Honesty and Integrity: Countryside Appraisal

Typically, appraising 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 in this day and age that real estate appraisal can definitely be considered a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we are bound by ethical considerations.

The appraiser's main obligation is to their client. More often than not, in residential practice, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. 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 an appraisal report, you should request it from your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate sums appropriate to the scope of the report, acquiring and maintaining a certain level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at Countryside Appraisal, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers can regularly have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Generally the third parties are clearly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is restricted to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the order.

Appraisers also have rules outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must store their work files for a minimum of five years - at Countryside Appraisal you can rest assured that we abide by that rule.

Countryside Appraisal holds itself to the industry standards and guidelines set in place for professional behavior. We can't accept anything less from ourselves. Doing orders on contingency fees is never an option. That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. 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 increasing the estimate of the home would up the their paycheck. We don't do that. Other unethical practices may be defined by state law or professional societies that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (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," "the amount of a value opinion," in addition to other situations We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can rest easy knowing we are working hard to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

When you request an appraisal from Countryside Appraisal 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.