Can I sue an appraiser for a negligent property valuation in Ontario?
Yes. An appraiser retained to value a property owes a duty to apply accepted valuation methods competently and to reach a reasonably supportable conclusion based on the information available at the time - not to guarantee a particular number, and not to be judged against the property's actual later sale price or a competing appraisal's different (but also reasonable) figure. A negligence claim generally requires showing the appraiser used a flawed method, relied on clearly wrong comparables, or ignored obvious, relevant information a competent appraiser would have accounted for.
Who can sue also matters: the client who retained the appraiser generally has the clearest claim, while a lender or buyer who relied on the report without being the actual client may face a harder road showing the appraiser owed them a duty at all, depending on how the report was addressed and used. Because valuation disputes are technical, a competing expert appraisal explaining what the correct approach should have been is usually essential evidence. Damages are typically measured as the difference between the negligent valuation and what a competent appraisal would have shown, times the resulting financial impact on the transaction.
Key takeaways
- An appraiser is judged on whether their method and reasoning were competent, not on whether the number matched the eventual sale price.
- Someone who relied on a report without being the appraiser's actual client may have a harder time establishing a duty was owed to them.
- Competing expert appraisal evidence is usually essential to show what a competent valuation should have concluded.
- Damages are generally the financial impact traced to the gap between the negligent and a properly supported valuation.