Claudia Gaglione

Claudia received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Southern California Law Center in 1982 and in 1994, Claudia and her partner, Bob Dolan, formed the law firm of Gaglione & Dolan, which specializes in the defense of professional malpractice claims. Since 1987, Claudia has personally supervised over 4,000 claims and lawsuits filed against real estate appraisers across the country. By virtue of this experience, she is uniquely qualified to speak about what kinds of things appraisers get sued for and what defenses are most successful. More importantly, Claudia can discuss the types of errors that are avoidable and how appraisers can make themselves the best possible defendants in the event they are ever sued.

Claudia Says...

"I got a letter the other day from a lender saying because of some bad review of one of my appraisals, I am now on their "DO NOT USE" list. Will the insurance company sue to get me back on the list?"

I am afraid not. Your insurance will step in to defend you from a claim of professional negligence. No such claim has been made so coverage is not triggered. However, I do have some suggestions for you. It sounds like you were never given the chance to comment on or to rebut that negative review. Why don’t you ask for a copy and see if you can rebut what the reviewer had to say?

Do you have any contacts with the lender? Can you figure out who is in charge? Send them an appeal. Explain that you have been doing appraisals for so many years...you have done hundreds of reports...you have never had a negative review before..etc. Maybe they will change their mind after taking a second look.

Unfortunately, a lender can decide who they do or do not want to work with for whatever reasons. What they cannot do, however, is slander, libel or defame you. If they are telling other lenders not to use you, that is actionable and I would suggest you hire counsel to fight that fight. From what you are telling me this lender removed you from their approved list based on the comments of a single reviewer. There is no finding of negligence in court nor any findings of USPAP violations by your state board. This lender can do what they want, but they must stop short of saying bad things about you to others.