Premier Appraisals, Inc. upholds the utmost professional ethics

Typically, appraising a long term career. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. So it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can certainly be considered a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we have a strict ethical code.

An appraiser's main obligation is to his or her client. Typically, in residential practice, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Certain matters pertaining to an assignment can only be discussed with an appraiser's client. As a a homeowner, if you want to obtain a copy of an appraisal report, you normally have to get it from your lender. Other responsibilities also include, numerical accuracy depending on the scope of the assignment, acquiring and keeping a certain level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Premier Appraisals, Inc., we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers may also have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are defined in scope of the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is restricted to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the job.

There are also ethical standards that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must backup their work files for a minimum of five years - at Premier Appraisals, Inc. you can rest assured that we adhere to that rule.

We meet or beat the industry standards and mandates set in place for professional behavior. We won't accept anything less from ourselves. Working on orders that contingency fees is never an option. That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal professions biggest no-no, because it would invite fraudulent practices since raising the estimate of the home would inflate the their paycheck. We don't do that. Other unethical practices may be defined by state law or professional societies to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states a violation in ethics 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 at ease knowing we are working hard to objectively determine the home or property value.

As soon as you order an appraisal from Premier Appraisals, Inc. we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.