For honest and ethical appraisals, rely on Real Estate by Jenn, LLC

We think of what we do as a profession. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever in the past. So it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can certainly be dubbed a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we are bound by ethical considerations.

We have a lot of responsibilities as appraisers but above everything we answer to our clients. Normally, 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 want to obtain a copy of an appraisal report, you generally have to get it through your lender. Other obligations also include, numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, acquiring and keeping a certain level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Maintaining high ethics and client confidentiality is standard operating procedure for us at Real Estate by Jenn, LLC.

Appraisers may regularly have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Generally the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is restricted to those third parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the assignment.

There are also ethical rules that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of five years - at Real Estate by Jenn, LLC you can rest assured that we stick to that rule.

We meet or beat the industry standards and guidelines set in place for ethics. We won't accept anything less from ourselves. We have a responsibility not to do assignments on contingency fees. 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 biggest no-no, because it would invite fraudulent practices since raising the value of the home would increase the their paycheck. We don't do that. Other unprofessional practices may be defined by state law or professional societies to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines 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 follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident we are doing everything we can to objectively determine the home or property value.

With Real Estate by Jenn, LLC, you won't have any doubts that you're receiving 100 percent ethical, professional service.