Honesty and Integrity: Barnett Appraisals

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. That's why it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be called a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we must follow strict ethical considerations.

For an appraiser the main responsibility is to his or her client. Typically, for a normal residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers have certain duties of privacy to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you would like to obtain a copy of an appraisal report, you normally have to request it from your lender. Other responsibilities also include, accurate calculations appropriate to the nature of the assignment, reaching and keeping an appropriate level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at Barnett Appraisals, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers will often be obligated to consider the interests of third parties, including homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are defined in scope of the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is only to those third parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the job.

There are also ethical duties that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Barnett Appraisals makes a part of their standard routine.

We meet or beat the industry standards and guidelines set in place for ethics. 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 can't do assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal industries most important rule, because it would tend to make appraisers raise the value of homes or properties to increase their paycheck. We don't do that. Other unethical practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines unethical behavior as the acceptance 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," in addition to other situations We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are going above and beyond to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

As soon as you engage Barnett Appraisals we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.