1. That the original appraisal complies with Federal guidelines as set forth in USPAP (Uniform Standards of Appraisal Practice. USPAP criterion regulates the appraisal and the appraiser!
2. That the appraiser uses the correct valuation methodology.
3. That the original appraiser reached a Fair Value with accurate facts.

Who needs appraisal review?

• Client(s) that has/have conflicting appraisals.
• Clients with separate appraisals that are destined for litigation.
• Financial Institutions that need to comply with Federal Reserve regulations.
• Court imposed appraisal review.
• Any appraisal that will be questioned in court.
• Property to be acquired in Federal-aid projects or programs.
• Mergers, Acquisitions, Sale of Business, Divorce, Real Estate transactions and Eminent Domain.

What kind of Appraisal Review is needed?

A. Technical Appraisal Review is an exhaustive full review appraisal of the property. This appraisal review starts from scratch onsite of the properties. A full appraisal that is compiled independently and then compared to a previously submitted appraisal by a different appraiser. The appraiser must be USPAP 2008 Compliant, (recently passed the new USPAP government test and qualified by education and or experience).
B. Desk Appraisal Review can be prepared using the data from the existing appraisal or new data that the review appraiser collects from his or her normal valuation sources. The desk appraisal then compares values with the original appraisal. This appraisal review is the most economical.
C. Field Appraisal Review requires the appraiser to physically examine the real and or personal property and then compare their findings with the original appraisal.

What to expect from an Appraisal Review

The appraisal review must be executed by a Professional Senior Appraiser that is, Experienced, Highly Qualified and Accredited by 2008 USPAP Standards. The appraisal review is not an exercise to arrive at the same valuation, instead the appraisal review is a verification that the facts are true in the original appraisal and that in using said facts, a true market reliable “Fair Value” estimate was given in the original appraisal. The appraisal review is the quality control element that is critical in the valuation process. The review appraiser will validate if the appraisal report(s) contain proper documentation, factual information and conclusions that are properly supported with the accepted valuation methodology. The reviewer will confirm that mathematical errors are present or absent, the law has or has not been adhered to, and that a comprehensive examination of the original appraisal has been completed in accordance with appraisal review techniques, standards and principles.

Fussell Valuation Associates are professional Senior Appraisers with a combined 70 years of valuation. Our appraisers include two attorneys, one PhD, two MAs and an instructor for the Federal USPAP Test. We are more than competent to do your appraisal review, any appraisal needs including Expert Appraisal witness testimony. Call 480 463 6579 or email below.

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FASB 141 Appraisal

FASB 141 is a statement of SFAS (Statements of Financial Accounting Standards) enacted by FASB. These enactments require public companies to reveal the most accurate financial information to public investors.

FASB 141 prevents the pooling of interests method and requires all combinations of businesses to be evaluated by the purchase method of accounting. Criteria for valuing the intangible assets from a legal right or contract such as a copyright, patent or trademark are outlined in FASB 141. Other non-contractual assets that must be appraised annually include any assets (other than goodwill and tangible assets) that can be licensed, sold, rented, transferred or exchanged in combination or individually with a related asset, liability or contract.

FASB 141 requires business combinations to value intangible assets by Fair Value using only accredited USPAP appraisers. USPAP appraisers MUST BE 2008 COMPLIANT!

FASB 142 Appraisal

FASB 142 appraisal conforms to FASB 141 that requires all intangible assets such as software, trademarks, patents, copyrights etc. be divided into two categories:

• Finite lifespan
• Indefinite lifespan

The indefinite lifespan assets will now be labeled “goodwill” assets. FASB 142 no longer allows the amortization of goodwill and requires the ANNUAL accredited appraisal (test of impairment) of all goodwill (intangible) assets.

FASB 157 Appraisal

FASB 157 appraisal is accomplished using the new definition of Fair Value as outlined for FASB 141 and FASB 142 as of November 15 2007.

FASB 157 clarifies the Fair Value as the value of the asset if it were sold at the time of the appraisal. FASB 157 assigns three levels of valuation methodology for the assets being valued. The Accredited Appraiser is held solely responsible for determining the correct level of methodology in preparation of the financial report to be submitted to the SEC.

FASB appraisal 141, 142, 157 using the correct valuation methodology, combined with a valuation team that has 70 years of total valuation experience, including Senior Appraisers with J.D., PHD, M.D. and a current cerified instructor of USPAP will insure that your business valuation is current and correct. Fussell Valuation Associates offer irrefutable expert appraisal witness testimony for litigation purposes. Email below or call 480 463 6579.

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Fussell Valuation Associates appraise all real and personal property nationwide. If you are in need of business valuation, machinery and equipment appraisal, divorce appraisal or decendant estate appraisals, give us a call. Our appraisals are understandable and defendable. Fussell Valuation Associates are qualified expert appraisal witnesses and offer our testimony to support our professional valuations.

