DataMaster upholds the highest professional ethics

We think of what we do as a profession. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. That's why it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can certainly be dubbed a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we have a strict ethical code.

For an appraiser the primary responsibility is to their client. Normally, 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 require to review an appraisal report, you should obtain it from your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate calculations appropriate to the nature of the report, acquiring and maintaining a particular level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at DataMaster, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers will frequently be required to consider the interests of third parties, including homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are defined in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is limited to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the order.

Appraisers also have duties outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must backup their work files for a minimum of five years - something else DataMaster takes very seriously.

DataMaster holds itself to the industry standards and rules set in place for professional behavior. We can't accept anything less from ourselves. Doing assignments on contingency fees is never an option. That is, we can'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 professions biggest taboo, because it would tend to make appraisers up 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," in addition to other situations We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be at ease knowing we are doing everything we can to objectively determine the home or property value.

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