For honest and ethical appraisals, count on Medina Appraisal Company

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 definitely be considered a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we have a strict ethical code.

An appraiser's primary responsibility is to their 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 privacy to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you want to review the appraisal document, you generally have to get it through your lender. Other obligations also include, numerical accuracy depending on the assignment's nature, acquiring and keeping a certain level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Maintaining high ethics and client confidentiality is just normal course of business for us at Medina Appraisal Company.

Appraisers may sometimes have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Typically the third parties are clearly 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 assignment.

Appraisers also have rules outside of boundaries of with whom we share information For example, appraisers must be able to produce their work files for at least five years - something else Medina Appraisal Company makes a part of their standard routine.

We meet or beat the industry standards and mandates set in place for ethics. We won't accept anything less from ourselves. We have a responsibility not to do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we can't agree to do an appraisal report and collect the fee only if the loan closes. We can't do assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal industries most important rule, because it would invite appraisal fraud since raising the value of the home would raise the their paycheck. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unprofessional practices may be defined by state law or professional societies to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states unethical behavior 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 assured we are working hard to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

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