Brian Hawley Appraisals provides honest and ethical appraisals for Lehigh County

Honesty and Integrity: Brian Hawley Appraisals

We consider our business as a profession. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. So it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can certainly be called a profession as opposed to a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by ethical considerations.

The appraiser's main obligation is to their client. Most of the time, for a standard residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal, and often the appraisal is ordered by a third party the lender has contracted in order to maintain independence. It follows that appraisers are typically limited to only disclosing their findings to their clients, so as a homeowner, if you would like to obtain a copy of the appraisal document, you normally have to obtain it from your lender and not the appraiser.

Other responsibilities include accurate calculations appropriate to the nature of the assignment, acquiring and keeping a respectable level of competency and education, and naturally, the appraiser must bear a professional demeanor. Here at Brian Hawley Appraisals, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers will often be required to consider the interests of third parties, such as homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Generally the third parties are clearly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is limited to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the job.


	Brian Hawley Appraisals has worked hard for its track record for completing competent and ethically superior appraisals. Contact us today to learn more.

Appraisers also have standards outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Brian Hawley Appraisals diligently adheres to.

Brian Hawley Appraisals holds itself to the industry standards and rules set in place for professional behavior. We can't accept anything less from ourselves. Doing orders based on contingency fees is not something we can consider. That is, we can't agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. There's a definite conflict of interest if an appraiser can report a greater value with the reward of getting paid more money!

Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice also describes unethical behavior 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 confident we are going above and beyond to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

When you request an appraisal from Brian Hawley Appraisals, we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the business principles we're known for.