For honest and ethical appraisals, rely on Coman Appraisal Services

Appraising is generally a long term career. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever in the past. So it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can certainly be considered a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we are bound by ethical considerations.

We have a lot of obligations as appraisers but above everything we answer to our clients. Typically, for a standard residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers have rules and regulations they must follow, including keeping many matters private for their clients a homeowner, if you would like to review an appraisal report, you generally have to obtain it from your lender. Other responsibilities also include, accurate figures appropriate to the nature of the report, acquiring and maintaining an appropriate level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at Coman Appraisal Services, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers will often need to consider the interests of third parties, such as homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Normally the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is only 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 store their work files for at least five years - at Coman Appraisal Services you can rest assured that we adhere to that rule.

We demand the highest ethical standards possible from ourselves. Working on orders that contingency fees is not something we can consider That is, we can't agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal professions most important rule, because it would invite appraisal fraud since increasing the value of the home would inflate the fee. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unprofessional practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states unethical behavior 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 rest easy knowing we are going above and beyond to objectively determine the home or property value.

As soon as you engage Coman Appraisal Services we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.