 Richards & Richards Real Estate, LLC upholds the highest professional ethicsAppraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. Requirements to become 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 unquestionably be considered a profession as opposed to a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by an ethical code.
An appraiser's main responsibility is to their client.
Normally, 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.
Thereon, appraisers are typically restricted to only disclosing information to their clients, so as
a homeowner, if you desire to review the appraisal document, you normally should request it through your lender instead of the appraiser.
Appraisers may also have fiduciary obligations to third parties, including homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Generally the third parties are clearly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is only to those parties who the appraiser knows, 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 keep their work files for at least five years - something else Richards & Richards Real Estate, LLC makes a part of their standard routine. Richards & Richards Real Estate, LLC holds itself to the industry standards and mandates set in place for ethics. We refuse to accept anything less from ourselves. Doing assignments where our fee is dependent on our value conclusion is never an option. That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and collect the fee only if the loan closes. There's a definite conflict of interest if an appraiser can report an unsubstantiated value and then get paid more money! Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice also states unethical behavior 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" in addition to other situations We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are working hard to objectively determine the home or property value. As soon as you engage Richards & Richards Real Estate, LLC, we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the honesty and integrity we're known for. |
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