Appraisers usually don't create fraudulent real estate transactions, but they can facilitate or stop them. Facilitating or stopping all comes down to the quality of the appraiser and their report.

Real estate and mortgage fraud has caused a multi Trillion dollar loss to our nation. Buyers, sellers agents and loan originators and numerous "investors" have become very cleaver at "creative financing." The problem is most "creative" techniques result in fraudulent loans. Real estate appraisers, if they had performed their jobs correctly could have stopped many of these illegal transactions. How? Very simply - by providing good appraisals, based on the federal definition of "market value" to their lender clients. Appraisers didn't create the fraud but their bad, form filling appraisals could have stopped many of the frauds.

Course Objectives:
As a result of taking this class the appraiser or agent will understand:
1. The scope and extent of fraud
2. How it impacts our daily lives, increases housing costs, and needlessly increases property taxes
3. Why it has not triggered our hard economic times
4. The common fraud terms such as "Down Payment Assistance" and "Cash Back" scams
5. Explanations of "Fraud", "Wire Fraud", and "Appraisal Fraud"
6. Learn some of the most common mistakes that appraisers make
7. Walk through several investment transactions that ended up being fraudulent. See how the appraiser became an unwitting participant.

Good appraisers can help stop the problem and bad, lazy appraisers facilitate the problems.

This class has been approved in multiple states.