Goedker Appraisal Services maintains the highest professional ethics

Appraising is typically a long term career. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. That's why it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be dubbed a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we have a strict ethical code.

For an appraiser the chief responsibility is to his or her client. Most of the time, in residential practice, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Certain matters pertaining to an assignment can only be discussed with an appraiser's client. As a a homeowner, if you require to obtain a copy of an appraisal report, you should request it from your lender. Other responsibilities also include, accurate sums appropriate to the parameters of the report, attaining and sustaining a respectable level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at Goedker Appraisal Services, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

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

There are also ethical duties that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must backup their work files for at least five years - at Goedker Appraisal Services you can rest assured that we adhere to that rule.

We meet or beat the industry standards and mandates set in place for ethics. We won't accept anything less from ourselves. Working on assignments that contingency fees is never an option. That is, we can't agree to do an appraisal report and collect the fee only if the loan closes. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal professions biggest taboo, because it would tend to make appraisers raise the value of homes or properties to increase their paycheck. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other improper 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 be confident we are working hard to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

When you order an appraisal from Goedker Appraisal Services we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.