Appraisal Scoop

AppraisalPort / FNC - Class Action Suit Seeks $5 Million in Damages

In a lawsuit filed May 9th, 2007, FNC has been sued for:

• False Advertising under the Lanham Act
• Intentional Misrepresentation (Fraud)
• Negligent Misrepresentation
• Conversion, Misappropriation, and Breach of Bailment
• Breach of Implied Contract

Click here for the source document: FNC Complaint

"The Plaintiffs bring this action as a class action on behalf of all appraisers, including both individuals and entities engaged in performing appraisals, who have used the AppraisalPort web service of FNC since its inception through at least April 2007, and who were damaged thereby."   

The Plaintiffs are requesting that the Court award them damages and/or recoupment of profits in an amount greater than $5,000,000 to be determined at trial.

The complaint starts off with a brief history of how AppraisalPort functions, the AI Ready data standard, and how appraisers interface with the service and their clients. 

It also describes the FNC Collateral Management System that "allows lending institutions to manage the process of ordering, obtaining, storing, reviewing, and analyzing information about the collateral securing real estate mortgages, i.e., primarily the information from property appraisals."

According to the complaint, "FNC has repeatedly assured and represented to appraisers who use its AppraisalPort service that FNC does not have access to the appraisal report data transmitted from the appraiser to a lending institution via the Appraisal Port service."  Several references from interview, newsletters, and their own Web site were referenced to support that claim.

The complaint alleges that, "On or about April 2007, these representations . . .were removed from FNC's website, apparently because FNC obtained information the appraisers were planning a lawsuit based on these representations."

Click below to continue reading . . .

Copyright This: Appraisal Form Report Content Really Is Protected

Sounding Bored is Jonathan Miller's semi-regular Soapbox blog column on the state of the appraisal profession. This week he addresses the issue of copyrights and how his written expression includes the objective data, not just commentary.  Click here for the blog article.

FNC Says: Appraisal Report Data: Not Intellectual Property, Not Protected by Copyright

The Appraisal Institute's publication page notes that FNC, Inc., has launched an online forum,  www.collateralvision.com, which users can read about and input their own information on the mortgage industry. The site features stories, opinion pieces, industry hot topics and new research focused on real estate collateral.

The inaugural Open Forum piece, “Appraisal Report Data: Not Intellectual Property, Not Protected by Copyright,” was written by FNC’s Chief Legal Officer Neil Olson. It cites legal precedent to argue that appraisers cannot guard the data in their reports through copyright protection, despite some recent efforts, since the courts have established that one cannot copyright facts.

Whether visitors share Olson’s opinion or vehemently disagree, their comments are needed to keep the exchange of ideas flowing.  Click here for the full article.