True Footage upholds the utmost professional ethics

We think of what we do as a profession. 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 dubbed a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we have a strict ethical code.

For an appraiser the primary obligation is to their client. Most of the time, for a regular residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers have certain duties of confidentiality to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you desire to obtain a copy of an appraisal report, you normally have to obtain it from your lender. Other responsibilities also include, numerical accuracy depending on the scope of the assignment, reaching and sustaining an appropriate level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at True Footage, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

In some cases appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Generally the third parties are explicitly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is limited to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the assignment.

There are also ethical duties that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of five years - something else True Footage makes a part of their standard routine.

We require the highest professional integrity possible from ourselves. We have a responsibility not to do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. We can't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal industries biggest taboo, because it would invite appraisal fraud since raising the estimate of the home would inflate the their paycheck. We don't do that. Other unethical practices may be established 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 be confident we are going above and beyond to objectively determine the home or property value.

With True Footage, you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, professional service.