Appraisal Institute Lawsuit: Whistleblower and Harassment Cases

Since late 2024, the Appraisal Institute lawsuit docket has grown to at least five civil actions and one state discrimination complaint, with allegations that range from sexual harassment and whistleblower retaliation to fraudulent exam scoring and inflated membership numbers. One case — brought by former CEO Cynthia “Cindy” Chance — settled in August 2025. The others were active as of mid-2026 in federal court in Chicago and before the Illinois Department of Human Rights.¹

Cindy Chance’s Harassment and Retaliation Suit (Settled)

Chance filed suit on December 1, 2024, in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, against the Appraisal Institute and then-vice president Craig Steinley. She alleged Steinley subjected her to persistent sexual harassment during her time as CEO, including unwanted touching, sexual comments, and rumors that she was his “girlfriend.”² She said leadership ignored the behavior and terminated her on September 16, 2024, in retaliation for reporting it.³

The complaint reached beyond harassment. Chance said she had also flagged inaccurate state certification and exam practices, inflated membership reporting, biased instructor selection that disadvantaged women and minorities, self-dealing in teaching assignments, and concealed losses on the organization’s PAREA training platform. She pleaded violations of the Illinois Human Rights Act and the Illinois Whistleblower Act, and alleged that leadership defamed her after her firing by falsely accusing her of embezzlement and selling proprietary materials to a competitor.¹

A New York Times article on May 8, 2025, described accounts from 12 women who reported uncomfortable encounters with Steinley.² On May 21, 2025, the board removed Steinley from his vice president position, calling his continued employment “no longer tenable.”⁴ Steinley denied the allegations. In June 2025, Chance dismissed him as a defendant, leaving the organization as the sole opposing party.⁵

On August 1, 2025, the Appraisal Institute announced a confidential settlement. The organization said it “firmly disagrees” with Chance’s allegations but that resolution was “in the best interest of the organization, its members, and the broader real estate finance system.”⁶ Terms were not disclosed, though one industry outlet reported the figure was rumored to be in the mid-six figures.¹ As part of the resolution, the Institute committed to operational improvements, new staff and board training, and greater transparency with members.⁷

Alissa Akins’s Exam-Scoring Whistleblower Suit

On March 28, 2025, Alissa Akins, the Institute’s former Director of Education and Publications, sued in the Northern District of Illinois (Case No. 1:25-cv-03341). She alleged the organization knowingly reported inaccurate exam scores to state regulators and students for years.⁸

According to the complaint, between 2020 and 2024, students taking qualifying education, continuing education, and Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) exams received incorrect pass/fail results. Some who failed were told they passed, potentially leading to the licensure of people who did not meet professional standards. Others who actually passed were told they failed and had to retake exams and pay additional fees. The complaint alleged the Institute failed to apply correct state-specific minimum passing scores and that USPAP scoring errors may date back to 2008 across 52 jurisdictions.⁹

Akins said she rescored roughly 300 exams from that period and found widespread errors. When she brought them to CEO John Udelhofen and Board President Sandra Adomatis on October 15, 2024, she claimed they told her “not to take any action or discuss the issues with anyone else.”⁹ When she pressed the issue and asked that inaccurate certifications be withdrawn, she said she was told the organization ran on a “don’t ask don’t tell” policy for scores and that Steinley would “make it hell for you as long as you stay.”⁸ She was terminated on December 10, 2024.

The complaint pleads violations of the Illinois Whistleblower Act and retaliatory discharge, seeking back pay, front pay, compensatory and punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees, with a jury demand. On July 9, 2025, Judge Jeremy C. Daniel denied the Institute’s motion to dismiss, ruling that Akins’s claims sounded in retaliation rather than fraud and that she needed to show only a good-faith belief that improper conduct had occurred.¹⁰ Discovery was underway as of September 2025 with a fact discovery cutoff of March 1, 2026.¹¹

Jennifer Marshall’s Peer-Review Whistleblower Suit

On April 10, 2026, Jennifer Marshall, a former contract Experience Screener and Peer Review Screener, sued in federal court in Chicago. She alleged she was terminated in retaliation for reporting fraud and USPAP violations in the Institute’s designation and peer-review processes.¹ Her complaint alleged the organization knowingly used an unlicensed head screener, identified elsewhere as Gilbert Valdez, who reportedly had not held a valid appraisal license since 2018, and that it misled regulators about the integrity of the review program.¹² Marshall seeks back pay, front pay, and damages.

