Cengage Advantage Books: Law for Business 18th Edition by John Ashcroft ,Janet Ashcroft

Exercise 16

Rodin Properties-Shore Mall loaned Shore Mall Associates, L.P. (SMA) $49 million to refinance the Shore Mall shopping center. One condition of the loan was that SMA get an appraisal that showed the value of the mall was at least $60 million. SMA hired Cushman Wakefield (C W) to appraise the property with the agreement that the appraisal was to help SMA get financing and that it would be shown to lenders. C W appraised the mall at $65.5 million, an inflated value. The appraisal understated the mall's competition and overstated its cash flow. Rodin sued C W for breach of its professional duty. Was C W guilty of such a breach? [ Rodin Properties- Shore Mall, N.V. v.Ullman , 694 N.Y.S.2d 374 (N.Y. App. Div.)]