Citywide Services Chicago Real Estate Appraisers provides honest and ethical appraisals for Cook County

Honesty and Integrity: Citywide Services Real Estate Appraisers

Typically, appraising is a long term career. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. That's why it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can definitely be considered a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we are bound by an ethical code.

We have a lot of responsibilities as appraisers, but our primary duty is to our clients. More often than not, in residential practice, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal, and often the appraisal is ordered by a third party the lender has retained to maintain independence. Certain elements pertaining to an assignment are to be shared with the appraiser's client. So, as a homeowner, if you would like to review an appraisal report, you generally should request it from your lender.

Other responsibilities include accurate calculations appropriate to the nature of the report, reaching and keeping an appropriate level of competency and education, and naturally, the appraiser must bear a professional demeanor. Here at Citywide Services Chicago Real Estate Appraisers, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

There are some scenarios in which appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Normally the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is restricted to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the job.


	Citywide Services Chicago Real Estate Appraisers has an established track record for producing appraisals with the highest of ethics. To learn more, contact us.

There are also ethical duties that have nothing to do with whom we share information. For example, appraisers must backup their work files for at least five years - something else Citywide Services Chicago Real Estate Appraisers takes very seriously.

We demand the highest ethical standards possible from ourselves. Accepting orders based 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. It should be obvious that inflating a value to achieve what amounts to a bigger fee is unethical! We set ourselves to a higher standard.

Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (or simply "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", or "the amount of a value opinion" as well as other situations. We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are doing everything we can to objectively determine the home or property value.

As soon as you request an appraisal from Citywide Services Chicago Real Estate Appraisers, we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the business principles we're known for.