Appraisal Institute executive accused of harassment withdraws from public appearances

AI Vice President Craig Steinley will cease making public appearances after an expośe by the New York Times detailed accusations against him of inappropriate comments and groping by current and former AI employees.

The news was announced Monday by AI President Paula Konikoff, who in a LinkedIn post said that AI’s board of directors has formed a task force to review policies at the trade group to decide what steps to take next.

Despite not making public appearances, AI says Steinley will remain in his role. He has denied all accusations.

In a previous statement to HousingWire, an AI spokesperson said that the New York Times story “does not represent who the Appraisal Institute is,” adding that the organization “is committed to a safe and respectful environment.”

Among the Steinley’s accusers is former president Cindy Chance, who in that capacity approved a $412,000 settlement payment to a former employee who came forward with claims that echoed those of many others.

Chance says that Steinley often called her his “girlfriend” and that he earned the nickname “Mr. Handsy” for unwanted touching and groping buttocks. Chance was abruptly fired in September 2024, not even a year into her tenure as president.

She believes that her firing came in response to trying to change the dynamic between appraisers and appraisal management companies (AMCs).

“I know many of you suspect that my firing was connected to that advocacy, and I have to tell you I agree,” Chance said in a YouTube video shortly after the Times article was published. “I think your instincts were right. What I saw behind the scenes was really disturbing to me.”

Chance is suing AI for wrongful termination, as is former director Alissa Akins, who claims she tried to blow the whistle on erroneously graded appraisal license exams on which students who failed were mistakenly given passing grades, and vice versa.

In that lawsuit, she claims that her firing was “punitive,” adding that another executive said Steinley “will make it hell for you as long as you stay” if Akins continued to press the issue.

The accusations of sexual harassment and wrongful termination are but one part of the growing turmoil at the Appraisal Instutite and the appraisal profession more broadly. Many appraisers believe that AI has ceased to serve their best interests and have instead cozied up to AMCs, who appraisers believe are making it harder for them to make a living.

Multiple class-action lawsuits have been filed against various AMCs, and a group of appraisers have created an alternative trade group called the Appraisal Regulation Compliance Council.