For honest and ethical appraisals, rely on Forefront Appraisal Services

We think of our job as a profession. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. So it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can definitely be called a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we are bound by ethical considerations.

We have a lot of obligations as appraisers but above everything we answer to our clients. Typically, for a standard 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 want a copy of the appraisal document, you normally have to get it through your lender. Other obligations also include, numerical accuracy depending on the scope of the assignment, acquiring and keeping an appropriate level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Maintaining high ethics is is what we do everyday at Forefront Appraisal Services .

Appraisers may also have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Those third parties normally are defined in scope of the appraisal assignment itself. 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 order.

There are also ethical standards that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must store their work files for a minimum of five years - at Forefront Appraisal Services you can rest assured that we stick to that rule.

When working on an appraisal, 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. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal professions most important rule, because it would invite fraudulent practices since raising the estimate of the home would up the fee. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other improper practices may be established by state law or professional societies to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states a violation in ethics 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 going above and beyond to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

As soon as you request an appraisal from Forefront Appraisal Services we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.