Appraiser Ethics
Real Estate Appraisal Service
Honesty and Integrity: Baldwin & Hufstetler Real Estate Appraiser
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. In our field, as with any profession, we must follow strict ethical considerations.
An appraiser’s chief obligation is to their client. Typically, in residential practice, the appraiser’s client is the lender ordering the appraisal, and often the appraisal is ordered by a third party the lender has brought in to maintain independence. Certain elements relating to an assignment are to be shared exclusively with the appraiser’s client. As a homeowner, if you would like to review the appraisal document, you generally have to request it from your lender.
Other obligations include numerical accuracy depending on the scope of the assignment, reaching and sustaining a certain level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at Baldwin & Hufstetler Real Estate Appraiser, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.
There are some scenarios in which appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Generally the third parties are explicitly 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 job.
Baldwin & Hufstetler Real Estate Appraiser has worked hard for its track record for performing appraisals with the highest of ethics. Contact us today to learn more.
Appraisers also have duties outside of boundaries of with whom we share information For example, appraisers must be able to produce their work files for at least five years – something else Baldwin & Hufstetler Real Estate Appraiser makes a part of their standard routine.
When working on an assignment, we follow the highest ethical standards possible. Accepting assignments where our fee is dependent on our value conclusion is not something we can consider. That means we don’t agree to do an appraisal report and base our pay upon coming up with a particular value conclusion. There’s an obvious conflict of interest if an appraiser can report an unsubstantiated value and then get paid more money! We set ourselves to a higher standard.
Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (or simply “USPAP”) clearly describes 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”, 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 get you an accurate home or property value.
With Baldwin & Hufstetler Real Estate Appraiser, you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, professional service.
