This is a lawyer, who can sue people at very low cost compared to the rest of us.
If this is a regulated activity, it absolutely shouldn't be. This reminds me of the absurd barber regulations.
If this is a regulated activity, it absolutely shouldn't be. This reminds me of the absurd barber regulations.
having a de facto monopoly on what's considered a fair value, rightly or wrongly, opens up bank people and real estate agents to all kind of manipulation.
by manipulating their equation they can help lowball the sales price of an entire area, they can both profit directly out of this, indirectly through stock manipulation and even cause trouble to the whole banking sector devaluing mortgadget properties
the housing sector is very, very delicate.
And only allowing state licensed appraisers to give value estimates does exactly what you are trying to avoid. It creates a state owned monopoly on housing estimates.
Zillow would lose credibility and it would hurt the core of their business if it was found that they company was purposely deceiving people about the value of their homes so that they could directly profit from it. They might also open themselves up to legal repercussions in that case for just plain old fraud as well.
If a licensed appraiser acts fraudulently, you have grounds to sue their hinders off.