Appraisal Options, Inc. maintains the highest professional ethics

We think of our job as a profession. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever in the past. That's why it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can definitely be called a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we have a strict ethical code.

As appraisers our chief responsibility is to his or her client. Most of the time, for a regular residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers have rules and regulations they must follow, including confidentiality for their clients a homeowner, if you require a copy of an appraisal report, you should get it from your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate figures appropriate to the nature of the assignment, reaching and keeping an adequate level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Appraisal Options, Inc., we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers will frequently need to consider the interests of third parties, including homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are listed in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is only to those third 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 with whom we share information For example, appraisers must backup their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Appraisal Options, Inc. takes very seriously.

Appraisal Options, Inc. holds itself to 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 are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect the fee only if the loan closes. We can't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal industries biggest taboo, because it would invite fraudulent practices since raising the value of the home would increase the fee. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unprofessional practices may be established by state law or professional societies that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines 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," in addition to 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.

With Appraisal Options, Inc., you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, professional service.