For honest and ethical appraisals, count on Dodson Appraisal, LLC.

Generally, appraising a long term career. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever in the past. That's why it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can certainly be called a profession as opposed to a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we have a strict ethical code.

As appraisers our chief obligation is to their client. More often than not, for a standard residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers are required to only disclosing information to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you want to obtain a copy of the appraisal document, you should get it from your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate sums appropriate to the nature of the assignment, attaining and keeping an adequate level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at Dodson Appraisal, LLC. , we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

In some cases appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Normally the third parties are clearly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is only to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the job.

There are also ethical standards that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of five years - at Dodson Appraisal, LLC. you can rest assured that we stick to that rule.

Dodson Appraisal, LLC. holds itself to the industry standards and guidelines set in place for ethics. We can't accept anything less from ourselves. Doing assignments on contingency fees is never an option. That is, we can't agree to do an appraisal report and collect the fee only if the loan closes. We don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal professions biggest no-no, because it would invite fraudulent practices since raising the estimate of the home would inflate the their paycheck. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unethical practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines 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.

When you engage Dodson Appraisal, LLC. we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the an ethical approach with appraisals that we're known for.