For honest and ethical appraisals, trust Crescent Appraisal Group, Inc.

Appraising is typically a long term career. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever in the past. So it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can certainly be considered a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we have a strict ethical code.

We have many responsibilities as appraisers but above everything we answer to our clients. Typically, in residential practice, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Appraisers have certain duties of privacy to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you want to review an appraisal report, you normally have to obtain it through your lender. Other responsibilities also include, numerical accuracy depending on the scope of the assignment, attaining and keeping a respectable level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Crescent Appraisal Group, Inc., we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers may also have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Those third parties normally are spelled out in scope of the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is restricted to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the order.

There are also ethical duties that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must backup their work files for at least five years - something else Crescent Appraisal Group, Inc. diligently adheres to.

We meet or beat the industry standards and mandates set in place for professional behavior. We refuse to accept anything less from ourselves. Doing orders on contingency fees is never an option. That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal professions most important rule, because it would tend to make appraisers inflate the value of homes or properties to increase their fee. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unprofessional practices may be established by state law or professional societies to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines unethical behavior as the acceptance 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 follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident we are going above and beyond to objectively determine the home or property value.

With Crescent Appraisal Group, Inc., you won't have any doubts that you're receiving 100 percent ethical, honest service.