Arizona Laws 12-531. Real estate appraiser liability; four-year limitation; exception; definition
A. A person who has a cause of action for damages against a real estate appraiser for malpractice, negligence, an error, a mistake, an omission or a breach in connection with a real estate appraisal or an appraisal-related service, whether based in contract or tort, shall commence the action before the earlier of:
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 12-531
- Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Appraisal: A determination of property value.
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
- Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
1. The expiration of the applicable statute of limitations for the type of claim that is being pursued if the length of time after the report date to the expiration of the statute of limitations does not exceed four years. For the purposes of this paragraph, "report date" means the date on which the real estate appraisal giving rise to the action was completed or should have been completed.
2. Four years after the date on which the appraisal-related service giving rise to the action was performed or should have been performed.
B. The statute of limitations prescribed in subsection A of this section does not apply to a claim that alleges that an appraiser knowingly and intentionally committed fraud or knowingly and intentionally made a gross misrepresentation when performing a real estate appraisal or when providing an appraisal-related service.
C. For the purposes of this section, "real estate appraiser" means any of the following:
1. A state-licensed appraiser.
2. A state-certified residential appraiser.
3. A state-certified general appraiser.
4. A state-registered trainee appraiser.
5. Any agent, employee, employer or firm of a person who is listed in paragraph 1, 2, 3, or 4 of this subsection.