Realty Valuators, Inc upholds the highest professional ethics

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever in the past. So it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can definitely be considered a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we are bound by ethical considerations.

As appraisers our primary obligation is to their client. Typically, for a standard 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 a copy of an appraisal report, you normally have to get it from your lender. Other responsibilities also include, accurate calculations appropriate to the scope of the report, acquiring and keeping a particular level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Maintaining high ethics is just normal course of business for us at Realty Valuators, Inc.

Appraisers will regularly be required to consider the interests of third parties, including homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Generally the third parties are explicitly 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 assignment.

There are also ethical duties that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must store their work files for at least five years - at Realty Valuators, Inc you can rest assured that we stick to that rule.

Realty Valuators, Inc holds itself to the industry standards and mandates set in place for professional behavior. We won't accept anything less from ourselves. We never do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we can't agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. We don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal professions biggest taboo, because it would invite fraudulent practices since increasing the value of the home would increase the fee. We don't do that. Other unprofessional practices may be established by state law or professional organizations that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) 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," "the amount of a value opinion," as well as other situations. We 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.

With Realty Valuators, Inc, you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, professional service.