WaMu Suspends Relationship With eAppraiseIT

Meanwhile, Washington Mutual has announced the suspension of its relationship with eAppraiseIT until WaMu can investigate the allegations in the lawsuit filed by the New York attorney general.New York AG Andrew Cuomo sued First American Corp. and its eAppraiseIT unit for allegedly colluding with WaMu to use a list of preferred appraisers to inflate mortgage appraisals. The lawsuit said the state attorney general's investigation uncovered a series of e-mails between executives at eAppraiseIT, First American, and WaMu that allegedly show eAppraiseIT officials were willingly violating state and federal appraisal independence regulations to comply with WaMu demands to inflate appraisals. "We are surprised and disappointed by the allegations in the complaint related to eAppraiseIT," WaMu said in a news release. "We have absolutely no incentive to have appraisers inflate home values. In fact, inflated appraisals are contrary to our interests. We use third-party appraisal companies to make sure that appraisals are objective and accurate." WaMu can be found online at http://www.wamu.com.