For honest and ethical appraisals, trust Lewis Appraisal Services, Llc.

We think of our job as a profession. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. So it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be called a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by an ethical code.

As appraisers our chief obligation is to his or her client. Generally, in residential practice, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers are required to only disclosing information to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you want a copy of an appraisal report, you should request it through your lender. Other responsibilities also include, accurate sums appropriate to the nature of the report, acquiring and keeping a certain level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at Lewis Appraisal Services, Llc., we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers may also have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Normally the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is only to those third parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the job.

Appraisers also have duties outside of boundaries of with whom we share information For example, appraisers must be able to produce their work files for a minimum of five years - at Lewis Appraisal Services, Llc. you can rest assured that we adhere to that rule.

We meet or beat the industry standards and mandates set in place for professional behavior. We won't accept anything less from ourselves. We don't do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we can'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 professions most important rule, because it would tend to make appraisers up the value of homes or properties to increase their fee. We don't do that. 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," in addition to 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.

With Lewis Appraisal Services, Llc., you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, professional service.