 Honesty and Integrity: Sightes AppraisalBy and large, appraising is a long term career. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. So it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be dubbed a profession as opposed to a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we have a strict ethical code.
The appraiser's primary obligation is to their client.
Typically, for a standard residential appraisal, 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.
Appraisers are privy to a lot of data, and like an attorney, can only discuss many of these matters with their client. As
a homeowner, if you desire to obtain a copy of the appraisal document, you generally have to get it from your lender.
Appraisers may sometimes have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Typically the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is only to those parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the job.
There are also ethical rules that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must store their work files for at least five years - something else Sightes Appraisal diligently adheres to. We require the highest professional integrity possible from ourselves. Doing assignments where our fee is dependent on our value conclusion is not something we can consider. That means we can't agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. It should be obvious that fabricating a home's value to achieve essentially a higher fee is unethical! We set ourselves to a higher standard. Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (or simply "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", or "the amount of a value opinion" as well as other situations. We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are working hard to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value. With Sightes Appraisal, you won't have any doubts that you're receiving 100 percent ethical, professional service. |
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