Honesty and Integrity: Independent Appraisals, LLC

Generally, appraising is a long term career. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever in the past. So it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be considered a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by an ethical code. 

We have a lot of obligations as appraisers, but our main duty is to our clients. Typically, in residential practice, the lender (or an agent of the lender) places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. It follows that appraisers have certain duties of confidentiality to their clients, plus many rules and regulations to which we must adhere. As a homeowner, if you desire to review an appraisal report, you generally should request it through your lender instead of the appraiser.

Other responsibilities include numerical accuracy depending on the scope of the assignment, acquiring and maintaining a respectable level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Maintaining high ethics is standard operating procedure for us at Independent Appraisals, LLC.  

There are some scenarios in which appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Generally the third parties are clearly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary role is limited to those third parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the order.

Appraisers also have standards outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must keep their work files for at least five years - something else Independent Appraisals, LLC takes very seriously.

We require the highest ethical standards possible from ourselves. Doing assignments based on contingency fees is not something we can consider. That is, we can't agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes. There's a definite conflict of interest if an appraiser can report a greater value with the reward of getting paid more money! This isn't how we operate.

Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (or simply "USPAP") also defines 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", or "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.

With Independent Appraisals, LLC, you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, professional service.