Honesty and Integrity: Wild River Appraisals

By and large, appraising is a long term career. The rigors of becoming a certified residential appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. So it goes without question, especially these days, that the real estate appraisal industry can certainly be considered a profession. As with any profession we are bound by an ethical code.

We have a lot of obligations as appraisers but our chief duty is to our clients. Typically, for a residential appraisal, the lender places the order to the appraiser therefore becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers have a duty of confidentiality to their clients. Other responsibilities include accurate calculations appropriate to the scope of the report, reaching and sustaining a high level of competency and continual education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner.

Maintaining the highest level of ethics and client confidentiality is what we do everyday at Wild River Appraisals.

Appraisers can have fiduciary obligations to third parties, including homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Those third parties normally are listed in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is only to those third parties in which the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the assignment. Appraisers also have duties outside of boundaries with whom we share information. 

We require the highest ethical standards possible from ourselves. We absolutely never perform assignments on contingency fees. That is, we do not agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. Unlike real estate agents, we don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal industry's most important rule, because it would invite fraudulent practices since raising the estimate of the home would increase the fee. We set ourselves to a much 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 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 at ease knowing we are working hard to objectively determine the value of a home or property.

With Wild River Appraisals, you won't have any doubts that you're receiving 110% ethical, honest service.