For honest and ethical appraisals, count on Riedmueller Appraisal Services, PLLC

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever in the past. So 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 must follow strict ethical considerations.

We have a great deal of responsibilities as appraisers but first and foremost we answer to our clients. Generally, for a typical residential appraisal, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers have certain duties of confidentiality to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you want to review an appraisal report, you normally have to obtain it through your lender. Other responsibilities also include, numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, attaining and sustaining a certain level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Riedmueller Appraisal Services, PLLC, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

In some cases appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Those third parties normally are listed in scope of the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is restricted to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework 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 - something else Riedmueller Appraisal Services, PLLC takes very seriously.

Riedmueller Appraisal Services, PLLC holds itself to the industry standards and mandates set in place for ethics. We refuse to accept anything less from ourselves. We don't do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal industries most important rule, because it would tend to make appraisers raise the value of homes or properties to increase their fee. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unethical 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 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 working hard to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

As soon as you request an appraisal from Riedmueller Appraisal Services, PLLC we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.