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AppraiserLoft Closes Amid Rumors, Departures

Mortgage appraisal company, ""AppraiserLoft"":www.appraiserloft.com/, has closed its doors following numerous executive departures, rumors of non-payment to appraisers, and an ongoing lawsuit brought against the company's CEO regarding alleged activities unrelated to the company. According to numerous trade publications, AppraiserLoft made employees aware of the shutdown last week in advance of its official closure.

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Calls to AppraiserLoft's corporate offices were directed to a recording that clearly said, ""At this time, we are no longer accepting new orders."" Current clients are instructed to contact the company via its help-desk e-mail account, and the full social media presence of AppraiserLoft appears to have been deactivated. Additionally, _Reverse Mortgage Daily_ reported that the San Diego, California-based company has been shuttered after being unable to locate a buyer for its platforms.

In August, AppraiserLoft's CEO Aman Makkar resigned, and Shane Copeland, formerly a sales executive with the organization, was named interim CEO. AppraiserLoft made headlines again during September when news broke that Copeland would move on to valuations company ""Kirchmeyer & Associates"":www.kirchmeyer.com/ as its VP of national sales; Michele Chochrek, previously AppraiserLoft's VP of national sales, also announced her departure to join Kirchmeyer & Associates as a national account executive shortly after Copeland's hiring was confirmed.

As summer ended, more negative news surrounding AppraiserLoft surfaced after _National Mortgage News_ reported that the company was delaying payments for some of its appraisers. Patrick MacFarland, an Iowa-based appraiser, spoke

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to _National Mortgage News_ in August regarding the accounting issues with AppraiserLoft, stating that the entity currently owed him an estimated $1,500. He added that, during June, the company was behind in paying him nearly $6,500, a portion of which dated back to invoices filed over six months prior.

""Their website says that they pay appraisers 30 days after an assignment is completed and in my experience, that never occurred. So they pay me, but it's never been as prompt as they promised and it's never been without me haggling considerably,"" MacFarland said of his recent experience with AppraiserLoft.

Meanwhile, Makkar's personal troubles continued as he worked to resolve a lawsuit brought against him by attorneys operating as the receivership for MAK 1 Enterprises Group, LLC. The plaintiff filed on claims that Makkar had knowingly participated as an investor and investment recruiter in alleged Ponzi scheme organization, MAK 1. Makkar was thusly required to pay back $1.4 to $1.5 million (the totals represent a $100,000 penalty that can be applied for late payment) to the receivership as part of the so-called ""clawback claim"" that targets the return of invested money to those who were defrauded.

As of July 9, the ""U.S. District Court of Southern California's"":www.casd.uscourts.gov/ latest report on the lawsuit indicated that Makkar was in default of the scheduled payback agreement, which was set into motion in February. Statements from the court indicated that, at that point, Makkar has only contributed $425,000 of the total amount; however, speaking to _National Mortgage News_, Makkar said during August that the matter had come to resolution under a private agreement.

Elaborating, Makkar said, ""Certain things are filed as a matter of formality and there's a lot of stuff, a lot of settlements that go on in the background that do not get posted because they're called confidential settlements.""

Interestingly, on October 7, the receivership for MAK 1 initiated its first interim distribution to investors whose claims had been approved, and the amount paid to the related individuals was made from a total distribution of $1.5 million, which is the dollar amount Makkar was required to fulfill as a defendant.

The compensation for investors will be paid out in equal pro rata shares of 10 percent on each claim. Mohit Khanna, MAK 1's principal, is currently incarcerated for his fraudulent actions, along with MAK 1's former attorney, Gus Bujkovsky.