Pinnacle Appraisals

On February 3, 2016 I paid for an appraisal through [redacted] Appraisal Service and was informed Pinnacle Appraisals would be evaluating my house. I paid $430.50 on my [redacted] card.On February 8th [redacted] came out to my house for the evaluation. [redacted] was in the house for less than 10 minutes. The only question she asked me was how long I had lived in the house for. [redacted]. [redacted] I asked if she wanted to see the hot tub. She informed me a hot tub would have no value unless it was built in. I told her it was in fact built into the deck. She said she would look at it when she was outside. I know she did not look at it as it is under an automated gazebo and can only be opened from inside the house. This is only one small example of why I feel she did not properly look at and evaluate the house. The second appraiser that came through the house actually took the time to open the gazebo.A few days later I was informed by my mortgage broker that the appraisal had come in so low that the lender was unable to work with us ($[redacted]). I immediately called Pinnacle Appraisals about this because I was shocked that the amount was so low. Initially Pinnacle said that I was not the client and was not able to release any information about the appraisal. I informed them I was unable to use the lender and that it was myself who had paid for the appraisal. I left 2 messages with [redacted], she did not return my phone call. I left 2 messages with the main line, no call was returned. I then had my husband call from another number and suddenly they answered- [redacted] also expressed his concern with the appraisal and was told that limited comparables were available and that the market was down 15% thus resulting in the low amount. [redacted] expressed his dissatisfaction with [redacted] and requested her supervisor come out and reevaluate the house. [redacted] refused to do this without us paying for an additional appraisal.[redacted]Due to the vast difference in the appraised home value, [redacted], I am asking for a full refund on this appraisal.Product_Or_Service: Home AppraisalDesired Settlement[redacted] I am asking for a full refund on this appraisal.Business Response We did complete an appraisal on the property owned by [redacted]. [redacted] ordered it and our Client is [redacted] and the lender/bank. Our interests are to provide an accurate and unbiased appraisal in the interests of the bank. We are paid by [redacted] and the lender reviewed [redacted] appraisal and found it to be accurate.In response to Ms. [redacted]'s claim, the inspection took 20 minutes which is very typical in the appraisal industry for a small house. The typical questions were asked to Ms. [redacted] such as how has long she has lived there, what kind of renovations they completed since they bought it and what her home taxes were. [redacted] wrote down every piece of information she was told. Everything Ms. [redacted] states that we did not include in the appraisal was actually written in and included in the appraisal. With regard to the value of the appraisal, we have an excellent track record. Our value was correct. In short, there were no sales in the last year to support a higher value of Ms. [redacted]'s house. In speaking with the Client's husband, it was their family friend, an appraiser by the name of [redacted] who provided him with the other opinion of value which they state was higher. He sated [redacted] what the value should be." We did ask to see this second appraisal. However, the owner's were not able to provide it to us. In addition, the Appraisal Institute of Canada does not allow appraisers to complete appraisals where there can be a conflict of interest if [redacted] even actually completed such an appraisal. Ms. [redacted] states we did not answer our phone. As appraisers we are in and out of the office. If voice messages are left, we call back when we are back in the office. We do not screen calls. We do call back the same or next business day.We are truly sorry that Ms. [redacted] is dissatisfied with our service. However, we cannot increase the value of an appraisal just to suit the home owner's needs. We have rules and guidelines mandated by the Appraisal Institute of Canada to follow. We must have supportable market evidence to support all values. Nothing was missed on the inspection and the appraisal was accurate and satisfactory to our Client which was [redacted] and the bank. We are paid by [redacted] to complete accurate appraisals and not to hit needed values of the home owners.Thank you.Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)I do not accept this as a satisfactory response. [redacted]The second appraisal on our house was not an opinion, it was completed by [redacted] appraisals, a qualified appraiser. Mr [redacted] is not a close family friend, he completed an appraisal on our first house, he was requested due to his past professional work with us. [redacted] I did provide evidence of the second appraised amount with the Revdex.com complaint, Pinnacle Appraisal's did not request a copy of the appraisal completed by Mr. [redacted] In addition, I would like to point out that I actually requested a copy of Pinnacle's appraisal but they refused to provide it to me. Final Business Response We don't feel Ms. [redacted] is being honest in her response. She should speak with her husband as he is the one who stated to both [redacted] and [redacted] that Mr. [redacted] who gave the second appraisal was his friend. We have nothing further to add after our first response. If Ms. [redacted] wants a refund she should be requesting it from [redacted] or the bank, the company she paid as she did not give us any money. It's my assumption they did not feel like it was warranted. Thank you.