Honesty and Integrity: Kenneth Wright & Assoc

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. So it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can certainly be called a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by an ethical code.

We have many responsibilities as appraisers but first and foremost we answer to our clients. Normally, in residential practice, 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 desire a copy of an appraisal report, you normally have to request it through your lender. Other obligations also include, numerical accuracy depending on the scope of the assignment, acquiring and sustaining a respectable 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 Kenneth Wright & Assoc.

Appraisers will often need to consider the interests of third parties, such as homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Normally the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is only to those parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the job.

There are also ethical standards that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must store their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Kenneth Wright & Assoc diligently adheres to.

Kenneth Wright & Assoc holds itself to the industry standards and mandates set in place for professional behavior. We refuse to accept anything less from ourselves. We don't 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 can't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal industries most important rule, because it would invite appraisal fraud since raising the estimate of the home would increase the fee. We don't do that. Other improper 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 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," as well as other situations. We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are working hard to objectively determine the home or property value.

When you order an appraisal from Kenneth Wright & Assoc we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.