 For honest and ethical appraisals, count on Elizabeth A. KeechAppraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever in the past. That's why it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can certainly be dubbed a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we must follow strict ethical considerations.
The appraiser's main 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 contracted in order to maintain independence.
Subsequently, appraisers have certain duties of confidentiality to their clients, plus strict rules and regulations to which we must adhere. As
a homeowner, if you would like to review an appraisal report, you normally have to request it through your lender instead of the appraiser.
In some cases appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Normally the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is restricted to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the order.
Appraisers also have rules outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must be able to produce their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Elizabeth A. Keech makes a part of their standard routine. We only perform to the highest ethical standards possible. Doing orders based on contingency fees is never an option. That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and base our pay upon coming up with a particular value conclusion. Anyone should be able to see that fabricating a home's value to achieve a higher paycheck is unethical! Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (or simply "USPAP") clearly defines a violation in ethics 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", or "the amount of a value opinion" as well as other situations. We 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 engage Elizabeth A. Keech, we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the business principles we're known for. |
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