For honest and ethical appraisals, rely on Walker & Associates

An appraiser's primary responsibility is to their client. Normally, for a regular residential appraisal, the lender (or an agent of the lender) places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Certain matters pertaining to an assignment are to be shared with the appraiser's client. So, as a homeowner, if you want to obtain a copy of an appraisal report, you generally should request it from your lender instead of the appraiser.

Other obligations include numerical accuracy depending on the scope of the assignment, reaching and sustaining a respectable level of competency and education, and naturally, the appraiser must bear a professional demeanor. Here at Walker & Associates, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

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

	Walker & Associates has an established reputation for completing competent and ethically superior appraisals. Contact us today to learn more.

There are also ethical duties that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must be able to produce their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Walker & Associates takes very seriously.

Walker & Associates holds itself to the industry standards and mandates set in place for professional behavior. We can't accept anything less from ourselves. Accepting orders where our fee is dependent on our value conclusion is never an option. That means we can't agree to do an appraisal report and collect the fee only if the loan closes. There's a definite conflict of interest if an appraiser can report a greater value with the reward of getting paid more money! This isn't how we operate.

Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice 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", or "the amount of a value opinion" as well as other situations. We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are working hard to objectively determine the home or property value.

With Walker & Associates, you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, honest service.