In business litigation, accurate machinery and equipment valuations supported by evidence and logic are crucial, particularly in cases involving complex shareholder disputes over machinery, equipment, or other business assets. Whether for partnership disputes or buyouts, equipment valuations are expected to provide information needed to determine fair financial outcomes. In many cases, however, machinery and equipment…Read More
Case Study: Equipment Appraisal without Evidence – A Reviewer’s Perspective for Attorneys
In a fire damage litigation case of vehicles and material handling equipment — including a number of specialized reach lift stackers — at a major port, I came on board to review an appraisal report entered into evidence by the insurance company of the firm deemed responsible for the fire. In this case, as in…Read More
Stabilization of Value: Expanding the Appraisal Lexicon
In many of my appraisals, particularly for used in litigation, I’m frequently asked to justify the opinion of value for equipment that has outlived its expected life. Part of the general confusion can be attributed to the common misunderstanding between an accounting depreciation schedule and the practical value of machinery or equipment, including the oversimplification…Read More
New ASA ARM at NorCal Valuation
Jo Crescent, NorCal Valuation’s operations manager and co-owner, earned her ASA in Appraisal Review and Management (ARM) in January. In addition to full ARM accreditation, the American Society of Appraisers offers two other options for those interested in ARM: a discipline-specific specialty designation for current Accredited Senior Appraisers in its other disciplines and an ARM…Read More
Appraisal Review Standard of Care for Attorneys
The Association of Certified Family Law Specialists published this article in their journal’s Summer 2021 ACFLS Family Law Specialist. Appraisal review is, first and foremost, a standardized process that provides guidelines for assessing the overall quality of an appraisal relative to applicable standards, while concurrently addressing the degree to which that appraisal is credible, logical, and…Read More
Risk Management with Appraisal Review
ASA Newsroom recently interviewed me about “Managing Risk with Appraisal Review,” a topic I addressed in a recent article published in the ASA ARM E-Journal™. The interview touches on the critically important role appraisal review and expert rebuttal contributes to risk management and mitigation for many clients/users of appraisal services, including attorneys, bankers & lessors,…Read More
3 Red Flags in Machinery & Equipment Appraisal Reports
I recently submitted a few examples of Machinery & Equipment Review problems–along with a sample review report–to an overseas valuation organization that’s putting together an in-house manual for its members. What’s interesting to me is that although this organization follows IVS instead of USPAP, is governmentally regulated in a way that ASA equipment appraisers are…Read More
15 Most Common Appraisal Report Mistakes
Appraisal review isn’t just for appraisers. While attorneys and CPAs may be best served by hiring a trained reviewer for questionable appraisals, they can do an initial pass using a quick checklist of a handful of common appraisal report mistakes. We discuss these errors in great detail in the ARM accreditation classes offered by ASA…Read More
Gauging Competency in Appraisal Review
While gauging competency in appraisal review is similar to using a limit gauge in order to determine whether a part is within prescribed limits of tolerance, it’s not, of course, that simple. An appraiser’s competency depends on a number of factors, ranging from experience with the equipment and its market to the intended use of…Read More
Appraisal Review: Determining Whether an Appraisal is Credible
Appraisal review raises the bar on appraisal reports by providing professional, expert review of how well the report aligns with standards of appraisal practice, including the ability of the intended user to understand the report. Appraisal review, as discussed in a previous post, is a standardized methodology that provides guidelines for adjudging the overall quality of…Read More
The Financial Risks of Flawed Appraisals
A previous post introduced the five qualities of a credible appraisal, and in a perfect world, the equipment appraisal report you’re basing financial decisions on would always adequately address those USPAP-specified qualities. The fact is though, that in this imperfect world many equipment appraisal reports don’t meet the basic requirements of completeness, accuracy, adequacy, relevance,…Read More
When to Worry About the Accuracy of Your Appraisal
An appraisal review or expert rebuttal report is a good choice whenever you feel confused about the methodology used in an equipment appraisal report or uneasy about the qualifications of the equipment appraiser. This could be a report you originally contracted for – or it could be an equipment appraisal report you’ve received from another…Read More