361 Realty upholds the highest professional ethics

By and large, appraising a long term career. The rigors of becoming 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 unquestionably be considered a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by an ethical code.

For an appraiser the primary obligation is to their client. Typically, in residential practice, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers are required to only disclosing information to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you desire to review the appraisal document, you should request it from your lender. Other responsibilities also include, accurate sums appropriate to the scope of the assignment, attaining and sustaining a particular level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at 361 Realty, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers may frequently have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Those third parties normally are spelled out 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 written parameters of the assignment.

There are also ethical rules that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of five years - at 361 Realty you can rest assured that we abide by that rule.

361 Realty holds itself to the industry standards and rules set in place for ethics. We refuse to accept anything less from ourselves. We have a responsibility not to 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 no-no, because it would invite fraudulent practices since increasing the estimate of the home would raise the fee. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other improper practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states 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 follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are going above and beyond to objectively determine the home or property value.

With 361 Realty, you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, honest service.