Editor’s Note: A federal court in California has certified a class action challenging Bank of America’s failure to pay overtime to staff appraisers. In another case, staff review appraisers stand to receive a settlement averaging over $10,000 each from BOA/LandSafe.
Court Certifies Class and Approves Nationwide Class Settlement for Review Appraisers
by Bryan Schwartz
United States District Court for the Central District of California, Hon. David O. Carter, certified a class action challenge on behalf of hundreds of real estate appraisers employed by Bank of America and its appraisal subsidiary, LandSafe Appraisal Services, around California, seeking back wages for unpaid overtime, meal and rest period premiums, and other wages and penalties
Judge Carter also granted his preliminary approval to a $5.8 million settlement on behalf of another group in the case, called Review Appraisers – who verify the Residential Appraisers’ reports. Approximately 370 review appraisers nationwide will soon receive notice of the settlement, which is expected to receive final approval in November 2014, barring any successful objections. Each participant, on average, will net a payment of over $10,000 in the settlement, and the position will be reclassified in 2014 so that Bank of America’s Review Appraisers will be paid overtime going forward.
Boyd, et al., v. Bank of America, et al
The case in question, Boyd, et al., v. Bank of America, et al., was brought by San Francisco Bay Area attorney Bryan Schwartz along with Schonbrun, Desimone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman of Los Angeles. The action alleges that Bank of America wrongly called appraisers exempt from wage laws based upon the notion that they were company administrators or policy-makers (like human resources officials) or learned professionals (like attorneys and doctors), who must undergo a prolonged course of specialized academic instruction. …continue reading the rest of this post: Court Certifies Class and Approves Nationwide Class Settlement for Bank of America Review Appraisers
