McMahon Appraisal Service upholds the utmost professional ethics

By and large, appraising a long term career. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. So it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be dubbed a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we must follow strict ethical considerations.

We have quite a few obligations as appraisers but our chief duty is to our clients. Most of the time, in residential practice, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers have certain duties of confidentiality to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you require to obtain a copy of the appraisal document, you normally have to get it from your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate sums appropriate to the nature of the assignment, acquiring and maintaining a particular level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at McMahon Appraisal Service, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

In some cases appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Normally the third parties are clearly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is only to those third parties who the appraiser is aware of, 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 store their work files for a minimum of five years - something else McMahon Appraisal Service makes a part of their standard routine.

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 don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal professions biggest no-no, because it would tend to make appraisers up 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 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 confident we are going above and beyond to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

With McMahon Appraisal Service, you won't have any doubts that you're getting 100 percent ethical, honest service.