Honesty and Integrity: Certified Appraisers

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. So it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can certainly be called a profession as opposed to a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we have a strict ethical code.

We have a great deal of obligations as appraisers but above everything we answer to our clients. Typically, for a regular residential appraisal, 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 want a copy of an appraisal report, you should obtain it through your lender. Other responsibilities also include, numerical accuracy depending on the assignment's nature, reaching and keeping an appropriate level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at Certified Appraisers, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers can regularly have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are defined in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is only to those third parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the order.

Appraisers also have duties outside of boundaries of with whom we share information For example, appraisers must backup their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Certified Appraisers takes very seriously.

We require the highest professional integrity possible from ourselves. Doing orders on contingency fees is never an option. That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect the fee only if the loan closes. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal industries biggest taboo, because it would invite appraisal fraud since increasing the estimate of the home would inflate the their paycheck. We don't do that. Other unprofessional practices may be established by state law or professional societies that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states a violation in ethics 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," as well as other situations. We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are working hard to objectively determine the home or property value.

With Certified Appraisers, you won't have any doubts that you're receiving 100 percent ethical, professional service.