Honesty and Integrity: Sho Me Appraisal Services

I consider my business a profession. 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 called a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession I have a strict ethical code.

For an appraiser, the main obligation is to their client. Normally, in residential practice, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Certain matters pertaining to an assignment can only be discussed with an appraiser's client. As a a homeowner, if you desire a copy of the appraisal document, you normally have to obtain it from your lender. Other responsibilities also include, numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, acquiring and maintaining an appropriate level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Sho Me Appraisal Services, I take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers can also have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Generally the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is restricted to those third parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the assignment.

Appraisers also have duties outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must store their work files for at least five years - at Sho Me Appraisal Services you can rest assured that we abide by that rule.

Sho Me Appraisal Services holds itself to the industry standards and rules set in place for ethics. I can't accept anything less from myself. I have a responsibility not to do assignments on contingency fees. That is, I can't agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes. I don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal professions most important rule, because it would invite fraudulent practices since raising the value of the home would up the their paycheck. I don't do that. Other improper practices may be established by state law or professional organizations to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines 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," "the amount of a value opinion," in addition to other situations I follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident I am doing everything I can to objectively determine the home or property value.

When you engage Sho Me Appraisal Services I'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the an ethical approach with appraisals that I'm known for.