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

Mary Cummins, Real Estate Appraiser, Animal Advocates, Los Angeles, California
WEBSITE       RESUME       CONTACT       FACEBOOK        LINKEDIN       

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Alleged racial discrimination case in Oakland, California, real estate appraisal, Saleem Shaheed, Sunnyside - by Mary Cummins

Saleem Shaheed, 9821 sunnyside, oakland, california, racial, discrimination, real estate, real estate appraiser, appraiser, appraisal, fha, mary cummins, los angeles, alameda, loan, lender,
Saleem Shaheed, 9821 sunnyside, oakland, california, racial, discrimination, real estate, real estate appraiser, appraiser, appraisal, fha, mary cummins, los angeles, alameda, loan, lender,

Here is another alleged case of discrimination in a real estate appraisal in Oakland, California covered by Julian Glover. Saleem Shaheed purchased a Cape Cod Colonial home at 9821 Sunnyside for $430,000 Nov 26, 2019. It was listed at $475,000 for over a year and a half. It appeared to be a fixer home based on pics. At the time he got a $417,000 first loan which is a 96% loan to value ratio. He put down $23,000. Nov 2020 the home was appraised for $575K. Jan 2021 while applying for an FHA loan which has much stricter requirements for the home the value was $480K. Shaheed then ordered a third appraisal April 2021 which came in at $630,000. These values are as per Shaheed. 

Shaheed claims the second appraiser didn't give credit for the second bath. He also claims that appraiser clicked the box that said "no updates in last 15 years." Shaheed said that was incorrect because he added a new roof. A new roof is a maintenance item. It's not an update. The home per photos had roof damage and needed a new roof when he bought it, see photo below. An update, upgrade would be a fully remodeled new kitchen with new appliances and new bath of higher quality. It would include new electrical system and new plumbing. I would agree with the appraiser if the kitchen, bath were the same that I saw in the 2019 listing photos. The home does not have a legal second bath, see below. Shaheed complained, appraiser didn't change value and Shaheed filed a claim of discrimination against that appraiser's license. 

I'll first deal with the actual physical home in question. Address is 9821 Sunnyside St, Oakland, California 94603 in Alameda County parcel number 46-5463-8-2. On taxes and in public government documents it's listed as a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom home with 1,343 sf. Keep in mind Saleen Shaheed stated it's a 3 bed 1.5 bath home. An extra bedroom and bathroom makes a huge difference in value.

I got comments doubting the bed, bath count. Here is an ad for the house from 1967. It's a two bed, one bath home. "2 plus" means two legal bedrooms. 




The top image came from the MLS listing. It was listed at $475,000 from at least March 12, 2018 to November 26, 2019 with agent Jasmine on the MLS. It's listed as a 2 bed, 1 bath home with 1,343 sf. Then the agent made a video where she states it's 3 beds, 2 baths with 1,609 sf. Screen shot from the video below. The agent Jasmine Sunkara is a liar which is probably why she removed her website below. She listed the real bed, bath count and size on the MLS. Based on government records this home is legally 2 beds and 1 bath. That appears to be the main issue in this case. Saleem Shaheed bought a 2 bed, 1 bath home which he is now trying to pass off as a legal 3 bed, 1.5 bath home in order to get a higher valuation. The home is also across the street from an elementary school which negatively affects value compared to homes not next to an elementary school. 

Saleem Shaheed, 9821 sunnyside, oakland, california, racial, discrimination, real estate, real estate appraiser, appraiser, appraisal, fha, mary cummins, los angeles, alameda, loan, lender,

I looked at the pics of the bedrooms in the video. They are not all bedrooms. Below are the pics of the alleged bedrooms. Two top pics are of the same bedroom. 





A legal bedroom should have a real closet and not just an armoire or clothing rod on a wall if it's not a very old home which was built without one. A legal habitable room must be legal minimum height in order to be included in the total gross living area. While older homes with sloped walls on the sides are common the angled area where it slopes under six feet is not included in the gross living area. At least half the room must be 7' or taller. That room doesn't meet that criteria. It's not a bedroom.

