Lovell Appraisal Group upholds the highest professional ethics

Appraising is, by and large, a long term career. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. So it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can certainly be called a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we have a strict ethical code.

An appraiser's primary obligation is to his or her client. Most of the time, in residential practice, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers are required to only disclosing information to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you desire to review an appraisal report, you should get it through your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate calculations appropriate to the nature of the report, acquiring and maintaining an adequate level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Maintaining high ethics and client confidentiality is standard operating procedure for us at Lovell Appraisal Group.

In some cases appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are defined in scope of the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is limited to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the assignment.

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 - at Lovell Appraisal Group you can rest assured that we abide by that rule.

We require the highest professional integrity possible from ourselves. We never do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we can't agree to do an appraisal report and collect the fee only if the loan closes. We don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal industries most important rule, because it would tend to make appraisers increase the value of homes or properties to increase their fee. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other improper practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations that the appraiser belongs.

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," in addition to other situations We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be at ease knowing we are working hard to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

When you engage Lovell Appraisal Group we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.