JAMES P TANNER

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I needed an elevation certificate done on my property. I was referred to Jim Tanner by an insurance company. He came out to do the work which took about 10 minutes to do. I immediately wrote out a check for $600 after his work was done. He promised to have the paper work emailed to me in about a week, but I have not received anything. I've called him twice to remind him and so far gotten a lot of empty promises that he'll work on it. I also have emailed him 3x, but he'll never respond to my emails. I noticed that he has already cashed my check. It's now been about two weeks and still have not received anything. I'm hoping that he has not scammed me and he just pocketed my $600. I will update this review if I ever get anything back from him. Still waiting...... and my flood insurance renewal is coming up fast.

Jim came out and did the survey and told me that the property qualified for the elevation certificate. He would return to his office, do the paperwork and send it to me with an Invoice. He never got us the report. Numerous discussions followed by many messages (not returned) were not getting us anywhere so we gave up and ended up having to get another Surveyor to repeat the work, and do the report for us.

I am too far from James normal business locations, so he was not available to actually perform the survey in my city. However, James called me in the evening and conducted a very detailed analysis of my situation over the phone. He proposed a strategy of how to work with the lender, the insurer, city engineers and FEMA to resolve the issue quickly and at minimal cost. The issue of "2009 Digital FEMA maps" is a serious one, with many homeowners affected, paying thousands $ in unnecessary flood insurance. Google "Homeowner finds way to avoid buying flood insurance" for a dire description of the situation, U.S. congress is getting involved. I am glad that through Angie's List, I've got James Tanner consultation on this confusing matter.

I can't tell you how helpful and professional Jim was. I gave him a call and told him that we wanted to complete a Letter of Map Amendment for our property (which had been designated Zone AO). He asked me a few questions, then said he would do some research and call me back. When he called back, he explained that we had been misdesignated and needed to contact our mortgage company about it. Jim explained everything incredibly clearly and offered to complete a declaration form for me if I needed it, but suggested I try to fight without it first. After a few phone calls and some faxing, I was able to convince the flood company that did the original designation that they were wrong... no more flood insurance! And all because he was kind and professional enough to do the research and tell me the truth. Needless to say I will be sending him a nice little thank you gift. It's the least I can do for someone who just saved me hundreds of dollars a year!

In the process of buying a house I was faced with some measurable discrepancies in various records regarding the size of the lot. Mr Tanner took time to patiently answer my questions and address my concerns which really helped feel comfortable moving forward with buying the house. I would highly recommend him.

Mr. Tanner called us back immediately after we called him. After describing what we wanted to do, he told us he didn't think we needed a survey and suggested to us what he thought we should do. His suggestion was very informative and that is what we ended up doing.

I live in a flood zone with an unknown base flood elevation (Zone A) and consequently I have exorbitant flood insurance rates. Jim Tanner came highly recommended so I called him and he was immediately helpful. He spoke to me without commitment over the phone for about 15 minutes, explaining the technical nuances and my alternatives. He assured me that there was a good probability I could get my rates reduced with a proper survey. He told me not to waste my money in other ways. In addition, he said that his services would be free if I didn't get a substantial reduction in my insurance rates! My only criticism is that he's so busy it's hard to get him to come to your property. We set up a date which he couldn't make because he ran out of time doing other work, and we had to reset the date to the following week. He is, however, generally very easy to reach by phone and is a great guy, easy to talk to. Once he came by he was very efficient and did the survey, explaining all the numbers and giving me all the documentation. Highly recommended.

Mr. Tanner's direction probably saved me hundreds maybe even thousands of dollars!

Wow! I called to get a price for some survey work and Mr. Tanner talked to me for 15 minutes to get an understanding of my very difficult problem. He was so helpful, gave me lots of advice and explained the building codes as they apply to my unique situation. In the end, he recommended against doing a survey at this time and offered his services at a later date. He just saved me hundreds of dollars. Thanks for your honesty and help Mr. Tanner.

James went way beyond the call of duty to eliminate this requirement due to additional fees that it would cost us ($800), but to no avail. Great guy and service. Highly recommended.

He did an excellent job in all categories. He was very professional and helpful.

Mr. Tanner did a great job for us. He was very responsive when we called him to set up the survey. He did a careful and thorough job on the survey itself. He goes out of his way to help people understand flood insurance issues so we can save money where possible.