 Honesty and Integrity: Kennamer Appraisals, Inc.Generally, appraising is a long term career. Requirements to become a certified 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 certainly be dubbed a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we have a strict ethical code.
The appraiser's chief obligation is to their client.
Generally, in residential practice, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal, and often the appraisal is ordered by a third party the lender has brought in to maintain independence.
Thereon, appraisers are typically restricted to only disclosing information to their clients, so as
a homeowner, if you want to obtain a copy of an appraisal report, you normally should get it through your lender instead of the appraiser.
In some cases appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are listed in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary role is limited to those third 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 store their work files for at least five years - something else Kennamer Appraisals, Inc. makes a part of their standard routine.
When creating reports, we follow the highest ethical standards possible. Accepting orders where our fee is dependent on our value conclusion is never an option. In other words, we can't agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. There's certainly a conflict of interest if an appraiser can report a larger value with the reward of getting paid more money! This isn't how we operate. Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (or simply "USPAP") explicitly describes 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", or "the amount of a value opinion" in addition to other situations We follow these rules to the letter which means you can rest easy knowing we are going above and beyond to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value. As soon as you order an appraisal from Kennamer Appraisals, Inc., we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the honesty and integrity we're known for. |
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