Honesty and Integrity: Conway & Associates

We think of our business as a profession. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. That's why it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be considered a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we have a strict ethical code.

As appraisers our main obligation is to his or her client. Normally, in residential practice, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Certain matters pertaining to an assignment can only be discussed with an appraiser's client. As a a homeowner, if you want to review the appraisal document, you should get it through your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate figures appropriate to the scope of the assignment, reaching and sustaining an adequate level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at Conway & Associates, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

There are some scenarios in which appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Typically the third parties are explicitly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is only to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the assignment.

There are also ethical rules that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must store their work files for at least five years - at Conway & Associates you can rest assured that we adhere to that rule.

We meet or beat the industry standards and rules set in place for ethics. We won't 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 don't do assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal professions most important rule, because it would invite appraisal fraud since increasing the value of the home would increase the their paycheck. We don't do that. Other improper practices may be established by state law or professional organizations that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states 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 going above and beyond to objectively determine the home or property value.

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