Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser, Real Estate Appraisal, Los Angeles, California, Mary Cummins.

Mary Cummins is a real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California with 38+ years of experience. Cummins provides real estate appraisals for banks, lenders, mortgage brokers, Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs), lawyers, Courts, factors and private parties for lending, lawsuits, probate, estate planning, divorce and all types of litigation. Cummins provides 1004, 1073, 1025 and other form reports, narrative reports and historical appraisals besides real estate research and appraisal advice.

Friday, April 4, 2025

Court Dismisses Discrimination Claims Against Appraiser by Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser

Henley's Motion to Dismiss, Doc. #28, is SUSTAINED.

Link to case below

"A federal judge has dismissed all claims against an appraiser and their firm in a lawsuit alleging discrimination in a home valuation. The court found that the plaintiffs failed to establish a viable legal claim against the appraiser, ruling that their allegations did not sufficiently demonstrate wrongdoing under applicable laws.

The case centered on a disputed appraisal that plaintiffs claimed was racially biased. However, the judge determined that the appraiser’s valuation process did not support a claim of discrimination. With this ruling, the appraiser and their firm are no longer part of the lawsuit.

While claims against the appraiser were dismissed, the court allowed certain claims against a bank to proceed, focusing on the bank’s lending policies and loan approval decisions. These claims will be evaluated further as the case moves forward. Specifically, the plaintiffs claim the bank applied different loan-to-value (LTV) ratios based on race and national origin, offering more favorable terms to white borrowers. They also allege the bank refused to finalize a loan application with better terms due to discriminatory policies. Additionally, the plaintiffs argue the bank maintained a policy preventing borrowers from appealing appraisals they believed to be discriminatory. The bank contends that loan denials were based on credit history rather than discrimination, the court determined that the plaintiffs presented enough evidence for these claims to proceed.

Negligent Hiring, Training, and Supervision

The court also allowed claims against the bank regarding negligent hiring, training, and supervision of employees. Plaintiffs argue that bank employees failed to properly evaluate loan applications, process appraisal appeals and oversee contracted appraisers. The court found that these allegations were specific enough to warrant further examination.

Implications for Appraisers

This case—Carlos Turner, et al. v. Henley Appraisals, LLC, et al. (Case No. 3:23-cv-371) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Western Division—highlights the importance of clear appeal mechanisms for borrowers who suspect discrimination and raises questions about lender oversight of the appraisal process. Appraisers should stay informed on evolving legal standards and lender policies to ensure compliance and fairness in their work."

Link to case

https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/ohio/ohsdce/3:2023cv00371/286793/33/0.pdf

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate is a certified residential licensed appraiser in Los Angeles, California. Mary Cummins is licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate appraisers and has over 35 years of experience.

Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary, Cummins, #marycummins #animaladvocates #losangeles #california #wildlife #wildliferehabilitation #wildliferehabilitator #realestate #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #lawsuit real estate, appraiser, appraisal, instructor, teacher, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Brentwood, Bel Air, California, licensed, permitted, certified, single family, condo, condominium, pud, hud, fannie mae, freddie mac, fha, uspap, certified, residential, certified resident, apartment building, multi-family, commercial, industrial, expert witness, civil, criminal, orea, dre, brea insurance, bonded, experienced, bilingual, spanish, english, form, 1004, 2055, 1073, land, raw, acreage, vacant, insurance, cost, income approach, market analysis, comparative, theory, appraisal theory, cost approach, sales, matched pairs, plot, plat, map, diagram, photo, photographs, photography, rear, front, street, subject, comparable, sold, listed, active, pending, expired, cancelled, listing, mls, multiple listing service, claw, themls, historical appraisal, facebook, linkedin

