Clark Appraisal Services provides honest and ethical appraisals for Wise County

Honesty and Integrity: Clark Appraisal Services

We consider what we do as a profession. The rigors of becoming 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 unquestionably be called a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by ethical considerations.

An appraiser's main obligation is to their client. Typically, for a regular residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal, and often the appraisal is ordered by a third party the lender has brought in to maintain independence. Subsequently, appraisers have certain duties of privacy to their clients, plus strict rules and regulations that must be followed. So, as a homeowner, if you desire to obtain a copy of an appraisal report, you normally have to request it from your lender instead of the appraiser.

Other responsibilities include numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, attaining and maintaining a particular level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at Clark Appraisal Services, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

In some cases appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Typically the third parties are explicitly 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 order.


	Clark Appraisal Services has worked hard for its reputation for completing appraisals with the highest of ethics. To learn more, contact us.

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 at least five years - something else Clark Appraisal Services takes very seriously.

We require the highest professional integrity possible from ourselves. Accepting assignments where our fee is dependent on our value conclusion is not something we can consider. That is, we can't agree to do an appraisal report and collect the fee only if the loan closes. Anyone should be able to see that inflating a value to achieve a higher fee is unethical!

Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice clearly 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", or "the amount of a value opinion" in addition to other situations We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are doing everything we can to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

When you engage Clark Appraisal Services, we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the business principles we're known for.