The bank won't give me the appraisal: what can I do?

When you buy a home with a mortgage, the appraisal is key. Although it is not common, in some cases there may be delays beyond your control in carrying out and delivering the appraisal. It is important to know that there are solutions if the bank does not give you the appraisal.

Steps to follow when the bank does not give you the appraisal

1. Find out what is causing the delay in delivering the appraisal. The bank does not produce the appraisal report itself: it commissions an independent appraisal company, which must be approved by the Bank of Spain.

• The bank's internal policies may set how and when appraisals are given to customers.
• The bank's analysis of the mortgage-backed transaction may take longer, either because of document requests and risk assessment, or because of the appraisal company's own process.
• The bank may require a second check of the appraised value of the property.
• The bank may need to meet certain legal requirements before handing over the appraisal.
• You can ask the bank for the name of the appraisal company, so you can contact it.

2. Assess your options with the information you have obtained. At best, the bank or the appraisal company will tell you the reason for the delay or for not delivering it, but you may also get no answer. What matters is that you can take action if the bank does not give you the appraisal you requested and paid for to obtain mortgage financing:

• File a complaint with the bank's customer service department. Although the bank is not responsible for the appraisal itself, it is responsible for managing it, as it acts on your behalf when requesting it.
• If you find out the name of the appraisal company assigned to the appraisal, contact it. The best approach is to contact its customer service department to request a copy of the appraisal report you ordered through the bank.
• Or find an appraisal company yourself. One of the best ways to avoid further delays when the bank does not give you the appraisal is to hire an approved appraisal company directly, such as Tasvalor. By law, banks must accept any appraisal provided by the customer that has been issued by an appraisal company approved by the Bank of Spain and is still valid (less than 6 months since its issue date).

Article 4, section Four, of Law 1/2013 of 14 May establishes that article 3 bis I) of Law 2/1981 of 25 March, on the Regulation of the Mortgage Market, is worded as follows: Credit institutions, even those with their own appraisal services, shall be obliged to accept any appraisal of an asset provided by the customer, provided that it is certified by an approved appraiser in accordance with this Law and has not expired as legally established, without prejudice to the credit institution carrying out the checks it deems appropriate, the cost of which it may in no case pass on to the customer who provides the certification.

When the bank does not give you the appraisal, it can cause uncertainty and frustration, but as you can see there are solutions within your reach. If you need a mortgage appraisal to speed up your mortgage-backed purchase, choose Tasvalor. The order is 100% online and an appraiser contacts you to arrange the visit to the home.