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Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate Services has been in real estate since 1983, over 35 years. She is licensed by the Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers. Mary Cummins was an agent and broker licensed with the California Department of Real Estate selling residential income, commercial buildings, raw land and homes for Merrill Lynch Realty in Beverly Hills and Westside Properties in Los Angeles before concentrating on appraisals. Mary Cummins currently provides real estate appraisals, expert witness testimony, historical research, legal real estate research for mortgage brokers, banks, lawyers, factors, insurance companies, financial consultants and private individuals. Mary Cummins was born and raised in Southern California. Cummins attended Beverly Hills Good Shepherd Catholic School and Beverly Hills High School. Besides being on the Dean's list, Mary Cummins was a top ten national swimmer and competed on the men's water polo team. Mary Cummins began college at the age of 15 attending the University of Southern California on scholarship, majoring in Psychology/Sociology. http://www.animaladvocates.us http://www.facebook.com/AnimalAdvocatesUSA

Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Caruso Palisades Village Will Reopen Beginning of 2026 by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

Rick Caruso stated today that the Palisades Village will reopen in the beginning of 2026. Caruso said they are waiting for the properties around them to be cleared of the toxic remains of the fire. They don't believe it will be safe until the cleanup is complete. They will also be refurbishing the mall.

Caruso stated that the 130,000 sf Palisades Village located at 15225 Palisades Village Lane in Pacific Palisades, California survived for a number of reasons. The Village which has 40 boutiques, restaurants and shops was built in 2018. It was built to survive wildfires. Caruso also hired his own private fire fighters and water teams to fight the fire.

www.palisadesvillageca.com

https://caruso.com/our-portfolio/palisades-village/

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Mary Cummins

Sunday, March 30, 2025

Fire Victims May Incur Casualty Tax Gains by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

If your post fire insurance settlement is over your initial home cost basis, i.e. original purchase price, you could owe a casualty gain to the IRS. You can defer the gain if you use the insurance settlement to rebuild or buy a replacement property within two to four years. Any gains from the sale of the lot will also have to be reinvested in a new home to defer gains. You could use the home sales tax exclusion to shelter $250-$500K of the gains. See below for more specifics. This is complicated and you should consult a tax professional.

"Dear Liz: My house was burned down in the Palisades fire. I lived in the house for 25 years and lost everything. I thought there may be a silver lining with tax deductions. Much to my surprise, I am supposed to use the purchase price from 25 years ago as my adjusted cost basis. The insurance settlement is not going to be enough to rebuild but is more than my cost basis. I will end up with “casualty gain” instead. Is this possible?

Answer: After losing your home and finding out you were underinsured, the news that you might have a taxable gain must have been a gut punch.

The IRS calls it an “involuntary conversion” when your property is destroyed and you receive insurance proceeds. If the insurance payment exceeds your tax basis in the property, that’s known as a casualty gain.

You can defer tax on this gain if you use the insurance payout to rebuild or buy a replacement property, says Mark Luscombe, a principal analyst with Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting. Normally you’d have two years to use the insurance proceeds, but in a federally declared disaster such as the Los Angeles fires, the deadline is extended to four years.

The IRS may be willing to further extend the deadline under some circumstances, such as contractor delays, Luscombe says. But don’t count on an extension if you’re simply unable to find a replacement property.

If you do purchase a new home elsewhere, any gain from the sale of the lot where your previous home stood also would have to be reinvested in the new home to avoid a current tax on the gain, Luscombe says.

However, the home sale tax exclusion also applies to involuntary conversions. The exclusion allows you to shelter up to $250,000 of gains ($500,000 if married filing jointly) on a sale or involuntary conversion, as long as you’ve owned and lived in the property as your primary residence for two of the last five years. So you could exclude that amount of gain and defer the rest if you rebuild or find a replacement property, Luscombe says.

This is complicated territory, so please make sure you hire a tax pro to guide you."

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-03-30/losing-a-home-in-a-fire-then-being-hit-with-a-casualty-gain

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Mary Cummins

Friday, March 28, 2025

HUD Scrubs Divisive Content from HUD Website by Jeremy Bagott, Comments by Mary Cummins

dei, racism, mary cummins, donald trump, andre perry, hud, jeremy bagott, appraisal bias, scott turner, real estate appraiser, real estate appraisal, appraiser, appraisal, los angeles, california

Jeremy Bagott @jbagott posted a new press release titled "HUD Scrubs Toxic Content from Hijacked Portal." ( https://mailchi.mp/40d0c98d36d9/hud-scrubs-toxic-content-from-hijacked-portal-10898622 "HUD SCRUBS TOXIC CONTENT FROM HIJACKED PORTAL:VENTURA, Calif. (March 28, 2025) – A web portal run by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as a clearinghouse for misinformation and to promote crony business relationships has now been purged of much of its most toxic content. More needs to be done.

