Honesty and Integrity: David Meisenholder

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever in the past. That's why it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be called a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we must follow strict ethical considerations.

We have quite a few obligations as appraisers but our main duty is to our clients. More often than not, for a normal 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 would like a copy of the appraisal document, you should get it through your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate calculations appropriate to the parameters of the assignment, attaining and keeping a certain level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at David Meisenholder, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers may also have fiduciary obligations to third parties, such as homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Normally the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is restricted to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the order.

Appraisers also have duties outside of boundaries of with whom we share information For example, appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of five years - at David Meisenholder you can rest assured that we adhere to that rule.

We demand the highest professional integrity possible from ourselves. Doing assignments on contingency fees is never an option. That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. We don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal professions most important rule, because it would tend to make appraisers increase the value of homes or properties to increase their paycheck. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other improper practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations that the 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 diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can rest easy knowing we are doing everything we can to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

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