For honest and ethical appraisals, trust RHR Appraisals

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever in the past. That's why it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can definitely be considered a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we have a strict ethical code.

We have quite a few responsibilities as appraisers but our main duty is to our clients. Typically, in residential practice, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Certain matters pertaining to an assignment can only be discussed with an appraiser's client. As a a homeowner, if you want to review an appraisal report, you should get it through your lender. Other responsibilities also include, numerical accuracy depending on the scope of the assignment, attaining and keeping a certain level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at RHR Appraisals, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers may frequently have fiduciary obligations to third parties, such as homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Those third parties normally are defined in scope of the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is limited to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the order.

Appraisers also have duties outside of boundaries of with whom we share information For example, appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of five years - something else RHR Appraisals diligently adheres to.

When creating reports, we follow the highest ethical standards possible. We don't do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we don't 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 professions biggest no-no, because it would invite appraisal fraud since raising the estimate of the home would raise the their paycheck. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unethical practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states 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," in addition to other situations We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are working hard to objectively determine the home or property value.

As soon as you engage RHR 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.