Honesty and Integrity: Morgan Appraisals

Typically, appraising a long term career. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. So it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be called a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we have a strict ethical code.

As appraisers our primary obligation 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 confidentiality for their clients a homeowner, if you would like a copy of an appraisal report, you generally have to request it from your lender. Other responsibilities also include, numerical accuracy depending on the assignment's nature, attaining and maintaining a certain level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at Morgan Appraisals, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers will often be obligated to consider the interests of third parties, such as homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Generally the third parties are clearly 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 keep their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Morgan Appraisals makes a part of their standard routine.

Morgan Appraisals holds itself to the industry standards and rules set in place for ethics. We can't accept anything less from ourselves. We never do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes. We don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal professions most important rule, because it would invite fraudulent practices since increasing the estimate of the home would raise the fee. We don't do that. Other unethical practices may be established by state law or professional organizations 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 follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are doing everything we can to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

As soon as you request an appraisal from Morgan Appraisals 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.