Consumer complaint received 2022-08-03
Company: Chrysalis Holdings LLC
State: PA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
1. On XXXX XXXX, an appraisal was done on behalf of New Day Financial LLC by XXXX XXXX, doing business as XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX for a VA refinance loan. I am a veteran who had a VA loan for the property XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX since XXXX. 
2. The purpose of the appraisal was to appraise the property so that I could refinance my VA loan through New Day Financial LLC. 
3. XXXX XXXX, the appraiser, asked if I was selling my home, and I told him it was an appraisal for refinancing. XXXX then proceeded to haggle and persuade me into selling my home, because his friend was a realtor. 
4. I did renovations to my property prior to the appraisal to upgrade and renovate my home. 
5. After the appraisal was over, I was completely shocked at the results. The appraisal had listed my home way under what I estimated it would be. This appraisal report resulted in a denial of a mortgage refinancing. This ultimately led me to file for bankruptcy and sell my home shortly after.

6. There were many discrepancies with the appraisal report. First, it appears that he used my effective age of 7 years on my home, however, the homes used as comparable had their actual age used.

7. The next discrepancy was that my home was compared to the lowest value homes in the area. However, the appraisal reported that there were 8 comparable sales between {$170000.00} to {$210000.00}. There was 1 comparable unit ranging in price from {$190000.00} to {$190000.00}. Despite acknowledging that my home was in good condition on the report, the appraiser appraised my home at the lowest end of market-rate units in the area. According to his appraisal report, 60 % of the land use area were one-unit homes. The lowest prices for homes were {$170000.00} at age XXXX. The highest one-unit homes with XXXX-year age were estimated at {$210000.00} and the predicted values of 14 years were priced at {$190000.00}. Yet, my home was appraised for {$170000.00} on a sales comparison approach. 
8. Additionally, his appraisal had false reports of the amount of carpet in the home. My home had about 20 % carpet over the square footage of the home but was marked over 60 %. My floors were hardwood and not laminate. 
9. The appraiser failed to professionally and accurately appraise my home in a fair, skillful and non-discriminatory way. The appraisal company breached his duty to act fairly by inquiring about selling my home. The bank also failed to properly hire an appraisal company that did not have a conflict of interest in impartially appraising my home when they hired an appraisal and realty company. Because of the conflict of interest in buying my home and my race, I believe the appraiser undervalued my home which had an adverse effect on refinancing and staying in my home. Not being able to refinance my home due to the low appraisal, I was forced to sell my home and file for bankruptcy. 
10. After the appraisal, my home was sold for the market rate I originally believed it should have been appraised at over XXXX XXXX. I sustained significant economic loss as a result of the appraisers work. 
11. The appraiser prepared my appraisal based on an as-if model, which I feel was misleading and inappropriate. XXXX XXXX also didnt disclose this was a hypothetical appraisal prior to the inspection. 
12. The comparable units were all used on the in the surrounding area and had low values. No home in the higher comparable bracket was used as a comparable. 
13. The bank did not allow me to refinance my loan under the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ). 
14. I believe the appraisal knowingly appraised my home at a low value, to prevent me from refinancing my loan and being forced to sell due to unaffordability. 
15. When I was forced to sell my home, the asking price was $ XXXX  and the sellers realtor offered XXXX XXXXXXXX with XXXX XXXXXXXX to borrower. When they started asking for minor repairs, I wanted to rescind the offer and list the house at higher price. My realtor was against it and said she didnt want to do that, because she expressed this was a great offer. I wanted to know if she could get it listed for that price-why I couldnt i have it appraised for that price? Inventory was still low in the market. She went as far as asking for the fee for the photos. 
16.Reflecting on the appraiser, it was mentioned numerous times about his friend selling homes. He told me about how clean and well kept the house was and even about how organized my cabinets were. He advised me for selling to remove all of the wires behind the tv.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation