Honesty and Integrity: Ebert Appraisal Service, Inc.

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever in the past. That's why it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can definitely be called a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we must follow strict ethical considerations.

An appraiser's chief responsibility is to their client. More often than not, in residential practice, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers have rules and regulations they must follow, including keeping many matters private for their clients a homeowner, if you would like to review an appraisal report, you normally have to obtain it through your lender. Other responsibilities also include, accurate figures appropriate to the nature of the report, acquiring and keeping a certain 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 Ebert Appraisal Service, Inc..

There are some scenarios in which appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Normally the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is restricted to those parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the assignment.

Appraisers also have standards outside of boundaries of with whom we share information For example, appraisers must backup their work files for at least five years - something else Ebert Appraisal Service, Inc. takes very seriously.

When creating reports, we follow the highest ethical standards possible. We never do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we can't 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 professions biggest taboo, because it would invite fraudulent practices since increasing the value of the home would up the their paycheck. We don't do that. Other improper practices may be established by state law or professional organizations to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines 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," in addition to other situations We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are going above and beyond to objectively determine the home or property value.

As soon as you request an appraisal from Ebert Appraisal Service, Inc. we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the an ethical approach with appraisals that we're known for.