At A Quality Appraisal, we get calls every day from Portland area homeowners who are seeking an appraisal for divorce purposes. We are experts in appraisals for divorce and understand that there is a big difference between appraisals written for divorce and other appraisals, such as refinance. (Click here for a blog post explaining those dissimilarities.) Recently, I had a long conversation with a Portland attorney who pointed out yet another important distinction that anyone ordering an appraisal for divorce should recognize.
That difference is discovery. If one of the parties in a divorce obtains an appraisal, it can, by law, become discoverable by the opposing side. Since appraisers are independent and unbiased parties who cannot advocate for one party or the other, the findings of an appraisal report might turn out to be beneficial to the other party in litigation.
The solution is to ask your attorney to request the appraisal and to be the appraiser’s client and intended user noted in the report. The divorcing party can still interact with the appraiser for scheduling and to provide information. Ordering by the attorney means that the appraisal report can be kept confidential from the other party in litigation if the results are not beneficial to your case. This attorney’s advice was to pay a few extra dollars to have your attorney manage the appraisal which could save you some negotiating leverage later. I recommend that you discuss this factor with your attorney before ordering an appraisal for divorce.
Did I leave anything out or do you want to join in the conversation? Let me know in the comments below.
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