Honesty and Integrity: Appraisal Desk

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. So it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can definitely be considered a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we are bound by an ethical code.

As appraisers our primary responsibility is to their client. Typically, in residential practice, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers have rules and regulations they must follow, including keeping many matters private for their clients a homeowner, if you require to obtain a copy of the appraisal document, you generally have to request it through your lender. Other responsibilities also include, accurate calculations appropriate to the parameters of the assignment, reaching and sustaining an adequate level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Maintaining high ethics and client confidentiality is is what we do everyday at Appraisal Desk.

Appraisers may frequently have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Those third parties normally are spelled out in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is restricted to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the job.

Appraisers also have rules outside of boundaries of with whom we share information For example, appraisers must store their work files for at least five years - at Appraisal Desk you can rest assured that we adhere to that rule.

Appraisal Desk holds itself to the industry standards and guidelines set in place for ethics. We refuse to accept anything less from ourselves. Working on orders that contingency fees is never an option. That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal industries most important rule, because it would invite fraudulent practices since raising the estimate of the home would up the their paycheck. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unethical practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states unethical behavior as the acceptance 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 diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can rest easy knowing we are going above and beyond to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

When you engage Appraisal Desk we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the an ethical approach with appraisals that we're known for.