Consumer complaint received 2019-07-09
Company: Finance of America Mortgage LLC
State: MD
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
This complaint is regarding a faulty appraisal of my home located at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, MD XXXX which was performed by XXXX XXXX from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX   company as part of my home loan refinancing process from Lender ( Finance of American Mortgage LLC ). I strongly believe the appraisal which was performed was not fair and way off from the market value of my home in comparison to my previous appraisal. Lender point of contact ( XXXX XXXX ) also has agreed that this appraisal was inappropriate after review. I am very sure appraiser has used inaccurate data points and did not include appropriate comparable sales in the last 6months based on the appraisal provided. New appraisal depreciated the home value which would force PMI to be included as part of my refinancing loan.

My home is located in prime area which has shown steady and strong growth in past few years. My home was appraised in XX/XX/XXXX ( attached appraisal ) at a value of {$460000.00} and the new appraisal ( attached ) has depreciated the value to {$450000.00} using inaccurate comparable sales and data points. In addition to this my home also has energy efficient appliances, bay window, upgraded appliances, kitchen cabinets, carpet, bathrooms, master bedroom dropped ceiling, deck, in-wall entertainment system built, security system wired, and installed.

I have paid {$470.00} for appraisal of my home as part of this refinancing process and when discussed with the lender they are asking me for an additional {$170.00} to appeal the appraisal which they agree is inaccurate based on the facts mentioned below. I have attached my comparison of both the appraisals and inaccurate data points used which lead to very low appraisal resulting in PMI for refinancing loan and additional cash down payment. All this process is unfair and inappropriately valued appraisal is putting me and my family under tremendous financial stress and enforcing additional PMI in the new refinancing loan. Below are the comparison data points and inaccurate details used in current appraisal.

1. My Home ( Maxwell model ) is an end unit town home which is a comparable home with similar square footage as Finley model from the builder XXXX XXXX in my community. ( refer the same in attached difference document ) S. No House Address Sold On House Price Distance from home 1 XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX {$490000.00} 0.6mile 2 XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX {$460000.00} 0.6mile 3 XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX {$470000.00} 0.7mile 4 XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX {$470000.00} 0.7mile 2. My house consists of 7rooms in total with 3 bed rooms, 3 full baths and 1 half bath but the appraiser used only 6rooms counting 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths and 1 half bath to find comparable sales but this inaccurate room count resulted in lower square footage area.

3. Cost Approach to value has been inaccurately calculated in the appraisal in comparison with previous appraisal XX/XX/XXXX and the $ /Sq. Ft value is too low as compared to market value.

Example : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, MD XXXX which was used in the new appraisal has a 2358 Sq. Ft sold at {$450000.00} which means the value is $ 191/Sq. Ft. Based on this measure, my home with an area of 2452 Sq.ft at $ 191/Sq. Ft should be valued at a minimum of {$460000.00}.

I sincerely request CFPB team to help in rectifying the faulty appraisal by taking necessary actions to address the concerns and correct the appraisal which would fairly avoid the PMI being enforced.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation