Honesty and Integrity: CUNNINGHAM REALTY ADVISORY GROUP

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. That's why it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be called a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we have a strict ethical code.

An appraiser's chief responsibility is to his or her client. Most of the time, in residential practice, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers are privy to a lot of data, and like an attorney can only discuss many matters with their client. As a homeowner, if you desire to review the appraisal document, you generally have to obtain it through your lender. Other obligations also include, numerical accuracy depending on the scope of the assignment, attaining and sustaining a particular level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at CUNNINGHAM REALTY ADVISORY GROUP, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

There are some scenarios in which appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are listed in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is only to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the job.

There are also ethical rules that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must keep their work files for at least five years - at CUNNINGHAM REALTY ADVISORY GROUP you can rest assured that we stick to that rule.

We demand the highest professional integrity possible from ourselves. Working on orders that contingency fees is never an option. That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal industries most important rule, because it would tend to make appraisers inflate the value of homes or properties to increase their paycheck. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unprofessional practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations 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 be confident we are working hard to objectively determine the home or property value.

With CUNNINGHAM REALTY ADVISORY GROUP, you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, honest service.