The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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April 17, 2007

Attorneys for an Enid real estate appraiser plan to appeal ruling to revoke their client’s license

By Scott Fitzgerald Staff Writer

Attorneys for an Enid real estate appraiser say they will appeal a recent Oklahoma Real Estate Appraiser Board decision to revoke his license.

“We are in the process of filing an appeal,” said Enid attorney Michael Roberts. His client, Dan Montague, has been an appraiser for more than 20 years and recently was elected vice president of Enid Metropolitan Board of Realtors.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for May 1 in Grant County in Associate District Judge Jack Hammontree’s court, Roberts said.

“I think a revocation is grossly disproportionate. They (board members) seemed angry he defied them,” said attorney James Hankins, of Oklahoma City.

Montague agreed to a board’s consent order on Feb. 3, 2006, to quit doing commercial property appraisals because he was not trained or certified to do so. However, he continued advertising his services on his Web site, including commercial property appraisals, according to the board’s decision.

The board also suspended his license for a 30-day period. Montague violated the consent order when he performed an appraisal for Tinker Federal Credit Union on a residential property in the 3000 block of Edgewood during the 30-day suspension, the board concluded.

Montague testified before a board panel he had ceased performing appraisals during the 30-day suspension period but recanted when he admitted he had done an appraisal for the credit union because TFCU was a good client and could not find another appraiser on its approved list within its time constraints, according to the board’s decision.

Hankins said a complaint filed with the board stating Montague had not performed an adequate appraisal of the Edgewood residential property was thrown out because it was proven his work was adequate.

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