Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
loans/appraisal
I obtained a 2nd loan on my home january 2006, my first loan is going up because it was an interest only loan, i went to refi but i couldn't becasue the money owed on the house is more than its worth, i talked to a broker and my house was never worth what the lender on the second appraised it for the closest it came to was within 50000, so now i owe more than its worth and cannot refi i will be for closing the home. my question is how did they do that and now can i do anything becasuse they did that, thats a big difference. and if i can do something how do i go about it, do i use a real estate lawyer
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: loans/appraisal
You may have a case of non-disclosure against your broker, especially if the broker knew that the home was being artificially inflated in value in order to get the refi., and his commission.
Re: loans/appraisal
The home must have appraised at a value high enough to justify the 2nd loan. Maybe the home's value has declined significantly since the time of the last appraisal. Maybe the appraiser made a mistake, or maybe the appraiser intentionally inflated the value of the home as a favor to the broker/agent. Sny defendant will likely argue that you were not damaged as you DID receive the principal amount of the loan.
It sounds like a tough case to me but I wish you the best of luck.