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An appraiser adjusts a comparable for a 200-square-foot garage addition using a $45/sf adjustment rate. The subject has no garage. The appraiser applies the adjustment as −$9,000 to the comparable’s sale price. Later, the appraiser discovers that the garage contributed only $32/sf in the local market based on paired sales analysis. What is the correct treatment of this error under USPAP Standards Rule 1-4?

Correct Answer

A) The appraiser must revise the report to reflect the $6,400 adjustment and disclose the correction in an addendum.

Standards Rule 1-4 requires that adjustments be supported by market data and applied in a manner that reflects the market's reaction to the feature. When new evidence (e.g., paired sales indicating $32/sf) contradicts the originally applied rate, the appraiser must revise the analysis to reflect the best available market-supported data. Retaining an unsupported adjustment violates SR 1-4(a), which mandates that adjustments be 'based on market data.' Disclosure alone is insufficient — correction is required. Options B, C, and D misstate USPAP: consistency does not override market support (B), USPAP imposes no universal gross adjustment limit (C), and materiality thresholds are not defined by percentage-value impact in SR 1-4 (D).

Answer Options
A
The appraiser must revise the report to reflect the $6,400 adjustment and disclose the correction in an addendum.
B
The appraiser may retain the original $9,000 adjustment because it was applied consistently across all comparables.
C
The appraiser should apply a gross adjustment limit of ±10% to the $9,000 and accept $8,100 as acceptable.
D
The appraiser need not correct it unless the error changes the final value opinion by more than 5%.

Why This Is the Correct Answer

Standards Rule 1-4 requires that adjustments be supported by market data and applied in a manner that reflects the market's reaction to the feature. When new evidence (e.g., paired sales indicating $32/sf) contradicts the originally applied rate, the appraiser must revise the analysis to reflect the best available market-supported data. Retaining an unsupported adjustment violates SR 1-4(a), which mandates that adjustments be 'based on market data.' Disclosure alone is insufficient — correction is required. Options B, C, and D misstate USPAP: consistency does not override market support (B), USPAP imposes no universal gross adjustment limit (C), and materiality thresholds are not defined by percentage-value impact in SR 1-4 (D).

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