Some residents claim Picher buyout undervaluing homes w/ interview video, reporter's notebook audio and slide show

By Wally Kennedy

wkennedy@joplinglobe.com

CARDIN, Okla. — Tommy and Alice Sharbutt made ends meet on his military pension and her retirement income.

Sharbutt, who served two stints in Vietnam, tinkered on cars in his garage to make money on the side. The couple lived in a 67-year-old, three-bedroom house on narrow lots at 103 Wade St., in Cardin.

In January 2005, they decided to refinance. The appraiser for the mortgage company found three comparable properties in Miami. The comparables, based on recent sales, were valued at $76,000, $80,500 and $75,000, respectively. The houses were 54 years, 84 years and 46 years old. The appraiser valued the Sharbutt property at $75,000.

Tommy died of cancer on Sept. 1, 2007. A few weeks later, his widow received an offer from the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust, which is handling the $50 million buyout and relocation of property owners in the Picher-Cardin area.

Alice Sharbutt received an offer of $50,200 for property on which she still owes $58,000.

Paul “Huck’’ Sharbutt, who is now helping his brother’s wife with her affairs, said, “I figured they would get in the neighborhood of at least $80,000. When we started asking questions about it, it was like: ‘Who are you? You ain’t nobody.’ It was either take it or leave it.

“I kept telling my brother before he passed on that things would be OK for Alice. That the buyout would help her,” he said. “I think it would have really upset him if he were still alive today.

“I was just sick when I saw the offer. She said, ‘I can’t believe that’s all you are going to offer on it.’”

Huck decided to dig deeper. The appraisal indicated the house had two bedrooms instead of three. There are two outbuildings on the property; the appraisal showed one. A 400-square-foot garage was omitted. The house has central air and heat. That was omitted, too.

Said Sharbutt: “The only way you can go back and ask for a review is if there is a discrepancy. So, we took this back before them and called this to their attention. The first time they said ‘no.’ The second time they sent it back, they raised the offer to $52,100.’’

Sharbutt then looked at the comparables the buyout appraiser used. One sold in 2006 for $38,000 at Commerce. It was a two-bedroom house built in 1915. The other comparables were two three-bedroom houses in Miami that sold in 2006 for $42,500 and $42,000. They were built in 1920 and 1938. The comparable houses were 12 to 25 years older than Alice’s home. None had central heat and air.

“The comparables used by the mortgage appraiser are all similar to my brother’s house. One of them even has a gabled front porch like his did,” Sharbutt said. “The appraiser for the trust said these lending companies will go out and get the highest appraised value so that they can lend you more money,” he said.

But Alice’s mortgage appraisal was for $75,000 — the lowest of the comparables. If the mortgage appraiser wanted to lend the most money to her, the highest comparable would have been used, he said.