![]() For honest and ethical appraisals, trust Frezno Appraisal GroupTypically, appraising is a long term career. Requirements to become 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 have a strict ethical code.
The appraiser's primary responsibility 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 retained to maintain independence.
Subsequently, appraisers have certain duties of privacy to their clients, plus many rules and regulations that must be followed. As
a homeowner, if you would like to review the appraisal document, you generally have to request it via your lender and not the appraiser.
Appraisers may frequently have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Generally the third parties are clearly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is only to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the assignment.
Appraisers also have rules outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must store their work files for at least five years - something else Frezno Appraisal Group takes very seriously. We only perform to the highest ethical standards possible. Working on assignments based on contingency fees is never an option. In other words, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. Anyone should be able to see that fabricating a home's value to achieve what amounts to a bigger paycheck is unethical! This isn't how we operate. Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (or simply "USPAP") explicitly 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", or "the amount of a value opinion" as well as other situations. We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be at ease knowing we are going above and beyond to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value. When you request an appraisal from Frezno Appraisal Group, we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you deserve along with the honesty and integrity we're known for. |