For honest and ethical appraisals, count on DM Appraisals

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. Requirements to become 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 dubbed a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we must follow strict ethical considerations.

For an appraiser the chief obligation is to his or her client. Typically, in residential practice, 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 desire a copy of the appraisal document, you should get it from your lender. Other responsibilities also include, accurate calculations appropriate to the parameters of the report, attaining and sustaining an adequate level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at DM Appraisals, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers can also have fiduciary obligations to third parties, such as homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Those third parties normally are defined in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility 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 order.

Appraisers also have standards outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must store their work files for a minimum of five years - something else DM Appraisals takes very seriously.

When creating reports, we follow the highest ethical standards possible. Doing orders on contingency fees is not something we can consider That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. We can't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal professions biggest taboo, because it would tend to make appraisers up the value of homes or properties to increase their fee. We don't do that. 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 states 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 We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are going above and beyond to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

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