 For honest and ethical appraisals, trust Bradley & AssociatesBy and large, appraising is a long term career. Requirements to become 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 definitely be considered a profession as opposed to a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we must follow strict ethical considerations.
An appraiser's primary responsibility is to their client.
Typically, for a normal residential appraisal, the lender (or an agent of the lender) places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client.
Thereon, appraisers have certain duties of privacy to their clients, plus many rules and regulations controlling with whom we share information. As
a homeowner, if you would like to obtain a copy of the appraisal document, you generally have to obtain it from your lender.
In some cases appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Generally the third parties are explicitly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is limited to those parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the job.
There are also ethical rules 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 - something else Bradley & Associates makes a part of their standard routine. When creating reports, we follow the highest ethical standards possible. Working on assignments based on contingency fees is not something we can consider. That means we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and base our pay upon coming up with a particular value conclusion. There's certainly a conflict of interest if an appraiser can report an unsubstantiated value and then get paid more money! We just don't do it. Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (or simply "USPAP") also describes 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" in addition to other situations We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be at ease knowing we are doing everything we can to get you an accurate home or property value. With Bradley & Associates, you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, professional service. |
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