When a property value is contested, the report has to survive being picked apart by someone paid to pick it apart. Censeo Valuation Consultants provides independent residential appraisals for attorneys across Maricopa and Pinal Counties. Andrew Ament is an Arizona Certified Residential Appraiser with more than twenty years of experience and over 8,500 completed assignments, and he builds files for matters where the value conclusion is expected to be examined.
What makes a litigation file different
The analysis is the same discipline as any other appraisal. What changes is the documentation. In a contested matter the data trail, the adjustment support, and the reasoning behind every judgment call have to be written down clearly enough that a reader who disagrees with the conclusion can still follow how it was reached. Weak support is where an appraisal falls apart under scrutiny, and in a disputed file that weakness gets found.
Retrospective and current values
Many disputed matters turn on what a property was worth on a date in the past: a date of separation, a date of loss, a transfer date, a filing date. A retrospective appraisal uses sales and market conditions as of that date rather than today’s. The work can be done years later, and it can be done on a property that has since sold or been renovated. Tell me the effective date and its legal significance at the outset, because that date drives the entire analysis.
Appraisal review and second opinion
When the other side’s appraisal drives the dispute, the question is whether that report’s conclusion is credible given the work behind it. An appraisal review examines the report itself: whether the comparable selection is defensible, whether the adjustments are supported by market evidence or simply asserted, whether the scope of work fits the assignment, and whether the reasoning holds together. Review is its own discipline under USPAP and produces its own written opinion. A review does not automatically produce a second value. If you need an independent value as well, that is a separate assignment, and I will tell you up front which one your matter actually calls for.
Construction defect and diminution in value
Where a defect, a repair history, or a stigma is alleged to have reduced a property’s value, the valuation question is narrower than a standard market value assignment: what is the difference in value attributable to the condition at issue. That requires isolating one variable in a market where many variables move at once, and being explicit about what the data supports and what it does not. I will tell you straight when market evidence for a claimed impact is thin, which is more useful to you before a position is taken than after.
Partnership, estate, and partition disputes
When co-owners, heirs, or partners cannot agree on what a property is worth, an independent value is what moves the matter forward. These assignments often involve multiple properties, unequal interests, or a buyout figure that has to withstand challenge from the party on the losing end of it. The report names the client and intended users explicitly, and the conclusion does not change based on who engages me.
Bankruptcy and creditor matters
Bankruptcy, foreclosure, and creditor disputes need a supportable current or retrospective value, often on a compressed schedule and often on property where access is limited or cooperation is imperfect. Tell me what access you can get and what the deadline is, and I will tell you what is achievable and what the limitations mean for the report.
Divorce and marital dissolution
Divorce work has its own page, including court appointed and joint engagements. See the divorce and marital dissolution page.
Estate and trust disputes
Contested estate matters, beneficiary disagreements, and date of death values under challenge are covered on the estate and probate page and the page for financial planners, CPAs, and trustees.
How to engage
Start with a short scope conversation covering the property, the effective date, the intended use, and who the intended users will be. Those four items define the assignment and the fee. From there you get an engagement letter, then the inspection, then the report. Bring me in early when you can. A value range known before a position is taken is worth more than a report produced after one has been committed to.
Independence
I am engaged to develop a credible opinion of value, not to support a predetermined number. USPAP requires that independence, and a report that lacks it is worth less than no report at all once opposing counsel finds the problem. If the value does not help your client’s position, you will hear that from me before it appears in writing.
Common questions
Can you appraise as of a date years in the past?
Yes. Retrospective assignments rely on market data from the effective date, which does not expire. Older effective dates take more research, which affects turn time rather than the quality of the conclusion.
Does an appraisal review give me a second value?
Not by itself. A review is an opinion about the quality and credibility of another appraiser’s report. If you also need an independent value conclusion, that is a separate assignment with its own scope and fee.
The property has been renovated since the effective date. Is that a problem?
No, though it changes the scope. The property is analyzed as it existed on the effective date, using the documentation available about its condition then: photographs, permits, listing history, inspection reports, and interviews. The more documentation you can provide, the tighter the conclusion.
What do you need from me to get started?
The property address, the effective date and why it matters, the intended use of the appraisal, the names of the intended users, and whatever documentation exists about the property’s condition at the relevant time. Access arrangements if the property is occupied by an adverse party.
What if the value does not support my client’s position?
You will hear it from me before it is written. What I will not do is adjust a conclusion to reach a target, because a report built that way fails at the moment it matters most.
How are fees set?
By property type and complexity, the effective date or dates, and the scope of the documentation review. Fees are never contingent on the value conclusion or on the outcome of the matter, which USPAP prohibits. Quotes come after the scope conversation.
What areas do you cover?
Maricopa and Pinal Counties, including Phoenix, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Peoria, Surprise, and Fountain Hills.
Discuss a matter
Call 480.540.5151 or email andrew@censeovc.com. A scope conversation is free. You can also send a request through the contact page.