Phone: 480 463 6579
Appraisal Witness,USPAP Compliant

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Machinery and equipment appraisals will be needed if you are trying to negotiate a settlement with your insurance company due to damage or loss? Tax deductions on equipment that is donated will need an accredited *** machinery and equipment appraisal attached to your tax return. Natural disaster such as wind, floods, tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, earth slides and sink holes claims billions of dollars of machinery and equipment each year. A Machinery and equipment appraisal of your equipment, before the natural disaster, will expedite your insurance claim. Should disaster strike equipment, a machinery and equipment appraisal can still be performed to document your loss and recover the amount needed to continue the business.

Many buyers would like to know the true value of machinery and equipment before they buy it. Machinery and equipment appraisals are tailored to describe present value, percent of wear, resale value, liquidation value and fair market value, from which you can comfortably determine a bid or proposal.

Lease disputes are common and not often resolved before going to court. A Machinery and equipment appraisal by an accredited expert appraisal witness can make the difference between resolution and business failure.

*** Accredited appraisal is only performed by an appraiser that has met all the CURRENT legal qualifications required by laws passed as recent as 2008. USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) criteria is set up by Congress. The latest standards of 2008 must be adhered to by an accredited appraiser that has passed the USPAP test in 2008. Most appraisers HAVE NOT passed the current USPAP test and therefore do not qualify to tender an appraisal that is accredited.

Fussell Valuation Associates are accredited appraisers, USPAP Compliant and have successfully passed the 2008-2009 Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice test. Our Senior appraisers have 70 years combined appraisal experience during the last 30 years. Call 480 463 6579 or email below for more information.

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The “Frye” test, (Frye v. U.S., App DC 46. F 103) was the standard for admitting an expert appraisal witness’ testimony into the record of the court until 1993. The District of Columbia Federal Court of Appeals stated, “Just when a scientific principle or discovery crosses the line between the experimental and demonstrable stages is difficult to define. Somewhere in this twilight zone the evidential force of the principle must be recognized, and while courts will go a long way in admitting expert testimony deduced from a well recognized scientific principle or discovery, the thing from which the deduction is made must be sufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in the particular field in which it belongs.” For 70 years the court used these criteria to establish an expert appraisal witness. Interpreted, this declaration simply says that unless the expert appraisal witness’ testimony was based upon scientific technique that was “generally accepted” in the scientific community then it would not be accepted as expert appraisal witness testimony.

The Daubert “upset”, ( Daubert v. Merrill Dow 509 US 579) ushered in Federal Rule 702 that prevails today over the acceptance of an expert appraisal witness’ testimony into most courts of law. The “generally accepted” clause has been thrown out and we now have a defined criteria for the expert appraisal witness to see if his methodology or underlying reasoning can be applied to the facts of issue and is scientifically valid:

a. whether the technique in question or theory, of the appraisal witness, can be and has been tested,
b. whether it has been subjected to publication and peer review,
c. its potential or known error rate,
d. the existence and maintenance of standards controlling its operation,
e. Whether it has attracted widespread acceptance within a relevant scientific community.

Now with other considerations the expert appraisal witness testimony must pertain to “scientific knowledge”.

If you are trying to establish an expert appraisal witness, the integrity of the expert appraisal witness and his ability to be credible brings the court to approve the witness as an expert appraisal witness under the outlined provisions. Professionalism of the expert appraisal witness includes preparedness, experience, diligence, honesty and a portfolio beyond reproach. Fussell Valuation Associates combine 70 years of experience within the past 30 years of practice that have a record of irrefutable testimony. Call for you valuation and expert appraisal needs. Phone 480 463 6579

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The judge of the case makes the final decision on whether or not to accept the opinion of the expert witness. One of the most famous statements made by a judge qualifying an expert witness is: “…I have a discrete understanding of my limitations, but I also have an understanding of what my experience tells me in having listened for the past 30 years, to appraisers, and while they may not bear all the credentials and all the publications, I have yet to find an appraiser that ever says anything that is cogent and persuasive. Go ahead. I’m always willing to be persuaded.”

Judges cited demeanor, sincerity and body language, as well as careful consideration of evidence. Judges are negatively influenced by aggressive attitude, rude or poor eye contact. Judges look for the ability to explain in clear, consistent simple terms, and qualifications substantiate the expert’s findings without bias.

The appraiser’s report and valuation must reflect real analysis, not simply the appraiser’s ipsi dixit advocacy. “Expert opinions…are no better than the data and the methodology that undergird them.” Id. At 24. An expert will be required to “vouchsafe the reliability of the data on which he relies and explained how the accumulation of that data was consistent with standards of the profession.” Id. Failing to do the homework risks a finding that the “expert testimony offers only a bare conclusion is insufficient to prove the expert’s point.” SMS Systems Maintenance Services, Inc., v. Digital Equipment Corp.