You'll notice the home is listed as 1.5 floors. It's not two stories. The second floor is not a full floor with full height wall to wall. Notice the dormer windows. Notice the angled, sloped walls in rooms. A legal room must have a heat source connected to the main part of the home and should have insulated walls and ceilings. Attics generally don't. Below is a pic of the side view of the home. You can see it's not a full two story home. The two bedrooms are on top on either side of the "2nd" floor. The main part of the first floor of the home is about 23' x 32' (762') based on Google measure minus average sized roof eaves. The 2nd fl could be about 581'. You can't add area of the stairs on the second floor. 2nd fl definitely not the same size as the first floor. The rear extended part of the home looks like an unpermitted enclosed porch maybe. The one car garage is on the other side of the home. 


I'm assuming the green room is also considered a bedroom. Notice the odd closet with a window in it. It almost looks like part of the second floor was an attic-like area that was converted. See the little low door that goes to a storage area. That area in there is probably angled. 

The last turquoise blue pic is not a bedroom. That is not a third bedroom. The walls are angled, roof is low and there is barely any walking floor space. I'm going off the video and listing. 

I saw only one pic of a bathroom in the video. It was just a close shot of a toilet and window so I'm assuming the bathroom is small. Just found a pic of the full bathroom. It's the main bathroom.



I don't know what the full or half bath looks like. As the extra bed is not legal I'm sure the extra half bath isn't legal either. The problem with non legal rooms built without permits and not to code is that Building and Safety could order them removed at any time if they are reported. If you are the bank you want to make sure the loan is covered by the value of the home. A legal 2 bed 1 bath home is worth less than a legal 3 bed 2 bath home even if they are the same size. A legal 2 bed 1 bath home is worth about the same as a 3 bed 2 bath home where the extra bed and bath are not legal. Anyone can report the owner today and he'll probably have to rip out the extra bed and bath. Please, don't report the guy. 

In every day appraising we see unpermitted additions especially in areas with more affordable homes. We generally note whether or not they were built to code and built in a workmanlike manner. We also mention if they pose a health and safety hazard and include photos. Some lenders allow the appraiser to count them as beds, baths and some do not. One thing to consider is if you were offered a legal 3 bed, 2 bath home and a legal 2 bed, 1 bath home with unpermitted extra bed and bath, which home would you choose for the same price? You'd choose the legal one because someone could report the unpermitted rooms and you'd have to remove them. Clearly the home with legal beds, baths is worth more. 

Just for a wide range of values below are the three main robot appraisal values. The values are based on a mathematical formula which is the same as what real estate appraisers use. We search homes +/- 15% legal gross living area within a half a mile from the subject sold within the last 3 months or max six months if there are no recent comparable homes sold. We then choose the most similar comparables based on size, bed/bath count, amenities, condition, view... 

Everyone knows garbage in, garbage out (GIGO) with computer software. Flawed, or nonsense (garbage) input data produces nonsense output. That's what we have here with our robot values. The first two went by the false MLS information stating it's 3 bed, 2 bath. The last one is based on the tax data and is 2 bed, 1 bath. The difference today between a 3 bed, 2 bath home and a 2 bed, 1 bath home is about $130,000. These values are as of June 15, 2021 which is later than any of the appraisals. There are eight months between the first and third appraisal. I'm sure the value increased significantly in the last eight months. 

Zestimate/Trulia $666K range $619K - $764K 3+2 1343 sf

Redfn $669K 3 + 1.5 1370 sf

Real AVM $533K range $469,216 - $597,184 shows as 2 bed + 1 1343

Back to the three appraisals, i.e. November 2020 $575K, January 2021 $480K FHA appraisal, April 2021 $630,000. Shaheed has a problem with the six month old $480K appraisal which was for an FHA loan. FHA loans are very restrictive on the type and condition of homes on which they will lend. They would count legal beds, baths. The FHA appraiser did not give credit to the second bath which could be proper based on condition, permits. There can be no health, safety issues or major code violations. A regular loan might allow an appraiser to consider unpermitted beds, baths. I obviously have not seen the home. I don't know the condition or if it's changed. Shaheed states he added a new roof and redid the kids' bedrooms. The roof is a maintenance issue. Redoing bedrooms doesn't add that much value to the home. The pics of the alleged bedrooms are pretty funky. 

