A local Atlanta banker is blowing the whistle about what he calls improper dealings in a metro subdivision, while one official compares it with the foreclosure housing crisis of eight years ago. In a new Forsyth County subdivision, a homeowner fears he and his neighbors could fall into the same trap and has the paper trail to prove it.
John Laymac is a loan officer, and was days away from closing on his $390,000 home. Then, an appraiser figured the value at $365,000. Because of that, the bank where Laymac works denied his mortgage. “They were doing what a bank is supposed to do. They were setting the loan amount based on the correct valuation,” Laymac told WSB-TV 2 News.
Laymac says his builder pointed him to another lender, Brand Mortgage, and Brand had the Valuation Management Group – which it has part-ownership in – do the appraisal, which came back at $390,000.
“The first appraisal counted nine rooms and 3,069 square feet. The new appraisal claimed 10 rooms and added 156 square feet,” Laymac said.
The builder, SR Homes, and Brand Mortgage denied any wrongdoing, WSB-TV reported. Valuation Management Group and the two appraisers would not talk to the media, but WSB-TV asked a veteran appraiser to look over the deal, and she said the paperwork looked suspicious, but was not proof that the final appraisal was improperly inflated.