Appraising is a profession and appraisers are licensed professionals.  In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by ethical considerations.

   An appraiser's primary responsibilty is to his or her client.  Normally, for lending purposes, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal, as the appraisal is needed to help decide whether the lender will make the mortgage loan.  Appraisers are required to have a fiduciary duty of confidentiality to their clients.  As a homeowner, if you want a copy of your appraisal report, you normally have to request it through your lender.  It is unethical for an appraiser to provide details of the appraisal to a homeowner without the lender's (client) authorization.

   As with mortgage lending, an appraiser has certain duties of confidentiality with other clients who order an appraisal for other purposes, such as divorces, estates, collateral, etc.  For these assignments, it is also unethical for an appraiser to provide details of the appraisal to other parties without the authorization of the client.  

   Appraisers have obligations of numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, an obligation to attain and maintain a high level of competency and education, and must generally conduct him or herself as a professional.  We take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

   Appraisers may also have fiduciary obligations to third parties, such as homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others.  Those third parties normally are spelled out in the appraisal assignment itself.  An appraiser's fiduciary duty is limited to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based upon the scope of work or other written parameters of the assignment.

   The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) states that it is unethical for an appraiser to accept 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 objectivelty determine the home or property value. 

   Andreini Appraisal Services assures 100 percent ethical, professional service.