The portal, known as the “HUD Exchange,” connected lawyers and crony nonprofits with potential plaintiffs for shakedown lawsuits and to spread divisive conspiracy theories. The portal, which appeared to have been taken over by HUD around the start of the pandemic, was originally operated by a tiny federal agency whose stated mission was to provide resources for wounded, ill and injured service members and their families. HUD somehow wrested control of it. Under Housing Secretary Scott Turner, many malicious web pages have been removed."

HUD has also removed many pages from the HUD.gov website. Most of them were against Donald Trump's new anti DEI policies. The other data and pages removed had to do with anything, everything Joe Biden. I agree that some of the content was not only divisive but false. The worst items had to do with HUD's false narrative of the allegedly old white male racist real estate appraiser. This false narrative was promoted by Biden and the Dems in the hopes of securing votes from blacks, Latinos. Biden stated if elected he would fix the wealth gap by going after allegedly racist appraisers.

The wealth gap is caused by the income gap. The income gap is not caused by race but socioeconomic factors. There are also lower income white people. People of all color, race who make less money have less money and buy less expensive homes in less expensive areas. It's not caused by real estate appraisers appraising their homes for less than what they're worth. A home in Watts is worth less than a home in Beverly Hills. We're just the messengers. We just report value. We don't set it.

One thing that I'm glad was removed, archived was almost every mention of Andre Perry and his fake paper and book "Know your price." AEI and others have debunked Perry's false claim of racial bias in appraisal values many times. AEI spoke at government meetings and sent in independent research. The government would not listen because it didn't fit their agenda to garner black, Latino votes. In the end Biden never fixed the wealth gap. He also didn't get the black, Latino vote and lost the election.

I'm also glad NFHA's false and defamatory articles, lawsuits, PSA's against real estate appraisers were removed. Private nonprofit NFHA took advantage of the false narrative of the alleged white racist appraiser to file frivolous lawsuits. Their purpose was media attention and grants for their board members and CEO. Many people used the false narrative to make money at the expense of real estate appraisers.

Immediately after George Floyd's murder the pendulum swung to the far left in terms of race. People were demanding reparations and forcing companies to hire some harmful DEI "consultants." DEI can be a good thing but some new self proclaimed "consultants" took it was too far and it became anti white, anti male, anti business. There's no more talk of reparations and almost all DEI is in the trash. Now we've swung to the far right with the end of affirmative action and mandatory removal of all DEI. Sadly our country still has issues with racism, misogyny, gender issues... I hope eventually we can end up in the sane middle on these important issues.

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Mary Cummins

Thursday, March 20, 2025

The History of Women in Real Estate by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

It's Women's History Month. Back in the day women weren't allowed to own real estate, get a home loan or even work in real estate. Today most residential real estate agents are women but men still dominate commercial real estate, construction and architecture. Men are also more likely to be single home owners. "You've come a long way, baby," but more progress will continue to be made.

I previously wrote about the history of Real Estate Boards and the first Multiple Listing Services. Women were excluded along with blacks, Latinos, Asians... Over time the Boards broadened their ranks after the US Civil Rights Acts and Fair Housing Act to include everyone including women. https://mary--cummins.blogspot.com/2024/01/history-of-us-boards-of-realtors-and.html

A quick overview

Women in the U.S. were not allowed to finance real estate purchases without a husband or male co-signer until the 1970s.

While women dominate the ranks of Realtors, property managers and interior designers, they comprise less than 15% of the construction industry, and one-third of the mortgage brokerage industry.

Three secretaries of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development have been women.

