Honesty and Integrity: Northern Arizona Appraisal, Inc.

We think of our job as a profession. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever in the past. So it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can certainly be considered a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we have a strict ethical code.

We have a lot of obligations as appraisers but our main duty is to our clients. Generally, in residential practice, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers have certain duties of privacy to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you desire a copy of 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 Northern Arizona Appraisal, Inc., we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

There are some scenarios in which appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are spelled out in scope of the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is restricted to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the job.

Appraisers also have rules outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must keep their work files for at least five years - at Northern Arizona Appraisal, Inc. you can rest assured that we abide by that rule.

Northern Arizona Appraisal, Inc. holds itself to the industry standards and rules set in place for ethics. We refuse to accept anything less from ourselves. We have a responsibility not to do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. We can't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal professions most important rule, because it would invite fraudulent practices since raising the value of the home would increase the their paycheck. We don't do that. Other unprofessional practices may be established by state law or professional organizations that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states a violation in ethics as accepting 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 diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are going above and beyond to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

With Northern Arizona Appraisal, Inc., you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, honest service.