Regrettably, the appraiser -who works for landsafe and believes they are innocent of all wrongdoing - is just one more victim of the tangled web of lies, fraud, coverups and financial crimes that these three companies have committed over the past few years.
Countrywide OWNS Landsafe and now Bank of America OWNS Countrywide. How someone can convince themselves that these companies really have no interest or investment in one another is beyond my comprehension. While i am sure that there are ethical appraisers out there - and some of them may actually have done work for Landsafe - we have heard over and over - on this site, in the papers on the nightly news - the horror stories of how Countrywide has ripped people off, stolen their homes from them. If you watched the Today show - 1/22/08 - These three companies are the primary reason that we are headed toward a recession, and the reason for the instability of the stock market, not just here - but across the world.
Countrywide hired their own appraisal company - Landsafe - to over appraise properties - then Countrywide hired their own real estate closing companies - again - Landsafe - to take care of all the 'little details' at signing - which included adding in all kinds of hidden fees and contractual mumbo jumbo - end result-
There are millions of people that got railroaded into believing that they had a lot of equity in their homes-
There are millions of people who agreed to ARM mortgages, on more money than they could ever afford - believing their appraisers and countrywide brokers that this was the best thing for them.
Now, there are millions of people who can't afford those mortgages, but they can't refinance - They can't refinance because now they have bad credit ratings from their missed or late payments. OR - when they try to finance - Countrywide hires it's appraisal company - LANDSAFE - who now, using 'different criteria' (this is a direct quote from Landsafe to me) finds that there really isn't any equity in these homes after all.
Now maybe Landsafe services other mortgage companies besides Countrywide. And i do not doubt that there are honest appraisers out there doing the right thing. But Countrywide used Landsafe and certain appraisers to overinflate appraisals, and now these same appraisers and being paid to under appraise these same homes. I just went through this is November. My appraiser in November also appraised my house in December. Same Appraiser. Same house. I have made significant improvements since renovated kitchen and bathroom - added a deck - did i mention i have both an ocean AND a river view - in Maine? BUT my house was appraised at $100K less in 2007 than 2005. The appraiser knocked off 200sqare feet, one bedroom and one bathroom. She told me that landmark was making the appraisers use 'different standards" to protect their clients'. - Where did my 200sqaure feet go? Where is my other bedroom? Why is my bathroom no longer a bathroom? Landsafe told me that they could do anything they wanted - they could use any appraisal criteria they wanted. Countrywide now says I have no equity. Bank of America took it upon themselves to 'randomly check my credit'- because have a credit card - Before they checked - I owed 2000 with a 4500 limit. After they checked - they decided that I was no longer a 'good credit risk' because of my mortgage situation - and they lowered my credit limit to $2100. Now i have 2 bad marks on my credit - which prevents me from being able to get a loan somewhere else - I wasn't late on my payment to bank of America - i didn't do anything wrong with Countrywide - but my credit report reflects that Landsafe checked my credit no less than 10 times in 6 weeks, BOA dropped my credit limit and my $100,000 home equity disappeared. My credit score dropped to 515. All because someone appraised my house $100000 lower than they did 2 years ago. The final straw? This same appraiser told me if i went to a different mortgage broker - she could increase the value on my appraisal by another $50000- where it really should be. She admitted that she had over appraised it by about 30,000 2 years ago - because that's what Landsafe wanted. And she under appraised it this time, because that's what landsafe wanted and they kept sending it back to her until she changed it.
What say you now Landsafe appraiser? Still believe they are innocent? What would you advise me to do now?
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