Collier Residential Appraisal, Inc. upholds the utmost professional ethics

We consider our our job a profession. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever in the past. That's why it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can certainly be dubbed a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we are bound by ethical considerations.

We have a lot of obligations as appraisers but our chief duty is to our clients. Generally, for a regular residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. 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 should get it from your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate figures appropriate to the parameters of the report, attaining and sustaining an appropriate 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 Collier Residential Appraisal, Inc..

Appraisers can also have fiduciary obligations to third parties, including homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Those third parties normally are defined in scope of the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is only to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the assignment.

There are also ethical duties that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must backup their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Collier Residential Appraisal, Inc. takes very seriously.

We meet or beat the industry standards and mandates set in place for professional behavior. We won't accept anything less from ourselves. Doing assignments 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. We don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal industries most important rule, because it would tend to make appraisers raise the value of homes or properties to increase their fee. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unethical practices may be defined by state law or professional societies that the 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 diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident we are working hard to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

With Collier Residential Appraisal, Inc., you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, honest service.