Dean's Appraisals upholds the highest professional ethics

Appraising is generally a long term career. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have become more difficult 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 we are bound by ethical considerations.

We have quite a few responsibilities as appraisers but above everything we answer to our clients. Typically, in residential practice, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers have certain duties of confidentiality to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you desire to obtain a copy of the appraisal document, you should request it from your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate sums appropriate to the parameters of the assignment, reaching and keeping a respectable level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at Dean's Appraisals, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers will often be required to consider the interests of third parties, such as homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Generally the third parties are clearly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is restricted to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the assignment.

There are also ethical standards that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must store their work files for at least five years - something else Dean's Appraisals takes very seriously.

Dean's Appraisals holds itself to the industry standards and mandates set in place for professional behavior. We refuse to accept anything less from ourselves. Working on orders that contingency fees is never an option. That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect the fee only if the loan closes. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal industries most important rule, because it would invite appraisal fraud since increasing the estimate of the home would increase the fee. We don't do that. Other improper practices may be established by state law or professional organizations 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," as well as other situations. We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident we are doing everything we can to objectively determine the home or property value.

With Dean's Appraisals, you won't have any doubts that you're getting 100 percent ethical, professional service.