OFFICIAL: ZAIO Ceases Operations, Cites Market Conditions (general)

by AC , Thursday, October 30, 2008, 17:38 @ Blackbeard

I note that at 1324 today (30 OCT 08) its stock Zaio Corp. (Public, CVE:ZAO) was trading at: $.035 (3.5 cents)... Down from Ten cents yesterday...

I'm not gloating. Although the ZAIO scheme was directly poised to try and take even more business away from hard working appraisers -- I actually feel very bad for all those people who lost their jobs and all those appraisers who paid $10k zone fees. My favorite appraisal software company (United Systems in Arizona) is caught up in this also. We need to pray for these poor people.
/s/ Steve Keohane @ AppraiserCentral.com

Zaio Ceases Operations, Cites Market Conditions
By: PAUL JACKSON
October 30, 2008

And the real estate crunch continues to roll onward - but this time, it's claimed the first collateral valuation provider, rather than a lender. Calgary-based Zaio Corp. said Thursday that it had "ceased operations" at Zaio Inc., its U.S.-based subsidiary that had been aggressively pushing its way into the real estate valuation and appraisal business in the States. The firm's closing is immediate, and the company will begin selling off assets to fulfill payments to creditors, company officials said in a press statement.

All employees at the firm have lost their jobs, as well; the closure came as a shock to many, given Zaio's presence at the recently-completed Mortgage Bankers Association annual conference in San Francisco.

The holding company, based in Canada, said it will look to "preserve capital and weather the current economic climate," and that it would "redeploy its rollout strategy at a more favourable time in the economic cycle."

Both James Kirchmeyer and Douglas Vincent have resigned from Zaio Corp.'s board of directors, as a result - Kirchmeyer re-assumed all of his prior assets sold to the firm when he joined the company from his own national appraisal management business, in a $3.2 million asset sale a few weeks ago that raised more than a few eyebrows at the time (including here at HW, which covered the transaction).

The surprise closure may likely leave more than a few appraisers - who paid the company to manage a so-called "appraisal zone" - in the lurch for the funds they paid to Zaio, as the company sells its U.S. assets to satisfy creditors. Officials at the Canadian-based parent company were not available for comment before this story was published.

Finish reading this at: Housingwire.com

Related

FIND OUT WHAT ZAIO WAS ALL ABOUT....

MANY, MANY APPRAISERS GOT SERIOUSLY HURT BY THIS ZAIO THING:
San Diego appraiser, Kevin Allin, bought fourteen zones in September of 2006 at a discounted rate of $8,000 per zone. "Both my partners were in Hawaii when I went to the meeting, so I had to make the decision without them," said Allin of his $112,000 investment in Zaio zones. For Allin, the size of the investment was outweighed by what he considers the value of the final product. "I feel like it's a product that appraisers have some control over unlike AVM's. I don't know if they [other appraisers] will be out of business, but they will definitely miss out on not being able to offer it as a product," Allin said. However, Allin, and other San Diego appraisers who invested in Zaio zones, are discovering that what they hope will someday be a lucrative final product is not yet readily available.

Sara Schwarzentraub bought two zones that cover all of La Mesa, California in September of 2006.

Finish reading this this excellent article above by Terrie Petree:: here

Learn more about ZAIO. AppraiserCentral.com's warning here: http://appraisercentral.com/zaio-corp.htm

See ZAIO Message Board thread (below) here:
http://appraisercom.com/forum/index.php?id=320