Paragon Valuations maintains the highest professional ethics

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. 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 unquestionably be considered a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we must follow strict ethical considerations.

For an appraiser the main obligation is to his or her client. Normally, in residential practice, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers have certain duties of privacy to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you require to obtain a copy of an appraisal report, you normally have to obtain it through your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate figures appropriate to the parameters of the assignment, reaching and sustaining a particular level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at Paragon Valuations, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers can sometimes have fiduciary obligations 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 duty is limited to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the assignment.

There are also ethical rules that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must store their work files for at least five years - something else Paragon Valuations diligently adheres to.

Paragon Valuations holds itself to the industry standards and rules set in place for ethics. We won't accept anything less from ourselves. We have a responsibility not to do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we don'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 most important rule, because it would invite appraisal fraud since increasing the estimate of the home would up the their paycheck. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other improper practices may be established by state law or professional societies that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states 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," as well as other situations. We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident we are going above and beyond to objectively determine the home or property value.

As soon as you order an appraisal from Paragon Valuations we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.