John A. McCann upholds the highest professional ethicsBy and large, appraising a long term career. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever in the past. 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 must follow strict ethical considerations. We have quite a few responsibilities as appraisers but our main duty is to our clients. Typically, in residential practice, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers have rules and regulations they must follow, including confidentiality for their clients a homeowner, if you desire to obtain a copy of the appraisal document, you generally have to get it from your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate sums appropriate to the nature of the report, attaining and keeping a certain level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at John A. McCann, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart. ![]() John A. McCann has an established reputation for performing competent and ethically superior appraisals. To learn more Contact us Appraisers will frequently be obligated to consider the interests of third parties, including homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are spelled out in scope of the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is only to those parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the order. There are also ethical rules that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must backup their work files for at least five years - at John A. McCann you can rest assured that we abide by that rule. We meet or beat the industry standards and rules set in place for professional behavior. We refuse to accept anything less from ourselves. Doing orders on contingency fees is not something we can consider 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 perhaps the appraisal industries most important rule, because it would invite fraudulent practices since increasing the value of the home would increase the fee. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other improper practices may be defined by state law or professional societies to which an appraiser belongs. The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines unethical behavior 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," in addition to other situations We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be at ease knowing we are going above and beyond to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value. When you engage John A. McCann we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for. |