’s house is incomparable to that of their neighbours, because their house was in much worse condition. “I don’t want to offend anyone, but that’s how it was.” In his opinion, the report is well-founded, although it was difficult, the appraiser admits, to find comparable houses to determine the value.
The relationship between the blacksmith and the Culemborg couple has cooled. The blacksmith even filed a report, accusing the couple’s husband of dishonestly obtaining the appraisal report for their home by posing as the appraisal client.
The chairman of the disciplinary board emphasises during the hearing that the board does not take a position on the correct value of the property. “We only check whether the appraisal report has been drawn up correctly.” After several weeks of deliberation, the disciplinary judge decides against the appraiser. In his report he did not sufficiently justify the value of the property. But there is no evidence that he was biased.
The disciplinary judge imposed a 12-week suspension on the appraiser, six of which are conditional. This is because at the time of the appraisal of the complainants’ home, a similar procedure was already underway against the appraiser. The couple from Culemborg are preparing to file a civil suit against the buyer to obtain a higher price for their house. They hope that the disciplinary judge’s decision will help them in this.
Every day, professionals have to answer to the disciplinary judge. Do they adhere to the rules of their profession? Fidelity is watching this summer. This is episode 2.
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