For honest and ethical appraisals, count on Caliber Appraisal Corporation

Typically, appraising a long term career. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. That's why it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can certainly be considered a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we are bound by an ethical code.

We have many obligations as appraisers but our chief duty is to our clients. Most of the time, for a regular residential appraisal, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Certain matters pertaining to an assignment can only be discussed with an appraiser's client. As a a homeowner, if you require to obtain a copy of the appraisal document, you normally have to obtain it through your lender. Other responsibilities also include, numerical accuracy depending on the scope of the assignment, reaching and sustaining an appropriate level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Caliber Appraisal Corporation, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

There are some scenarios in which appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are defined in scope of the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is only to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the order.

There are also ethical rules that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must store their work files for at least five years - at Caliber Appraisal Corporation you can rest assured that we stick to that rule.

When working on an appraisal, we follow the highest ethical standards possible. We have a responsibility not to do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. We don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal professions biggest taboo, 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 established by state law or professional organizations to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states a violation in ethics 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 at ease knowing we are doing everything we can to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

As soon as you order an appraisal from Caliber Appraisal Corporation we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.