ML Appraisals upholds the highest professional ethics

Appraising is typically 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 dubbed a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we have a strict ethical code.

For an appraiser the primary responsibility is to their client. Typically, for a normal residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers have certain duties of confidentiality to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you require to review an appraisal report, you should get it from your lender. Other obligations also include, numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, reaching and maintaining a respectable level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at ML Appraisals, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers will sometimes need to consider the interests of third parties, including homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Typically 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 written parameters of the assignment.

Appraisers also have duties outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must store their work files for at least five years - at ML Appraisals you can rest assured that we abide by that rule.

We require the highest professional integrity possible from ourselves. Doing assignments on contingency fees is not something we can consider That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes. We can't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal industries most important rule, because it would invite fraudulent practices since raising the value of the home would inflate the their paycheck. We set ourselves to a higher standard. 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 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," as well as other situations. We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be at ease knowing we are working hard to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

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