Appraisal Fraud in the Spotlight, Again 

A group of appraisers in Idaho filed a class-action lawsuit Thursday against Countrywide Financial Corp. – Now, Bank of America Corp. [stock BAC][/stock], after its recent acquisition – claiming the company used “strong-arming tactics to intimidate appraisers to generate reports in line with Countrywide’s business objectives.” In wake of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct — a new set of regulations meant to “clean-up” appraisal fraud, and set to go into effect on January 1, 2009 — this suit turned attention, once again, to the heated issue of appraisals.