There is one issue most homeowners don't understand. Most underwriters, lenders will not allow the final appraised value to be higher than the highest recent sales price of a similar home in the area. It's possible there were no recent higher sales of a similar 2 bed, 1 bath home when the 2nd appraisal came in at $480,000. There are few homes on the market so there aren't that many sales. Maybe most homes in the area are newer legal 3 bed, 2 bath homes. It's also very possible that there were some recent higher sales of 3 bed, 2 bath homes when the 1st and 3rd appraisals were done. I haven't seen the appraisals. 

Based on the legal bed, bath count the second appraisal would have been within the range of value for the home at that time for an FHA appraisal. Based on 3 beds, 2 baths the first and third appraisals would have been within the range of value for the home at the time of those appraisals. That would appear to be an 8% appreciation within eight months between appraisals one and three. That sounds about right for the market. Home values have been rising quickly in that area. Cheaper areas such as Oakland have seen a larger increase. People can't afford the nicer areas so they are moving to Oakland where homes are more affordable. That is quickly driving the price up sky high. Because I haven't seen the home I can't get more specific about the value of the home. I can say there are issues with the home that would cause a wider range of values, namely the legal bed, bath count and condition. 

A last issue is that most loans are declined due to credit worthiness of the borrower, their income, assets, debts and not the appraisal. It's up to the lender to approve the loan as a package comprised of the borrower and the collateral. The appraiser has no say in the loan approval. If the last appraisal was done April 2021, any loan should have closed by now. Shaheed stated he still doesn't have a loan. Shaheed said the value of the last appraisal was "good" so one can only surmise that the borrower is the issue. If he goes ahead with the loan now, he now may have to have the appraisal updated. 

*Disclaimer. I haven't seen any of the appraisals. I do review appraisals for banks. I am not appraising this home. I haven't seen this home in person. 

**All real estate appraisals completed on the 1004 form state the appraisal is only for the use of the client. The client is the AMC or lender. The appraisal cannot be used for any other purpose by other parties. The borrower is not the client or owner of the appraisal. The purpose of the appraisal is to make sure there is sufficient equity in the property to cover the loan balance and costs to foreclose the property by the lender. The borrower is entitled to look at the appraisal. The borrower cannot use the appraisal for their own use. 

Below is the video tour of the home. Agent removed one version of it within an hour of me posting the article. I saved a copy.
 

Below is the original article.


Original real estate agent's website which was removed.


Jasmine Sunkara 916.501.3393 #calbre#01855557 #NMLS#112033

Photo of roof before sale. It needed a new roof. 

Photo of living room. You can see water damage to the wall most likely from the roof damage.


Kitchen.




Government city, county, state property record for subject. 


I just checked permits. There was no permit to add a bedroom or bathroom. There were two permits the current owner pulled to add solar but it was never completed. There was no permit for a new roof. You need a permit to replace the roof. They need to make sure people use roofing material and application methods which are up to code and fire proof. 

08/12/2020
Permit Inactive
SE2000661
Solar Electric Panels
9821 SUNNYSIDE ST, Oakland CA 94603
Install roof-mounted 3.30 kW PV solar system with 10 modules.
08/12/2020
Permit Inactive
RE2001806
Residential Electrical - Alteration
9821 SUNNYSIDE ST, Oakland CA 94603
Install 13.5 kWh Energy Storage system, 225 amp Main service panel, load center, and backup gateway.

2019 the sewer and sidewalk were repaired. 

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the

Mary Cummins of Animal Advocates is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game and the USDA. Mary Cummins is also a licensed real estate appraiser in Los Angeles, California.


Google+ Mary Cummins, Mary K. Cummins, Mary Katherine Cummins, Mary Cummins-Cobb, Mary, Cummins, Cobb, wildlife, wild, animal, rescue, wildlife rehabilitation, wildlife rehabilitator, fish, game, los angeles, california, united states, squirrel, raccoon, fox, skunk, opossum, coyote, bobcat, manual, instructor, speaker, humane, nuisance, control, pest, trap, exclude, deter, green, non-profit, nonprofit, non, profit, ill, injured, orphaned, exhibit, exhibitor, usda, united states department of agriculture, hsus, humane society, peta, ndart, humane academy, humane officer, animal legal defense fund, animal cruelty, investigation, peace officer, animal, cruelty, abuse, neglect #marycummins #animaladvocates #losangeles #california #wildlife #wildliferehabilitation #wildliferehabilitator #realestate #realestateappraiser #realestateappraisal #lawsuit

No comments:

Post a Comment