Some statistics from today

65% of all Realtors are female

61.9% of property managers are female

14% of construction industry professionals are female

27% of architects are female

83% of interior designers are female

20% of homebuyers are single females

#womeninrealestate #marycummins #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #losangeles #california @marycumminsrealestateappraiser @mary_cummins #womenshistorymonth

https://www.bankrate.com/real-estate/history-of-women-in-real-estate/

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Mary Cummins

Tuesday, March 18, 2025

How to use iPhone LiDAR to measure homes, property by Mary Cummins real estate appraiser

How to use your iPhone, iPad LiDAR measuring device to measure a home. I did this video in 2021 when iPhone LiDAR first came out using iPhone 13. You only have to click once now. Individual steps below.

1. Click the iPhone measure device app icon

Be sure to click the left "measure" button and not the "level"

2. A white dot in a round circle will appear. Place the white dot on your starting point.
Click the plus + button in a white circle.

3. Go to your next measuring point such as the end of a wall then click the plus button again. You will see a white line with your measurement. You can take a photo of the measurement by clicking the solid white round circle on the right.

4. If you want to continue measuring, click the plus sign again or move to your next measuring point. You can step back to see your final measurements. You can take a photo by clicking the white circle to save your measurements as a photo in your photo album.

5. When you're done or want to do a new measurement, click the "clear" button top right.

Here's a very short video below. This is iPhone 13 with whatever iOS version was the latest in 2021.

Direct link to video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OienvNEgj_w

This is easier than a Leica Disto, Bosch or other professional measuring device. Alamode's TOTAL mobile measure uses this measuring system. CubiCasa uses the same. You don't have to hit a vertical target. You don't have to aim at a wall or placard on a tripod. You don't have to do multiple calculations if you don't have a vertical target at the measuring point. You can aim at the ground to set your starting point. Also great when you're dealing with homes that have burned down and you only have footings. You can change from Imperial to/from Metric in Settings > apps > measure. You can easily figure out imperial to tenths of a foot if you use that system.

I have checked the accuracy by using a measuring tape, Disto, Bosch and my iPhone on same measurements. They are exactly the same.

Here are some more photos of me using iPhone LiDAR to measure burned homes.

I measured this exactly but when you step back to take a photo the lines just look different.

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Mary Cummins

Monday, March 10, 2025

Forcing Developers to Include Low Housing Units Makes Housing Crisis Worse by Mary Cummins real estate appraiser

affordable housing, mary cummins, real estate appraiser, real estate appraisal, los angeles, california, low income, housing crisis, housing supply

As expected forcing developers to include low income housing in new projects actually makes the housing crisis worse. They basically just add costs to the developer while only providing a handful of units. These added costs dissuade developers from building more units. Local governments are basically just tacking on a big fee for new projects to help a few select tenants thereby hurting even more potential tenants. Tenants vote for these forced low income units hoping they will get one of the few new units which they probably won't. We just need more units! All of this just harms tenants just like rent control.

"Inclusionary zoning (IZ) policies, which require or incentivize developers to provide some income-restricted housing units in otherwise market-rate projects – may be a double-edged sword, according to a new study by Pioneer Institute. The study found that while IZ policies help address urgent, short-term housing needs for a few families, they also can discourage new supply and increase higher market-rate prices, jeopardizing long-term, broad-based affordability." See first comment for link to article #affordablehousing #housing #marycummins #realestateappraiser

https://www.globest.com/2025/03/10/inclusionary-zoning-policies-may-discourage-new-housing-supply

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Mary Cummins

Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser, Animal Advocates, Los Angeles, California

Friday, April 4, 2025

Court Dismisses Discrimination Claims Against Appraiser by Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser

Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Caruso Palisades Village Will Reopen Beginning of 2026 by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

Sunday, March 30, 2025

Fire Victims May Incur Casualty Tax Gains by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

Friday, March 28, 2025

HUD Scrubs Divisive Content from HUD Website by Jeremy Bagott, Comments by Mary Cummins

Thursday, March 20, 2025

The History of Women in Real Estate by Mary Cummins Real Estate Appraiser

Tuesday, March 18, 2025

How to use iPhone LiDAR to measure homes, property by Mary Cummins real estate appraiser

Monday, March 10, 2025

Forcing Developers to Include Low Housing Units Makes Housing Crisis Worse by Mary Cummins real estate appraiser