Honesty and Integrity: Marsh Appraisal Service

We think of our business as a profession. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. So it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be called a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we have a strict ethical code.

As appraisers our main responsibility is to his or her client. Typically, 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 would like a copy of an appraisal report, you normally have to get it through your lender. Other responsibilities also include, numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, acquiring and maintaining an adequate level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Maintaining high ethics and client confidentiality is is what we do everyday at Marsh Appraisal Service.

Appraisers will often need to consider the interests of third parties, including homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are defined in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is restricted to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the assignment.

There are also ethical standards that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must be able to produce their work files for a minimum of five years - at Marsh Appraisal Service you can rest assured that we abide by that rule.

We only perform to the highest ethical standards possible. We don't do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we can't agree to do an appraisal report and collect the fee only if the loan closes. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal professions most important rule, because it would invite appraisal fraud since raising the estimate of the home would inflate 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 states unethical behavior 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," in addition to other situations We follow these rules to the letter which means you can rest easy knowing we are doing everything we can to objectively determine the home or property value.

As soon as you engage Marsh Appraisal Service we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.