Ruling on appraiser's license expected within a month
| Wednesday, Jan 27 2010 05:11 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Jan 27 2010 06:45 PM
An administrative law judge is expected to issue a ruling within a month on whether Kirksey J. "Mark" Newton Jr. will lose his appraiser's license.
A hearing on the matter began earlier this month in Bakersfield and closing arguments concluded Tuesday in Los Angeles.
The California Office of Real Estate Appraisers is attempting to revoke Newton's license after scrutinizing eight property appraisals he either performed or signed off on, including work done for Tower Lending, the mortgage brokerage arm of Crisp, Cole & Associates.
David Crisp and Carl Cole, who owned the company, have lost their real estate licenses and are under federal investigation for alleged mortgage fraud.
The state says Newton's property valuations for Tower and other clients were riddled with errors and omissions, and often were derived from information about sales that were not comparable to the property being examined.
Newton owns San Joaquin Appraisals. He says he stands by six of the reports at issue, and did not write the remaining two reports. His electronic signature was misappropriated by a subordinate, Newton testified.
California Deputy Attorney General Gillian Friedman declined to comment on Wednesday, saying it would be inappropriate while the case is still pending.
Newton and his attorney, Ernest Price, could not be reached for comment.
The case is before Judge Samuel Reyes, who is expected to make a decision within 30 days.
