Honesty and Integrity: Dayton Appraisal Group

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have become more difficult 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 rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by ethical considerations.

An appraiser's main obligation is to their client. Typically, for a normal residential appraisal, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Certain matters pertaining to an assignment can only be discussed with an appraiser's client. As a a homeowner, if you desire a copy of an appraisal report, you normally have to obtain it from your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate sums appropriate to the parameters of the report, acquiring and keeping a particular 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 Dayton Appraisal Group.

Appraisers may also have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Typically the third parties are clearly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary roll 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 assignment.

There are also ethical standards that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Dayton Appraisal Group diligently adheres to.

Dayton Appraisal Group holds itself to the industry standards and mandates set in place for professional behavior. We won't accept anything less from ourselves. Working on assignments that contingency fees is not something we can consider That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes. We don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal professions biggest taboo, because it would invite fraudulent practices since increasing the value of the home would increase the fee. We don't do that. Other unprofessional practices may be established by state law or professional societies to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines 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 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 order an appraisal from Dayton Appraisal Group we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.