Scenario:

Appraisal is ordered independently.

Appraisal is received back from appraiser.

Lender does not agree with appraised amount and calls the appraiser and asks him to take another look at the appraisal.

.... is this appropriate??????

We get the appraisal back again after the appraiser has taken a second look at it and the amount has increased.

I would have a very difficult time approving this appraisal since it 'appears' that the appraiser was influenced.

My gut instinct tells me this should be a no-no.

Don't need to go by gut alone. Check out the Appraisal Guidelines for all the support you'll need. Lenders and mortgage people cannot order or contact the appraiser. I'd toss this appraisal and start all over again with a different appraiser and keep the lender far far away from it! Of course the bank will have to pay for the first appraisal...or the lender will. Borrower should not have to bear the burden of the lender's error.

Did the officer provide additional property sales to have the appraiser look at? Were there new comps or other data in the report to justify and support the change? Were their errors in the original report?
If not, and the value is different, then the question is why. Has the appraiser said why? Perhaps s(he) should be given the opportunity to answer.

The point remains that the Loan Officer is not permitted direct contact with the appraiser. See Section V of the Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation Guidelines.

If that appraiser complains to the bank's regulator there will be trouble. Banks have received special exams as a result of 1 appraiser complaint.

CG, that's what started the problems in the first place, the MAI appraisals.

MAI is a commercial appraisal designation, reflecting education, experience and quality. Unfortunately it was also the widely used acronym for "Made As Instructed" appraisals, what your lender was trying to do.

Concerning the latter, appraisals during the boom times actually increased the values of properties without merit. In many cases, appraisers were told to hit a mark $ and some were openly told (that's another story and several lawsuits later) that their continued referrals would be based on how well they cooperated and met the numbers the lender/seller was looking for. And yes, KB was accurate in that if the appraiser complains, the examiners will be looking extra hard.

The appraiser used foreclosures as comparable sales for the property and the loan officer requested that he maybe take a look at other comparable sales that were not foreclosure properties... which of course then raised the value when he used other comparable sales that were not foreclosures.

I would toss the appraisal, the appraiser and the loan officer.