Craig Steinley’s Countersuit Over Membership Numbers

Steinley, once a defendant in Chance’s case, filed his own federal lawsuit against the Appraisal Institute on May 8, 2026. The 45-page complaint names the organization, several current and former officers (including Chance, Adomatis, Paula Konikoff, James Park, and Denise Graves), and the Collateral Risk Network, Inc.¹

Steinley alleges the Institute overstated membership for years by counting deceased individuals and non-dues-paying retirees as active members, then reported those inflated figures in IRS filings and public statements. The complaint asserts that internal presentations from 2024 through 2026 confirmed thousands of supposedly active or retired members were deceased or no longer practicing, and that senior leadership characterized a drop of roughly 2,000 retired designated members as a “voluntary, policy-driven exit” rather than a long-overdue correction.¹³ He says he raised these concerns while serving as Audit Committee Chair and in later leadership roles.

The complaint also alleges financial mismanagement: obscured losses on education programs, contracts steered to insiders without competitive bidding, and costly international travel despite a small overseas membership base. It accuses the Institute of underperforming on the PAREA training platform while presenting it publicly as a success. Steinley frames his removal from the board, which followed Chance’s harassment allegations, as retaliation for raising these operational concerns.¹³ The case was active in federal court in Chicago as of mid-2026.

Byron Miller’s IDHR Discrimination Complaint

Byron Miller filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights in 2026, alleging discriminatory conduct connected to the Appraisal Institute’s vice president election that year. Miller is represented by Franklin, Greenswag, Channon & Capilla, LLC. The specific nature of the discrimination has not been publicly detailed beyond its link to the election process, and the complaint remains pending at IDHR.¹

The Earlier Swacha Payment

Chance’s case was not the first harassment-related payout. In 2024, the Appraisal Institute paid $412,000 to former CFO Beata Swacha, who had accused the organization of maintaining a “sexually hostile work environment.” The payment appears to have resolved a pre-litigation settlement demand or internal complaint rather than a filed lawsuit.³

Financial and Leadership Backdrop

The litigation has landed during steep membership decline. Membership fell from about 16,000 in 2023 to 11,041 in 2025, a 31 percent drop in two years, continuing a long slide from the 42,000-member peak in 1991. In February 2025, the Institute’s president acknowledged a 2024 budget deficit initially reported at $1.2 million and later adjusted to $1.65 million after an accounting review, while saying the organization remained “financially stable” with “sufficient reserves.”¹⁴

Unaudited 2025 results showed total revenue of $16.5 million against expenses near $18.4 million, an operating loss of about $1.96 million funded from reserves. Dues revenue fell 4.1 percent.¹⁵ After Chance’s termination in September 2024, the board appointed CPA John Udelhofen as interim CEO. As of early 2026, Michael J. Acquaro-Mignogna served as president.¹⁶ No state licensing board or regulator has publicly announced a formal investigation into the exam-scoring allegations, though industry observers have said the litigation raises the organization’s regulatory exposure.¹

1
The Real Deal. Running Down Litigation Against the Appraisal Institute
2
HousingWire. Appraisal Institute Sexual Harassment Craig Steinley
3
The Real Deal. Appraisal Institute Settles Ex-CEOs Lawsuit
4
HousingWire. Craig Steinley Appraisal Institute Removed Board Directors
5
Dodd Frank Update. Former Appraisal Institute VP Withdrawn From Wrongful Termination Lawsuit
6
Valuation Review. AI Settles Wrongful Termination Case Involving Former CEO
7
Appraisal Institute. Settlement Update
8
HousingWire. Appraisal Institute Lawsuit Wrongful Termination Alissa Akins
9
Inman. Akins v. Appraisal Institute Complaint
10
Justia. Akins v. Appraisal Institute, Order on Motion to Dismiss
11
Justia. Akins v. Appraisal Institute Docket
12
The Real Deal. Complaint Brings Fresh Scrutiny to Appraisal Institute
13
The Real Deal. Appraisal Institute Hit With Explosive Whistleblower Suit
14
Appraisal Institute. Presidents Message
15
Appraisal Institute. 2025 Financials
16
Appraisal Institute. Appraisal Institute Homepage