Honesty and Integrity: Canizales Appraisals, LLC

We think of our business as a profession. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. So it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be dubbed a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we are bound by an ethical code.

We have a great deal of obligations as appraisers but our main duty is to our clients. Most of the time, for a standard residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Certain matters pertaining to an assignment can only be discussed with an appraiser's client. As a a homeowner, if you require a copy of an appraisal report, you should request it from your lender. Other obligations also include, numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, reaching and keeping an adequate level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Maintaining high ethics is just normal course of business for us at Canizales Appraisals, LLC.

Appraisers may sometimes have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Normally the third parties are clearly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is restricted to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the order.

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

We require the highest ethical standards possible from ourselves. Working on assignments that contingency fees 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. We don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal industries biggest no-no, because it would tend to make appraisers increase the value of homes or properties to increase their fee. We don't do that. Other unethical practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states a violation in ethics 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 working hard to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

As soon as you request an appraisal from Canizales Appraisals, LLC we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.