Hagens Berman Files Class Action Against Countrywide
October 16 2008 - 2:56PM
PR Newswire (US)
Lawsuit claims lending giant blacklists, strong-arms honest
appraisers. SEATTLE, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- A group of Idaho
appraisers today filed a class-action lawsuit against Countrywide
(NYSE:CFC) claiming the company used strong-arming tactics to
intimidate appraisers to generate reports in line with
Countrywide's business objectives. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080317/AQM144LOGO) The
lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, claims
Countrywide forced appraisers to use improper appraisal techniques
that benefit the lender and punished those who did not participate
by blacklisting individuals and companies for up to a year, denying
them work. Countrywide, the largest home mortgage lender, has the
reach and influence necessary to affect an appraiser's business if
they fail to follow the company's guidelines, the suit claims. The
lawsuit claims Countrywide's actions caused substantial damage to
thousands of appraisers on top of distorting real estate prices in
the marketplace. "The integrity of real estate appraisals is more
important than ever and time and time again Countrywide is showing
its customers and partners that it only cares about profits and
market control," said Steve Berman, managing partner at Hagens
Berman Sobol Shapiro. "The bottom line is our nation's at a
breaking point where we can't take anymore corporate dishonesty in
the home market -- role Countrywide's becoming notorious for." The
lawsuit claims Countrywide's interest lies in property passing
appraisals its way, rather than determining whether an appraisal is
fair and accurate and in accordance with industry standards
(Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice or USPAP).
"We believe if an appraiser doesn't 'play ball' with Countrywide
and produce a report affirming the value Countrywide expects, it
places the appraiser on its 'Field Review List,' or blacklist,
which it then sends to mortgage brokers who hire appraisers," said
Berman. As of Aug. 28, 2008, more than 2,000 appraisers appeared on
the Field Review List and Countrywide's been using the blacklist
practice for more than four years, according to the complaint. The
suit claims that to further complicate matters, any appraisal
submitted to Countrywide from a blacklisted appraiser automatically
goes to LandSafe, a subsidiary of Countrywide, for review.
LandSafe's role is to find problems within the appraisal and
reconfirm to Countrywide the report isn't accurate -- rendering it
unusable because it doesn't fall within Countrywide's guidelines,
the complaint claims. The lawsuit alleges LandSafe is a captive
puppet of Countrywide, enabling the lending giant to push its
alleged unethical business practices into markets across the
country. The complaint states the plaintiff, Capitol West
Appraisers, refused to succumb to Countrywide's alleged pressure to
compromise its integrity and independence and refused to commit
fraud and violate federal and state laws -- as a result the company
made the Field Review List. Since appearing on the list, the
complaint claims Capitol West's business declined and revenues
plummeted -- losing $8,000 a month. The impact goes beyond
appraisers and affects the marketplace as a whole, further damaging
the industry, leading to overvaluations and distorting home prices
nationwide, they claim. Capitol West filed the lawsuit on behalf of
its business and all other appraisers nationwide who've been placed
on the Field Review List. The lawsuit cites violations of federal
law under the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Practices
Act (RICO). You can learn more about this case by visiting
http://www.hbsslaw.com/CFCappraisers. About Hagens Berman Sobol
Shapiro Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro is based in Seattle with
offices in Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco and
New York. Since the firm's founding in 1993, it has developed a
nationally recognized practice in class action and complex
litigation. Among recent successes, HBSS has negotiated a pending
$300 million settlement as lead counsel in the DRAM memory
antitrust litigation; a $340 million recovery on behalf of Enron
employees which is awaiting distribution; a $150 million settlement
involving charges of illegally inflated charges for the drug
Lupron, and served as co-counsel on the Visa/Mastercard litigation
which resulted in a $3 billion settlement, the largest anti-trust
settlement to date. HBSS also served as counsel in a $850 million
settlement in the Washington Public Power Supply litigation and
represented Washington and 12 other states in lawsuits against the
tobacco industry that resulted in the largest settlement in the
history of litigation. For a complete listing of HBSS cases, visit
http://www.hbsslaw.com/. Steve Berman (206) 623-7292 Hagens Berman
Sobol Shapiro Mark Firmani (206) 443-9357 Firmani + Associates Inc.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080317/AQM144LOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro
CONTACT: Steve Berman of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro,
+1-206-623-7292, ; or Mark Firmani of Firmani + Associates Inc.,
+1-206-443-9357, , for Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro Web site:
http://www.hbsslaw.com/
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