Lutz Appraisals provides honest and ethical appraisals for Weld County

Honesty and Integrity: Lutz Appraisals

Appraising is generally a long term career. 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 definitely be called a profession as opposed to 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. Generally, in residential practice, the lender (or an agent of the lender) places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. It's important to know that a lot of elements relating to an assignment are to be shared with the appraiser's client. So, as a homeowner, if you desire a copy of an appraisal report, you generally have to obtain it through your lender instead of the appraiser.

Other obligations include accurate figures appropriate to the scope of the assignment, reaching and sustaining a respectable level of competency and education, and naturally, the appraiser must bear a professional demeanor. Here at Lutz Appraisals, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

Appraisers will regularly need to consider the interests of third parties, such as homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Those third parties normally are defined in scope of the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is limited to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the order.


	Lutz Appraisals has an established track record for completing appraisals with the highest of ethics. Contact us today to learn more.

There are also ethical standards that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must backup their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Lutz Appraisals takes very seriously.

When working on an order, we follow the highest ethical standards possible. Accepting orders based on contingency fees is not something we can consider. That means we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and base our pay upon coming up with a particular value conclusion. There's a definite conflict of interest if an appraiser can report an unsubstantiated value and then get paid more money! We just don't do it.

Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (or simply "USPAP") explicitly 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", or "the amount of a value opinion" as well as other situations. We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be at ease knowing we are doing everything we can to get you an accurate home or property value.

As soon as you request an appraisal from Lutz Appraisals, we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the honesty and integrity we're known for.