For honest and ethical appraisals, count on Koller Appraisals, LLC

We think of what we do as a profession. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. That's why it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can definitely be dubbed a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we must follow strict ethical considerations.

We have a lot of obligations as appraisers but our primary duty is to our clients. Most of the time, for a normal residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers have certain duties of privacy to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you want a copy of an appraisal report, you should obtain it through your lender. Other responsibilities also include, numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, acquiring and maintaining a particular level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at Koller Appraisals, LLC, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers will regularly be required to consider the interests of third parties, such as homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are listed in scope of the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is only to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the order.

Appraisers also have rules outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Koller Appraisals, LLC takes very seriously.

We meet or beat the industry standards and rules set in place for professional behavior. We can't accept anything less from ourselves. Doing assignments on contingency fees is not something we can consider That is, we can'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 perhaps the appraisal industries most important rule, because it would tend to make appraisers increase the value of homes or properties to increase their fee. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other improper practices may be established by state law or professional societies to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines unethical behavior as accepting 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 diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can rest easy knowing we are doing everything we can to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

With Koller Appraisals, LLC, you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, professional service.