For honest and ethical appraisals, trust Grantham Appraisal & Realty, Inc.We consider our job as a profession. 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 definitely be dubbed a profession as opposed to a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by ethical considerations.We have quite a few responsibilities as appraisers, but our main duty is to our clients. Most of the time, for a standard residential appraisal, the lender (or an agent of the lender) places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Consequently, appraisers are typically restricted to only disclosing information to their clients, so as a homeowner, if you want to obtain a copy of an appraisal report, you normally have to get it from your lender and not the appraiser.
There are some scenarios in which appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Those third parties normally are spelled out in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is limited to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the job.
There are also ethical rules that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must store their work files for at least five years - something else Grantham Appraisal & Realty, Inc. makes a part of their standard routine. While working on an assignment, we follow the highest ethical standards possible. Doing orders based on contingency fees is never an option. In other words, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and base our pay upon coming up with a particular value conclusion. There's a definite conflict of interest if an appraiser can report a greater value with the reward of getting paid more money! We just don't do it. Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (or simply "USPAP") explicitly defines 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 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 Grantham Appraisal & Realty, Inc., we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you deserve along with the high ethical standards we're known for. |
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