Kingstown Appraisal Co, Inc. maintains the utmost professional ethics

Appraising is, by and large, a long term career. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. So it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can definitely be called a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we are bound by ethical considerations.

As appraisers our primary responsibility is to their client. Typically, in residential practice, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers are privy to a lot of information, and like an attorney can only discuss many matters with their client. As a homeowner, if you require to obtain a copy of the appraisal document, you generally have to get it from your lender. Other responsibilities also include, numerical accuracy depending on the assignment's nature, reaching and maintaining an adequate level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Kingstown Appraisal Co, Inc., we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers can sometimes have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Typically the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is limited to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the order.

Appraisers also have duties outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must be able to produce their work files for at least five years - something else Kingstown Appraisal Co, Inc. takes very seriously.

We meet or beat the industry standards and mandates set in place for ethics. We can't accept anything less from ourselves. Working on assignments that 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. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal professions biggest no-no, because it would tend to make appraisers up the value of homes or properties to increase their paycheck. We don't do that. Other unethical practices may be established by state law or professional organizations that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines 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," as well as other situations. We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be at ease knowing we are working hard to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

When you order an appraisal from Kingstown Appraisal Co, Inc. 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.