Joanna Rutter, Appraiser maintains 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 in this day and age that real estate appraisal can certainly be dubbed a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we must follow strict ethical considerations.

As appraisers our primary obligation is to his or her client. Typically, for a standard residential appraisal, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers have certain duties of confidentiality to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you want to obtain a copy of the appraisal document, you normally have to request it through your lender. Other obligations also include, numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, acquiring and sustaining a respectable level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Joanna Rutter, Appraiser, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers will frequently be obligated to consider the interests of third parties, including homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are spelled out in scope of the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is only to those parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the job.

There are also ethical duties that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must backup their work files for at least five years - at Joanna Rutter, Appraiser you can rest assured that we abide by that rule.

We demand the highest professional integrity possible from ourselves. We don't 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 most important rule, because it would tend to make appraisers inflate the value of homes or properties to increase their paycheck. We don't do that. Other improper 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 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 diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident we are working hard to objectively determine the home or property value.

As soon as you request an appraisal from Joanna Rutter, Appraiser 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.