a la mode upholds the utmost professional ethics

Typically, appraising a long term career. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. So it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can definitely be called a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by ethical considerations.

An appraiser's primary obligation is to their client. Typically, in residential practice, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers have certain duties of confidentiality to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you want to obtain a copy of an appraisal report, you normally have to get it from your lender. Other obligations also include, numerical accuracy depending on the scope of the assignment, acquiring and sustaining a respectable level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Maintaining high ethics and client confidentiality is just normal course of business for us at a la mode.

Appraisers will sometimes need to consider the interests of third parties, including homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Normally the third parties are clearly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is limited to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the assignment.

Appraisers also have duties outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must be able to produce their work files for at least five years - at a la mode you can rest assured that we abide by that rule.

When working on an appraisal, we follow the highest ethical standards possible. Doing orders on contingency fees is not something we can consider That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal industries biggest no-no, because it would tend to make appraisers up the value of homes or properties to increase their paycheck. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unprofessional practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states a violation in ethics 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 diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can rest easy knowing we are going above and beyond to objectively determine the home or property value.

As soon as you engage a la mode 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.