Brown Appraisal Services, LLC upholds the highest professional ethics

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

We have a great deal of obligations as appraisers but our primary duty is to our clients. Most of the time, for a regular residential appraisal, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers are privy to a lot of information, and like an attorney can only discuss many matters with their client. As a homeowner, if you want to obtain a copy of the appraisal document, you normally have to get it through your lender. Other responsibilities also include, numerical accuracy depending on the scope of the assignment, reaching and sustaining an appropriate level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Brown Appraisal Services, LLC, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers can also have fiduciary obligations to third parties, including homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Normally the third parties are clearly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is only to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the order.

There are also ethical duties that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must be able to produce their work files for at least five years - something else Brown Appraisal Services, LLC takes very seriously.

We demand the highest professional integrity possible from ourselves. We never do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes. We don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal professions biggest no-no, because it would tend to make appraisers increase the value of homes or properties to increase their fee. 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 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 diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are working hard to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

With Brown Appraisal Services, LLC, you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, professional service.