Honesty and Integrity: Appraisal Consultants

We consider our what we do a profession. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever in the past. That's why it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can certainly be called a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we must follow strict ethical considerations.

As appraisers our chief obligation is to their client. Typically, in residential practice, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers have certain duties of privacy to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you require to review the appraisal document, you generally have to get it through your lender. Other responsibilities also include, numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, acquiring and keeping an adequate level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Appraisal Consultants, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers may also have fiduciary obligations to third parties, such as homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Normally the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is limited to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the order.

There are also ethical standards that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must be able to produce their work files for a minimum of five years - at Appraisal Consultants you can rest assured that we adhere to that rule.

Appraisal Consultants holds itself to the industry standards and rules set in place for ethics. We can't accept anything less from ourselves. Working on orders that contingency fees is not something we can consider That is, we can't agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. We don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal industries biggest taboo, because it would tend to make appraisers inflate the value of homes or properties to increase their paycheck. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other improper practices may be established by state law or professional societies that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines unethical behavior as accepting of an assignment that is contingent on "the reporting of a pre-determined result (e.g., opinion of value)," "a direction in assignment results that favors the cause of the client," "the amount of a value opinion," in addition to other situations We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be at ease knowing we are working hard to objectively determine the home or property value.

With Appraisal Consultants, you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, honest service.