For honest and ethical appraisals, rely on RL Carmichael & Assoc, Inc.Typically, appraising is a long term career. 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 dubbed a profession as opposed to a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we must follow strict ethical considerations.An appraiser's primary obligation is to their client. Typically, for a regular residential appraisal, the lender (or an agent of the lender) places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers are typically restricted to only disclosing information to their clients, so as a homeowner, if you desire to review an appraisal report, you normally have to obtain it from your lender instead of the appraiser.
Appraisers may also have fiduciary obligations to third parties, such as homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are listed in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is restricted to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the order.
There are also ethical standards that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must backup their work files for at least five years - at RL Carmichael & Assoc, Inc. you can rest assured that we stick to that rule. We meet or exceed the industry standards and guidelines set in place for ethics. We can't accept anything less from ourselves. Doing assignments where our fee is dependent on our value conclusion is never an option. In other words, we can't agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. There's certainly a conflict of interest if an appraiser can report a larger 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 describes 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 at ease knowing we are doing everything we can to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value. As soon as you request an appraisal from RL Carmichael & Assoc, Inc., we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you deserve along with the business principles we're known for. |