For honest and ethical appraisals, rely on Bittner Appraisal Group LLC

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 in this day and age that real estate appraisal can certainly be called a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we are bound by ethical considerations.

We have many responsibilities as appraisers but our primary duty is to our clients. Typically, in residential practice, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers are required to only disclosing information to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you want to review the appraisal document, you generally have to request it from your lender. Other responsibilities also include, numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, acquiring and sustaining a particular level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Maintaining high ethics is standard operating procedure for us at Bittner Appraisal Group LLC.

In some cases appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Those third parties normally are spelled out in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is limited to those third parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the order.

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 - something else Bittner Appraisal Group LLC diligently adheres to.

We demand the highest ethical standards possible from ourselves. Working on assignments that contingency fees is never an option. 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 probably the appraisal industries biggest taboo, because it would invite appraisal fraud since increasing the estimate of the home would raise the their paycheck. We don't do that. Other unprofessional practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations to which an 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," in addition to other situations We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can rest easy knowing we are working hard to objectively determine the home or property value.

As soon as you request an appraisal from Bittner Appraisal Group LLC we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the an ethical approach with appraisals that we're known for.