Appraiser has vanished - What do I do?

[Jim Garrett]

I'm under contract to purchase a vacation rental in western NC near two ski resorts. I'm financing it through a private lender (Visio). I paid for my appraisal on 12/7/21, even paying an extra $625 to get it done by 12/31/21 to meet a 1/5/22 expiration of my due diligence period. The lender ordered the appraisal through an appraisal management co (AMC) who contracted an appraiser to do the work. The appraiser didn't schedule their inspection until 1/3/22 so we negotiated an extension with the seller. The appraiser committed to have the report to us by 1/7/22 then didn't do the inspection until 1/6/22 due to bad weather in the area and didn't tell anyone. We (the AMC) last spoke with her on Monday 1/10 at which time she committed to have us the report by Tuesday 1/11/22. We (the AMC and I) then could not reach her all day yesterday and again all day today. She is neither answering the phone nor responding to repeated emails from the AMC and now her voice mailbox is full, telling me she is out of commission somehow. I certainly hope she is OK! I've now negotiated a 2nd (and final) extension to my purchase contract with the seller and now have until 1/19/22, but time is very rapidly running out and the odds of getting a full new appraisal done in one week are slim. I have paid a $5000 non-refundable due diligence fee (typical in NC), about $2500 in inspections, and $1150 in the fee for the appraisal. What can I do now to save this deal? What rights would I have to recoup costs if it falls apart due to the appraiser's non-performance?

Jim