 Honesty and Integrity: Classic Valuations, Inc.We consider our business as a profession. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever in the past. That's why it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can certainly be considered a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we are bound by an ethical code.
We have a great deal of obligations as appraisers, but our main duty is to our clients.
Most of the time, for a typical residential appraisal, the lender (or an agent of the lender) places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client.
It follows that appraisers are typically limited to only disclosing their findings to their clients, so as
a homeowner, if you desire a copy of an appraisal report, you normally have to obtain it via your lender instead of the appraiser.
In some cases appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Normally the third parties are explicitly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is restricted to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the assignment.
There are also ethical standards that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must backup their work files for at least five years - at Classic Valuations, Inc. you can rest assured that we adhere to that rule. We demand the highest ethical standards possible from ourselves. Accepting orders based on contingency fees is never an option. That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and collect the fee only if the loan closes. There's a definite conflict of interest if an appraiser can report a greater value and then get paid more money! Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice clearly 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", or "the amount of a value opinion" as well as other situations. We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are going above and beyond to get you an accurate home or property value. With Classic Valuations, Inc., you won't have any doubts that you're receiving 100 percent ethical, honest service. |
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