For honest and ethical appraisals, rely on William Fletcher

We consider our what we do a profession. The rigors of becoming 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. As with any profession we must follow strict ethical considerations.

As appraisers our primary obligation is to his or her client. More often than not, in residential practice, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers are required to only disclosing information to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you require a copy of an appraisal report, you generally have to get it through your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate figures appropriate to the nature of the assignment, attaining and maintaining a certain level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at William Fletcher, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers will often need to consider the interests of third parties, including homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are spelled out in the appraisal assignment itself. 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.

Appraisers also have duties outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must backup their work files for a minimum of five years - at William Fletcher you can rest assured that we abide by that rule.

We require the highest ethical standards possible from ourselves. We never do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we are not able to 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 perhaps the appraisal professions most important rule, because it would tend to make appraisers raise the value of homes or properties to increase their fee. We don't do that. Other unethical practices may be defined by state law or professional societies 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 follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident we are doing everything we can to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

With William Fletcher, you won't have any doubts that you're receiving 100 percent ethical, honest service.