Honesty and Integrity: Warren Appraisal

We consider our what we do a profession. 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 certainly be called a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by ethical considerations.

We have quite a few responsibilities as appraisers but our primary duty is to our clients. More often than not, in residential practice, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Certain matters pertaining to an assignment can only be discussed with an appraiser's client. As a a homeowner, if you would like to obtain a copy of the appraisal document, you should request it through your lender. Other responsibilities also include, accurate sums appropriate to the scope of the report, attaining and keeping a particular level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at Warren Appraisal, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

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

There are also ethical duties that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must store their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Warren Appraisal diligently adheres to.

Warren Appraisal holds itself to the industry standards and mandates set in place for ethics. We won't accept anything less from ourselves. We don't do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and collect the fee only if the loan closes. We don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal professions biggest no-no, because it would tend to make appraisers increase the value of homes or properties to increase their paycheck. We don't do that. Other unprofessional practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations to which an 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," in addition to other situations We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are doing everything we can to objectively determine the home or property value.

When you order an appraisal from Warren Appraisal we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.