Appraiser plans to fight suspension

The Loveland real estate appraiser suspended last week after accusations that she overvalued property in the Greeley area plans to fight her suspension, her attorneys said Monday.

The Colorado Division of Real Estate's Board of Real Estate Appraisers suspended Julie M. O'Gorman's license June 21, alleging that she "grossly overvalued" eight properties.

But her co-workers and attorneys say the suspension was unfair and unjustified.

"It's just been really hard on everybody here," said Gloria Prim, a bookkeeper for Front Range Real Estate Consultants, of which O'Gorman is president and owner.

Prim said O'Gorman is not allowed to work nor is she allowed to visit her business during the suspension. A hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 2, but no hearing was held before the appraisers board issued a "summary suspension."

Division of Real Estate Director Erin Toll said Friday the suspension was a rare move because it does not involve a hearing.

Appraisers work with mortgage brokers, real estate agents and other entities to determine how much a piece of property is worth. They compare similar properties and use various factors to come up with fair market prices, or valuations.

Toll said O'Gorman's suspension was necessary because O'Gorman had been overvaluing property in the area. That leads to high foreclosure rates, she added.

But O'Gorman's attorney, Daniel Foster of Denver, said Monday the suspension was an "absolute abuse."

"They want to make an example of someone in order to try and show that they're getting tough on any of the ills in this industry," Foster said. "It's easy to pick out a person and point your finger, make unsubstantiated allegations, and the best part is, they don't even have to give you a hearing."

He filed for an injunction to delay O'Gorman's suspension pending a hearing, but he has not yet been scheduled to appear in court on the matter.

O'Gorman was told not to comment about the case.

Prim said O'Gorman is well-known and respected in northern Colorado's real estate community, where she has been a certified appraiser for 12 years. She is on the Larimer County Board of Appeals and is a member of the Fort Collins and Loveland chambers of commerce. In addition, O'Gorman was the chairwoman for Junior Achievement of Northern Colorado and Southern Wyoming, which teaches young children about the business world.

Her business has offices in Loveland, Westminster, Cheyenne, Pueblo and Montrose.

"She has a very long and distinguished career as a real estate appraiser," Foster said.

Toll said last week that O'Gorman had overvalued eight properties in the Greeley-Loveland area in recent years, including residential and commercial property.

State officials filed nine charges against her, with the most recent stemming from a conservation easement valuation O'Gorman conducted in Walsenburg, in Huerfano County in southern Colorado.

Toll said that appraisal, from August of last year, allowed her to file the emergency suspension last week.

Foster said the eight local cases -- which he said are among thousands of appraisals O'Gorman has conducted -- were unrelated to the Walsenburg appraisal.

"How can a person try and even draw a connection between a conservation easement in Huerfano County and some residential properties in Loveland?" he said. "Where's the emergency?"

Toll said last week the appraisers board felt the emergency action was appropriate because overvalued property contributes to high foreclosure rates. Greeley and Weld County have consistently ranked among the highest communities in the country for foreclosures.

O'Gorman recently wrote an opinion editorial in Style magazine, an independent regional publication, regarding foreclosures. She said many factors are to blame, including borrowers who get in over their heads.

"To blame the entire condition of the real estate economy on appraisers is unfair and unjustified," she wrote.

Foster said he and O'Gorman are looking forward to a hearing before an administrative law judge, in the hopes that the suspension will be overturned.

"This is her livelihood. This is her life. And to have it stripped away on some improper allegation without an opportunity to be heard, it's devastating," Foster said. "It's financially devastating to her."