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."

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.

“They can’t lend you that much more money than the house is actually worth. It makes no sense at all what’s happening here in Picher and Cardin with this buyout. It’s terrible,” he said. “My sister-in-law is going to have to borrow money to move, if she can. She’s 64. That’s not right.

“What’s really not right is when you know a dump of a trailer house in Picher has got an offer of $47,000. It’s not even a stick house,” he said.

The complaints

Though trust members and a state official overseeing the buyout have repeatedly said the acceptance rate on offers is as high as 95 percent and that only a vocal minority is causing trouble, records show the independent appraisers hired by the primary contractor, Cinnabar Services of Tulsa, have been dogged by complaints from the start of the buyout process last year.

Some residents say they are accepting whatever is offered because their properties in Picher and Cardin essentially have no value because of where they live. Any offer to get out is a good offer because it is likely to be the only offer they will get.

“It’s desperation. It’s like having a gun held to your head,” said Missy Beets, who believes her house was undervalued by thousands of dollars even after a review appraiser increased the offer from $70,000 to $75,000.

“I believe the trust and its contractor, Cinnabar, have attempted to manipulate and pressure us into accepting appraisal offers by purposefully withholding information that we needed to make these life-changing and difficult decisions,” she said.

In a recent letter to the trust, Beets also alleged: “We believe that Cinnabar, and therefore the trust, have routinely committed fraud in inflating some appraisals and using strong-arm tactics to force others to accept low offers.”

Cinnabar was awarded a $1.8 million contract to do appraisals and property acquisitions. The company, in a subcontract arrangement, hired independent appraisers to do the work. When those appraisers finish, the appraisal is handed over to the trust for approval. It then goes to Cinnabar.

An acquisition agent for the company then meets with the property owner. Local residents allege they cannot get straight answers about the values given for their properties because the agent did not do the appraisal.

They also say they don’t receive detailed information about the comparables unless they ask for it, and that they are often treated rudely by representatives of the company when seeking comparables. “Take or leave it” is a phrase some property owners say they have been told.