For honest and ethical appraisals, trust Blue Ridge Appraisals

We consider our our business a profession. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. So it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be considered a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we are bound by an ethical code.

As appraisers our chief responsibility is to his or her client. Typically, for a regular residential appraisal, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers have rules and regulations they must follow, including keeping many matters private for their clients a homeowner, if you require a copy of an appraisal report, you should get it through your lender. Other obligations also include, numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, acquiring and keeping a particular level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Maintaining high ethics is just normal course of business for us at Blue Ridge Appraisals.

Appraisers may often have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Generally the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is only to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the job.

There are also ethical rules that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must keep their work files for at least five years - at Blue Ridge Appraisals you can rest assured that we adhere to that rule.

When creating reports, we follow the highest ethical standards possible. Doing assignments on contingency fees is never an option. That is, we can't 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 biggest taboo, because it would invite fraudulent practices since raising the estimate of the home would raise the fee. We don't do that. Other unprofessional practices may be defined by state law or professional societies that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states 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 follow these rules to the letter which means you can be at ease knowing we are working hard to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

With Blue Ridge Appraisals, you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, honest service.