Another judge’s opinion about expert witness clarifies an appraiser’s credentials before he even gets the chance to state them: “I don’t really care about your certifications, although I do appreciate that this is somehow made up by persons who have some professional standing in connection with some effort by the government to improve quality and integrity of appraisals… I’m sure they are all moving, but I really want to know what cases you of appeared in, what books you’ve written or major articles.” J. Bernstein U.S. Bankruptcy Court

The judge in this case said, “an expert opinion is inadmissible if it is connected to existing data only by the ipsi dixit of the expert, for a court may conclude that there is simply too great an analytical gap between the data in the opinion proffered.” General Electric Co. V. Joiner

In commenting to the plaintiff’s attorney, this judge replies, “I absolutely need to know the details of the experts thought process, not simply so your witness can persuade me, but so I can coherently put that analysis into the decision.”

This bankruptcy judge concluded his statements: “…best the valuation of an enterprise… is an exercise in educated guesswork. At worst, it is not much more than crystal ball gazing… it may be that there are better ways to determine value than through courtroom dialectic. That said, the court must work within the system created by Congress and, in valuing the company in Chapter 11, that system contemplates an adversary contest among parties before a neutral judge.” Mirant,et al. Judge D. Michael Lynn of Federal Bankruptcy Court in Fort Worth, Texas

The courts are relying on its participating attorneys to obtain experts that have prepared valuation reports in an unbiased and objective manner concurring with the current state of the appraisal practice. If an expert appraisal witnesses is chosen that cannot fulfill these qualifications the attorneys will suffer the adverse consequences from an excess of vigorous advocacy that impairs the truth seeking duties of the court.

Each week, another case comes to light in which the judge will impeach an expert witness because he or she will fail to complete the simplest of documentation. Each appraisal should be executed as if without a doubt, the appraisal will have to be defended in the court of law. A successful expert witness appraiser must document and use the accepted methodology in every appraisal in order to present evidence to an eventual Court that every care was taken to procure comparables, pictures, valuations, history, and current value influence.

Judges opinions about expert witnesses can be greatly influenced if these simple guidelines are used in the expert witness’ report and all references to the court are provable by the actions listed above and the methodology approved by the Appraisal Commission. In all cases, ipsi dixit (“because I said so”, “believe me because I’ve been in the appraisal business for 30 years”), must never be used to substantiate a valuation, an appraisal or an appraisal report.

Still another judge’s opinion about expert witnesses: To be admissible, expert testimony must be reliable and relevant. The trial judge’s job is to “ensure that an expert’s testimony both rests on a reliable foundation and is relevant to the task at hand.” Daubert v. Merrill Dow Pharms., Inc.

Fussell Valuation Associates have the experience, the current accreditations, and a history of success as expert appraisal witnesses. Call us, 480 463 6579

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Consider this hypothetical situation and the problems in determining a divorce pension amount. The recipient of the benefit began employment at 21, and is now 49. Their current pension plan allows them to retire after 30 years of service with a supplemented pension allocation. This means that the recipient is able to retire at 51 and receive an annual figure of $34,200 until they reach 62 years (when Social Security benefits commence). Once 62 years, they will continue to receive $17,100 annually, until death.

If, however, the recipient were to leave the company by the marital property accrual cutoff date at 50 years, with 29 years of service, their benefit entitlement would be $16,821 annually, commencing once they reached 65 years and continuing until death.
Depending on the approach used to determine the divorce pension amount, the amount allocated as the divorce retirement figure will be extremely different. If the divorce pension figure is decided by the deferred approach, then the non recipient will receive a divorce retirement settlement sum far below what the actual benefit will be worth.

The only time this dilemma does not present itself in divorce pension settlements is when the recipient is already retired, or if they have left employment. In all other situations, attorneys must confront this issue when determining a divorce retirement sum.
Where case law directs that you use the deferred vested approach to reach a divorce pension settlement amount, and you represent the non recipient, unless you can persuade the recipient to agree to a larger divorce retirement figure, the distribution of assets will be inequitable, but within the law.

Divorce Pension Division is one of the specialties of Fussell Valuation Associates. If the litigation involves a contesting of the Divorce Pension Division, Fussell Valuation Associates are expert appraisal witnesses giving irrefutable testimony to support our appraisals and valuations.
480 463 6579

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Appraisal reform for reviews should determine the risk of the transaction, whether the process by which the collateral valuation is obtained ensures quality and independence, and whether the appraisal or valuation is appropriate for the transaction, according to new banking guidelines. The scope of the appraisal assignment which is set forth in the engagement letter must be consistent with the valuation or appraisal report. The Federal Reserve comments that post-funding evaluations of appraisal quality for some of their greater-value transactions or higher-risk transactions as a control to assist in detecting valuation problems is used by some banks to augment routine appraisal reviews.

