For honest and ethical appraisals, trust Covington Consulting & Appraising

We consider our our business a profession. 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 definitely be considered a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by ethical considerations.

We have quite a few obligations as appraisers but our chief duty is to our clients. Most of the time, for a normal residential appraisal, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Certain matters pertaining to an assignment can only be discussed with an appraiser's client. As a 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, accurate calculations appropriate to the parameters of the report, acquiring and sustaining an appropriate level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Maintaining high ethics is just normal course of business for us at Covington Consulting & Appraising.

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

There are also ethical standards that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must store their work files for a minimum of five years - at Covington Consulting & Appraising you can rest assured that we adhere to that rule.

We require the highest ethical standards possible from ourselves. Working on assignments that contingency fees is never an option. That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. We can't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal professions most important rule, because it would invite appraisal fraud since raising the value of the home would raise the their paycheck. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unprofessional practices may be established by state law or professional societies to which an 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," 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.

With Covington Consulting & Appraising, you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, professional service.