Appraiser Ethics
Appraisal is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. In our field as with any profession we are bound by ethical considerations.
While an appraiser's primary responsibility is to his or her client, protecting the public trust is also very important. It’s important to note that the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), in its Preamble, states the appraiser’s responsibility is to protect the overall public trust. We take this seriously. Our job is not to “make a deal” work.
Normally, in residential practice, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal to decide whether to make the mortgage loan. Appraisers have certain duties of confidentiality to their clients -- as a homeowner, if you want a copy of an appraisal report, you normally have to request it through your lender -- obligations of numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, an obligation to attain and maintain a certain level of competency and education, and must generally conduct him or herself as a professional. Here, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.