Fussell Valuation Associates are experienced in every type of appraisal review procedure, appraisal reviews, and the latest USPAP requirements for review appraisers. Each appraisal, appraisal review, appraisal report, consultation or valuation is performed within the most up to date laws, by our qualified, Senior Professional Appraisers that are governed by USPAP, who also adhere to the highest ethical unbiased codes of our appraisal associations, ASA, NAPA and GPPA. Seventy years of combined valuation experience of 7 senior appraisers offering professional appraisal services nationwide. We realize that our work may be reviewed by banks, attorneys and courts. Every appraisal is compiled with the anticipation that this appraisal could be litigated. Every appraisal by Fussell Valuation Associates is prepared by an Expert Appraisal Witness who is prepared to give irrefutable testimony in defense of his valuation report.
Call 480 463 6579

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How Divorce Pension Amounts are Calculated
There are two main ways that a divorce retirement figure is reached by an appraiser. The approach used will depend upon case and state law, and the facts of each individual situation. And while both have their uses, neither is a great tool when deciding upon a fair divorce retirement sum.

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  1. Deferred vested pension appraisal – this approach only takes into account the benefit earned up to the marital property cut-off date. This approach often leads to a divorce pension figure far lower the actual value of the pension, and can make settlement far more difficult if the parties are aware that the divorce retirement sum is inequitable.
  However, this approach does exist for a reason, and can be used in certain cases to reach a divorce pension settlement amount. If the recipient has lost the job, quit, or is likely to lose the job, then this is a suitable approach in allocating a divorce pension amount. It is also a fitting approach in reaching a divorce retirement sum if the recipient works in an industry where working breaks are normal and for a sustainable period (construction and entertainment industries are a good example). In these cases, it is difficult to conclude whether any further benefit will be accrued, so this approach is appropriate in determining a divorce pension figure.
  2. Matured full benefit pension appraisal – this approach assumes that the recipient will continue to work until their unreduced retirement date without any changes to their base salary from the marital cut-off date to the retirement date. The divorce pension amount is then derived by determining the full benefit amount and reducing it by a coverture calculation. This is usually a far fairer way of determining a divorce retirement sum.
  Where the benefit amount is speculative, due to the industry (such as construction and entertainment industries), a Qualified Domestic Relations Order can be used when determining the divorce pension amount.

Appraisal witness usually is needed in divorce pension cases as litigation seems to prevail when retirement benefits are divvied up. Fussell Valuation Associates are Expert Appraisal Witnesses who prepare every appraisal as if it will be challenged and need an appraisal witness to give irrefutable testimony in defense of the valuation. Call 480 463 6579

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Here are seven expert appraisal witness characteristics that are needed in the testimony for your case, that will lead to a win:

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  1. Professionalism–An individual appearing before the court as an expert appraisal witness must have a professional appearance, professional attitude and display professional conduct.
  2. Knowledgeable– the testimony of an expert appraisal witness must display in-depth knowledge of the subject matter. This knowledge will always be portrayed by the individual that has years of experience appraising in the field that requires your expert appraisal witness testimony.
  3. Preparedness– When you receive your accredited appraisal, you’ll have your first clue as to the depth of this appraiser’s report. The appraisal report should have all references that will be needed to defend the appraisal report, should litigation arise. Beware if the report seems incomplete, short or inconclusive. If you have any doubts about your appraisal report, resolve these issues at the time you receive the appraisal report. The appraisal witness should be able to defend, explain and consult with you on all aspects concerning his appraisal report.
  4. Unbiased– The appraisal report that you request must be completely unbiased. The appraiser that compiles the appraisal report must be completely unbiased. The testimony that your expert appraisal witness surrenders must be completely unbiased. This characteristic is paramount your case is to be successful. An unbiased appraiser may be called upon to compile an appraisal report for both parties.
  5. Thoroughness– a knowledgeable professional who is prepared through their experience, their training and who has done their due diligence regarding the appraisal for this case and has documented their methods for appraisal and their references, can be relied upon to deliver an accurate testimony on which the trier’s of fact can understand and depend upon the appraiser’s opinions.
  6. Credibility—The credibility of an expert witness requires that the witness not be partial or adversarial, that his credentials are impeccable, and the truth. The opposing counsel will attack this characteristic, the hardest to impeach an expert appraisal witness.
  7. Honesty– the smallest untruth fractures, the entire testimony. The weight given a appraisal witness is always greater in believability, if they are consistently truthful throughout the entire litigation process. Honesty cannot be compromised by an expert appraisal witness.

Fussell Valuation Associates bring 30 years of experienced together in 7 Senior Professional Appraisers with a combined 70 years of valuations. Call us at 480 463 6579.

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