For honest and ethical appraisals, trust Timothy Flanagan, NYS Certified RE Appriaser

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. So it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can certainly be considered a profession as opposed to a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by ethical considerations.

The appraiser's main obligation is to their client. Typically, for a normal residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers are required to only disclosing information to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you want a copy of the appraisal document, you generally have to request it through your lender. Other obligations also include, numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, reaching and keeping an appropriate level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Maintaining high ethics and client confidentiality is standard operating procedure for us at Timothy Flanagan, NYS Certified RE Appriaser.

Appraisers will frequently need to consider the interests of third parties, including homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Generally the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is limited to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the job.

There are also ethical duties that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must store their work files for at least five years - at Timothy Flanagan, NYS Certified RE Appriaser you can rest assured that we abide by that rule.

When creating reports, we follow the highest ethical standards possible. We don't do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect the fee only if the loan closes. We don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal industries biggest taboo, because it would invite appraisal fraud since raising the estimate of the home would inflate the fee. We don't do that. Other unethical 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 a violation in ethics 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 diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be at ease knowing we are going above and beyond to objectively determine the home or property value.

As soon as you engage Timothy Flanagan, NYS Certified RE Appriaser we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.