Passage Appraisal, LLC maintains the utmost professional ethics

Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. That's why it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be dubbed a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we have a strict ethical code.

We have quite a few obligations as appraisers but first and foremost we answer to our clients.

Generally, for a typical residential appraisal, the lender places the order with an appraiser who becomes the lender's client. Appraisers have rules and regulations they must follow, including confidentiality for their client.

Something often asked is whether you (the client) are able to obtain a copy of an appraisal report. 
The answer is YES. 

If the appraisal is a private one, your appraiser will e-mail you a copy. And if working with a lender, you are also able to ask the lending office for a copy as well.

After reaching and sustaining a respectable level of competency and education, appraisers must behave in a professional manner. Maintaining high ethics is standard operating procedure for:   Passage Appraisal, LLC.

There are some scenarios in which appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Generally the third parties are explicitly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is restricted to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the job.

Appraisers also have standards outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must be able to produce their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Passage Appraisal, LLC makes a standard routine.

Passage Appraisal, LLC holds itself to the industry standards and mandates set in place for ethics. We can't accept anything less from ourselves. We don't do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. Neither can we do assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal professions biggest taboo. It would tend to make appraisers increase the value of homes or properties in order to increase their paycheck. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Professional practices are defined by state law and professional organizations.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states unethical behavior 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," as well as other situations. We follow these rules to the letter which means you may rest easy knowing we are working hard to objectively determine the home or property value.

When you engage Passage Appraisal, LLC for an appraisal assignment, know that you'll be getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical appraisals we're known for.