Dubinsky v. Citicorp Mortgage, Inc

In Dubinsky v. Citicorp Mortgage, Inc., 48 Conn. App. 52, 708 A.2d 226, cert. denied, 244 Conn. 926, 714 A.2d 9 (1998), the Court held that absent contractual language to the contrary, a lender has no duty to perform an accurate appraisal of property for the benefit of a loan applicant. The applicant in Dubinsky claimed, as do the plaintiffs in the present action, that because the terms of the commitment required the lender to provide the applicant with an appraisal of the property, the lender was required to perform that appraisal in a skillful manner, and its failure to do so constituted a breach of contract. Id., 48 Conn. App. at 56. Moreover, in Dubinsky, the transmittal letter accompanying the appraisal contained language that is identical to the language contained in the cover letter that was received by the plaintiffs in this case. After examining that language, this court held that the language clearly indicated that the appraisal was intended solely for use by the lender in evaluating the plaintiff's application and, furthermore, that it expressly disclaimed any liability for the accuracy of the information it contained and, therefore, the plaintiffs had no reason to rely on the accuracy of the appraisal. Id., 48 Conn. App. at 57-60.