Linda Mehaffie Appraisals upholds the utmost professional ethics

By and large, appraising a long term career. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. So it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can definitely be called a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we must follow strict ethical considerations.

We have many responsibilities as appraisers but our chief duty is to our clients. More often than not, in residential practice, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers have rules and regulations they must follow, including keeping many matters private for their clients a homeowner, if you desire to review an appraisal report, you normally have to obtain it from your lender. Other responsibilities also include, accurate figures appropriate to the scope of the report, acquiring and maintaining a particular level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Linda Mehaffie Appraisals, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers will frequently be required to consider the interests of third parties, such as homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Generally the third parties are explicitly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is only to those parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the job.

There are also ethical rules that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must be able to produce their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Linda Mehaffie Appraisals takes very seriously.

We only perform to the highest ethical standards possible. 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 tend to make appraisers up the value of homes or properties to increase their fee. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unethical practices may be defined 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 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," as well as other situations. We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident we are going above and beyond to objectively determine the home or property value.

As soon as you engage Linda Mehaffie Appraisals we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.