Sage v. Blagg Appraisal Co

In Sage v. Blagg Appraisal Co., 221 Ariz. 33, 209 P.3d 169 (App. 2009) an appraiser prepared a report for a mortgage lender at the request of a homebuyer. Id.3. Even though the homebuyer was not the appraiser's named client, we found the appraiser owed her a duty of care because he knew that she had the right to request a copy of the appraisal report from the lender, that the lender was obligated by law to provide her with a copy upon request, and that her contract entitled her to forego the sale if the appraisal was unfavorable. Id.2-3, 14; see 15 U.S.C. 1691(e) (creditor shall furnish to borrower appraisal report used in connection with residential real property purchase loan). The buyer in fact had received the report prior to closing and ultimately paid for the appraisal. Sage, 221 Ariz. 33,2, 3, 209 P.3d at 170. Finally, both the Uniform Residential Appraisal Report, a form used in the transaction, and the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice disclosed to the parties that the homebuyer was likely to rely on the report in purchasing her home. Id.24. In accordance with the Restatement, we concluded that, to be held to owe a duty of reasonable care to a third-party homebuyer, an appraiser need not know for certain that the appraisal will be furnished to the homebuyer, but need know only that the recipient of the report "intends to furnish the statement" to the homebuyer. Id.22.