Honesty and Integrity: Northern Arizona Appraisal, Inc.

We think of what we do as a profession. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever in the past. That's why it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can definitely be called a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we have a strict ethical code.

An appraiser's chief responsibility is to their client. Generally, in residential practice, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers are required to only disclosing information to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you would like a copy of an appraisal report, you should obtain it through your lender. Other responsibilities also include, accurate calculations appropriate to the scope of the report, acquiring and keeping an adequate level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Maintaining high ethics is standard operating procedure for us at Northern Arizona Appraisal, Inc..

Appraisers will often be required to consider the interests of third parties, such as homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Generally the third parties are explicitly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is restricted to those third parties who the appraiser is aware of, 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 store their work files for at least five years - at Northern Arizona Appraisal, Inc. you can rest assured that we stick to that rule.

When creating reports, we follow the highest ethical standards possible. Doing orders on contingency fees is never an option. 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 most important rule, because it would invite appraisal fraud since raising the estimate of the home would inflate the their paycheck. We don't do that. Other improper practices may be established by state law or professional societies that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines 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," in addition to other situations We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are doing everything we can to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

With Northern Arizona Appraisal, Inc., you won't have any doubts that you're getting 100 percent ethical, honest service.