VolkHaus Appraisals upholds the utmost professional ethics

We think of our business as a profession. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. So it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can definitely be dubbed a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we must follow strict ethical considerations.

As appraisers our main responsibility is to their client. Most of the time, for a standard residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers have rules and regulations they must follow, including keeping many matters private for their clients a homeowner, if you would like a copy of the appraisal document, you normally have to request it from your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate sums appropriate to the nature of the assignment, acquiring and keeping an appropriate level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at VolkHaus Appraisals, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers can also have fiduciary obligations to third parties, including homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Typically 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 written parameters of the order.

There are also ethical rules that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must store their work files for a minimum of five years - something else VolkHaus Appraisals takes very seriously.

We require the highest professional integrity possible from ourselves. Doing orders on contingency fees is never an option. That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal industries biggest taboo, because it would invite fraudulent practices since increasing the value of the home would inflate the their paycheck. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unprofessional practices may be established by state law or professional societies that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states 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," in addition to other situations We follow these rules to the letter which means you can rest easy knowing we are going above and beyond to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

With VolkHaus Appraisals, you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, honest service.