NY state officials settle inflated appraisals case

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has settled an investigation into inflated real estate appraisals by a former appraisal management company, saying coercion to raise home values contributed to the national housing crisis. WAMC's Dave Lucas has more...


The $7.8 million settlement announced Friday is with CoreLogic Inc., formerly The First American Corp., whose subsidiary was eAppraiseIT.

Schneiderman's original complaint says eAppraiseIT did more than 260,000 appraisals nationally for Washington Mutual, whose loan officers pressured the company to select certain appraisers, leading to inflated property valuations.

The settlement includes $4 million in civil penalties and $3.8 million in costs from litigation.

The company says it left the appraisal business, and that the case involved its relationship with one company and events from five years ago.
(c) 2012 AP