For honest and ethical appraisals, rely on All Pro Appraisals

We think of our business as a profession. 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 certainly be considered a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we are bound by an ethical code.

We have many obligations as appraisers but our primary duty is to our clients. Normally, in residential practice, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers have certain duties of confidentiality to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you want to obtain a copy of the appraisal document, you generally have to obtain it from your lender. Other responsibilities also include, accurate calculations appropriate to the parameters of the assignment, acquiring and keeping an adequate level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Maintaining high ethics is standard operating procedure for us at All Pro Appraisals.

In some cases appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Those third parties normally are listed in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is restricted to those parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the job.

Appraisers also have standards outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must store their work files for at least five years - something else All Pro Appraisals makes a part of their standard routine.

All Pro Appraisals holds itself to the industry standards and guidelines set in place for professional behavior. We can't accept anything less from ourselves. We never do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we don't 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 raise the their paycheck. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unprofessional practices may be established by state law or professional organizations to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states a violation in ethics 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 rest easy knowing we are going above and beyond to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

When you request an appraisal from All Pro 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.