Appraiser Ethics

Appraisal is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by ethical considerations. These ethics include those stated in USPAP, which is Federal law, inforced by the state of Nevada.

An appraiser's primary responsibility is to his or her client.  Normally, in residential practice, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal, and appraisers have certain duties of confidentiality to their clients - obligations of numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, an obligation to attain and maintain a certain level of competency and education, and must generally conduct him or herself as a professional. At Gardner Appraisals, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

As a homeowner, if you want a copy of an appraisal report, you normally have to request it through your lender.

There are ethical rules that have nothing to do with clients and others.  Appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of five years. 

Gardner Appraisals only performs to the highest ethical standards possible.  We don't do assignments on contingency fees.  That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes.  We don't do assignments on percentage fees.  That is probably the appraisal profession’s biggest no-no, because it would tend to make appraisers inflate the value of homes or properties to increase their paycheck.  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 defines as unethical 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," and other things.  This means you can be assured we are working to objectively determine the home or property value.

You can be assured of 100 percent ethical, professional service.