Honesty and Integrity: Gold King Appraisals Inc.

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever in the past. That's why it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can certainly be dubbed a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we are bound by ethical considerations.

We have a lot of obligations as appraisers but above everything we answer to our clients. Normally, for a typical residential appraisal, 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 would like to obtain a copy of the appraisal document, you should get it from your lender. Other responsibilities also include, accurate sums appropriate to the scope of the assignment, reaching and maintaining an appropriate level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Gold King Appraisals Inc., we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers will frequently be obligated to consider the interests of third parties, such as homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Generally the third parties are clearly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is limited to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the order.

There are also ethical standards that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must store their work files for a minimum of five years - at Gold King Appraisals Inc. you can rest assured that we abide by that rule.

When busy with an order, we follow the highest ethical standards possible. We don't do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes. We don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal industries most important rule, because it would tend to make appraisers increase the value of homes or properties to increase their fee. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unethical practices may be established 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 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," as well as other situations. We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident we are working hard to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

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