Home appraisers who overestimate the value of homes may be liable for fraudulent misrepresentation, the Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled.
The state’s high court has overturned an appellate court that had held that because an appraiser’s estimate is an opinion, it cannot be the basis of a claim for misrepresentation. The case now goes back to the trial court.
In a case involving a Nashville couple who got less than the 2002 appraisal amount when they sold their home three years later, the high court said that even though it is an opinion, an appraisal can form the basis of a claim.
In 2002, Joseph and Kimberli Davis got an appraisal of $735,000 from Patrick McGuigan. In 2005, when they sold, they got $660,000.
The Davises filed a complaint asserting that McGuigan had intentionally or negligently misrepresented the market value of their home when he appraised it in June 2002 and that he had also violated the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act.
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