Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Texas

Original Property Appraiser made large value mistake

Hello.

Two years ago I purchased a condo in Texas for 70K. I have now tried to sell my house only to find out that the original property appraiser made a 100 sq ft mistake in square footage on his evaluation. His errored assessment upheld the 70K price, infact he appraised it at $73K. However if he had not made an error, the evaluation would have come in at 62K based on his price/sqft numbers at the time and of course I wouldnt have purchased the unit for $70K.

Now I am trying to sell the property and I have found about the mistake which is going to cause me to incurr a loss. It has caused two potential buyers to cancel contracts for $72K since the new appraisals do not support this property price. Nothing has happened in the local real estate market to cause propety such as this to loose value. The most recent evaluation done for a new buyer came in at $65K with the price/sqft higher than when I purchased it, but evaluated at the REAL sqft number. My question is what legal recourse do I have in this situation. Are home property appraisers liable for their errors? How should I persue this?

Thanks


Asked on 7/13/01, 10:00 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lawrence Maun Lawrence J. Maun, P.C.

Re: Original Property Appraiser made large value mistake

If the appraiser was negligent you may have a cause of action against, if the statue of limitations has not run. However, you need to consider whether a judgement against the appraiser would be collectable, does he have non exempt assets. If the appraiser has insurance to cover him it would make more sense to sue him. Larry Maun 713.266.2560

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Answered on 7/13/01, 3:43 pm


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