For honest and ethical appraisals, trust SD Appraisals

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever in the past. That's why it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can definitely be called a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we must follow strict ethical considerations.

We have quite a few obligations as appraisers but first and foremost we answer to our clients. Most of the time, for a standard residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers have certain duties of confidentiality to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you desire to review the appraisal document, you generally have to get it from your lender. Other obligations also include, numerical accuracy depending on the scope of the assignment, reaching and keeping a respectable level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at SD Appraisals, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers can sometimes have fiduciary obligations to third parties, including homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are defined in scope of the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is restricted to those parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the assignment.

Appraisers also have standards outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must backup their work files for a minimum of five years - at SD Appraisals you can rest assured that we stick to that rule.

We demand the highest ethical standards possible from ourselves. Doing assignments on contingency fees is never an option. 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 professions biggest no-no, because it would tend to make appraisers up the value of homes or properties to increase their fee. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unethical practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines unethical behavior 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," as well as other situations. We follow these rules to the letter which means you can rest easy knowing we are doing everything we can to objectively determine the home or property value.

When you order an appraisal from SD Appraisals we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the an ethical approach with appraisals that we're known for.