President
Jordan Yuter, MAI, AI-GRS, ASA, is President of Liberty Valuation Group, located in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. His expertise includes real estate valuation, consulting, and real estate related studies. His decades-long experience in the field includes consulting, review, and project management for lenders, insurance companies, multinational corporations, business owners, and their professional advisors.
Mr. Yuter holds an MAI designation as a Member of the Appraisal Institute and an ASA designation, as an Accredited Senior Appraiser, with the American Society of Appraisers. Additionally, he has appraised real estate in nearly every state in the United States and has worked internationally in Canada, Mexico, and Europe. He has served as a senior manager with Marshall & Stevens, Inc.; senior appraiser with Arthur Andersen; and as a leasing agent with a commercial brokerage firm, specializing in tenant representation and office leasing.
During his career, he has prepared appraisals for land and improved properties in industrial, governmental, residential, institutional, recreational, and educational uses. In a consulting capacity, he has also performed studies of highest and best use, feasibility analysis, and solvency opinions. Additionally, Mr. Yuter has experience in Ad Valorem tax valuation and consultation and structured financing. Purposes of the appraisals have been for financing, bankruptcy, financial reporting (ASC Topics 805, 360, and 820), corporate planning, condemnation, leasing, ad valorem tax, and insurance purposes.
William F. Schoenhut, Jr., MAI, IFAS, is an independent valuation consultant providing valuation services to a variety of clients. Active in the appraisal profession since 1964, he has prepared appraisals encompassing most of the major categories of land and buildings for industrial, quarries, commercial, governmental, residential, institutional, and educational uses. His appraisals have been used for purposes of sale/purchase, insurance, rental, financing, income and ad valorem taxes on condemnation, urban planning, allocation of purchase price (ASC Topic 805), donation, estate and corporate planning (ASC Topics 360 and 820) casualty loss, portfolio management, and liquidation.
Mr. Schoenhut has also prepared special purpose studies, such as feasibility (highest and best use), absorption and market time, depreciation, construction estimates and land use, and various partnership interests. In addition, Mr. Schoenhut has published several articles and has given numerous speeches on appraisal topics. He is also a qualified expert witness in U.S. Courts, Planning Boards, Condemnation Tribunals, Assessment Boards, and various judicial proceedings in Connecticut, Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
Previously, Mr. Schoenhut was a Principal at Marshall & Stevens, Inc., holding numerous positions, including Regional Vice President, Technical Appraisal Manager, Practice Discipline Leader for the Eastern Region, and directed all real estate valuation services worldwide. He is a member of the Appraisal Institute and a senior member of the Independent Fee Appraisers.
Merle E. Atkins, ASA, is currently an independent valuation consultant, providing self-employed valuation services to a variety of clients since 2008. Prior to this he was employed by Marshall & Stevens, Inc. for more than 39 years.
Active in the appraisal profession since 1968, Mr. Atkins has appraised land, buildings, and various real estate interests for a variety of purposes including financing, financial and tax reporting, transaction structuring, condemnation, ad valorem taxation, purchase price allocations and institutional investing. Property types include professional athletic stadiums, casinos, prisons, corporate manufacturing, franchise restaurants and headquarter office properties, leasehold and leased fee estates, remainderman interest, residual value projections, cash flow studies and general due diligence. He has specialized in highly tax oriented financial structures for sale leaseback and asset recapitalizations.
While at Marshall & Stevens, Mr. Atkins held numerous positions including Vice President and General Manager of the Eastern Region, National Director of Real Estate and Consulting Services, National Director of Structured Finance and Executive Vice President. During this time he also served as a principal in the firm, was on the board of directors and chairman of the Professional Practices Committee. He is a senior member of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) and is also an associate member of the Urban Land Institute and the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association.
William J. Gontram, MAI, is an independent valuation consultant and has been active in the appraisal profession since 1984. He has prepared appraisals of real property in all major categories of use for purposes such as sale/purchase, insurance, portfolio management, corporate planning, and component tax allocation. He has performed financial valuation and analyses under supervision of closely held corporations, ESOPs and family limited partnerships. Mr. Gontram has prepared and given testimony as an expert witness in state and local jurisdictions for cases involving bankruptcy, partnership dissolution, and tax appeal. He also has extensive experience in eminent domain appraisal and is a member of the International Right of Way Association.
Previously, Mr. Gontram was Real Estate Director at Marshall & Stevens, Inc., performing complex assignments and gaining extensive experience in a broad spectrum of property types in the U.S. and Europe as well as in various property interests limited, current, prospective and residual. Mr. Gontram has held several real estate-related positions in addition to public sector experience in transportation, water resources, and city planning. Mr. Gontram began his career in valuation with the U.S. General Services Administration and is currently a member of the Appraisal Institute.
George C. Crane, Jr., ASA, is an independent valuation consultant with advanced skills in the areas of business enterprise and intangible asset appraisal practices and procedures, financial analysis, and DCF valuation modeling techniques. Mr. Crane has been active in the appraisal profession since 1980.
The appraisal consulting services offered by Mr. Crane include valuations of closely-held securities for buyouts, recapitalizations, federal estate & gift tax purposes, and shareholder disputes; M&A-related appraisals of business enterprises and/or their underlying intangible assets; goodwill and intangible asset impairment testing; transaction-related services including solvency and fairness opinions; royalty rate studies and intellectual property valuations; the valuation of startup companies for private equity investment purposes; independent, third-party appraisal reviews; and valuations for use in a litigation support/expert witness context.
Mr. Crane is a Senior Member of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), with a professional designation in Business Enterprise Valuation. He is a Founding Member and Past President of the ASAs Princeton, N.J. Chapter. Mr. Crane is an active member of the Appraisal Issues Task Force (AITF), which is focused on Fair Value matters applicable within a financial reporting context. He has also made presentations on valuation related topics before appraisal, accounting, and legal groups.
Previously, Mr. Crane was employed with McGladrey, the 5th largest CPA firm in the U.S., serving as an Associate Director of Valuation Services in the Firm's NYC office. Prior to that, Mr. Crane held various senior level valuation positions with Management Planning, Inc., Rosenberg Rich Baker Berman & Company, Marshall & Stevens Inc., Lloyd-Thomas Company, Valtec Associates, Inc., and American Appraisal Associates, Inc.
Charles DeVinney, CFA, ASA, is an independent valuation consultant with extensive experience in the areas of business valuation and intangible asset appraisal. He has been actively engaged in the appraisal profession for more than twenty-five years and includes valuations of a variety of industries.
Mr. DeVinney specializes in the valuation of equity interests in closely-held entities involving controlling and minority interests for estate and gift planning or charitable contribution, S-corporations and other pass-through entities, ESOPs, litigation support, divorce, financing, corporate planning, merger/acquisition, foreign tax planning, sale/purchase, solvency and fairness opinions. He also has extensive experience in valuation for financial reporting, including purchase price allocations, goodwill impairment testing and stock options or warrants. In addition, Mr. DeVinney has valued interests in General and Limited Partnerships; undivided interests of various assets; convertible securities including debt and preferred stock; debentures and promissory notes.
Previously, Mr. DeVinney was a Director in the Valuation Services Group at Grant Thornton, an international accounting firm. Prior to Grant Thornton, he held positions at various valuation and investment banking firms.
Mr. DeVinney holds the Chartered Financial Analyst from the CFA Institute and the Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) designation in business valuation from the American Society of Appraisers. He also holds a B.A. in Biology from Temple University and received an MBA with a concentration in finance from the Fox School of Business at Temple University.