Accurate Appraisals maintains the utmost professional ethics

We consider our what we do a profession. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. That's why it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can certainly be considered a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we are bound by an ethical code.

We have many obligations as appraisers but our primary duty is to our clients. Typically, for a regular residential appraisal, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers have rules and regulations they must follow, including confidentiality for their clients a homeowner, if you want to obtain a copy of an appraisal report, you should get it through your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate calculations appropriate to the parameters of the assignment, attaining and keeping a particular level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Accurate Appraisals, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers will sometimes be obligated to consider the interests of third parties, including homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Typically the third parties are clearly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is only to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the assignment.

Appraisers also have duties outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must store their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Accurate Appraisals diligently adheres to.

Accurate Appraisals holds itself to the industry standards and guidelines set in place for professional behavior. We refuse to accept anything less from ourselves. We never do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal industries biggest taboo, because it would invite fraudulent practices since raising the estimate of the home would increase the their paycheck. We don't do that. Other improper practices may be defined by state law or professional societies 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," as well as other situations. We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident we are going above and beyond to objectively determine the home or property value.

When you request an appraisal from Accurate Appraisals 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.