Ohio Lawsuit Against County Sheriff, Others Alleges Appraisal Improprieties In Connection With Foreclosure Process

In Youngstown, Ohio, The Vindicator reports:

• A local attorney feels something is amiss with Mahoning County Sheriff Randall Wellington and those appointed to appraise county property, and he is taking the matter to court. Atty. Brian P. Kish filed a civil lawsuit in common pleas court [...] against Wellington and county appraisers Daniel Battisti, Gail Battisti, Geraldine Damico and Richard Jeren, alleging improprieties in the appraisal practices for property in the county.

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• Kish said for the purposes of foreclosure and sheriff’s sale, every appraisal in the county is to be done by three independent appraisers. After each appraiser has appraised the property, an average of the three assessments is calculated and sent to all parties involved. Kish said he collected a list of sheriff’s return of appraisals on file since 2006 and randomly checked the documents. He said in every case he checked, all three appraisers listed on the document came up with the same value for each piece of property being appraised.

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• Kish said he believes the appraisers are not independently checking the properties being appraised but are instead sending only one person to do an appraisal while the other two simply agree with the assessment and collect the appraisal fees.(1)

For the story, see Suit alleges improprieties in property appraisal (The suit names the sheriff and six others).

(1) If these charges are true, I wonder if there is a basis for voiding foreclosure sales in those cases where this conduct may have taken place?