Art Softley Real Estate upholds the utmost professional ethics

By and large, appraising a long term career. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. That's why it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be called a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we are bound by an 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 are required to only disclosing information to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you require to review an appraisal report, you generally have to get it from your lender. Other responsibilities also include, accurate calculations appropriate to the nature of the assignment, acquiring and maintaining a certain level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Maintaining high ethics and client confidentiality is standard operating procedure for us at Art Softley Real Estate.

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 spelled out in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is only to those third parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the order.

There are also ethical duties that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must store their work files for at least five years - something else Art Softley Real Estate diligently adheres to.

When busy with an order, we follow the highest ethical standards possible. We have a responsibility not to do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we can'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 probably the appraisal industries biggest no-no, because it would invite appraisal fraud since raising the estimate of the home would increase the fee. We don't do that. Other unethical practices may be defined by state law or professional societies 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," as well as other situations. We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident we are doing everything we can to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

When you engage Art Softley Real Estate we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.