Bell Appraisal Services provides honest and ethical appraisals for Kern County

For honest and ethical appraisals, rely on Bell Appraisal Services

Typically, appraising is a long term career. Requirements to become 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 definitely be considered a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we must follow strict ethical considerations.

We have a great deal of responsibilities as appraisers, but our main duty is to our clients. Generally, for a standard residential appraisal, the lender (or an agent of the lender) places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Certain matters relating to an assignment are to be shared exclusively with the appraiser's client. So, as a homeowner, if you desire a copy of the appraisal document, you generally have to obtain it via your lender and not the appraiser.

Other obligations include numerical accuracy depending on the assignment's nature, attaining and maintaining a respectable level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Here at Bell Appraisal Services, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

In some cases appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Those third parties normally are defined in 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 job.


	Bell Appraisal Services has an established reputation for producing competent and ethically superior appraisals. Contact us today to learn more.

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 - at Bell Appraisal Services you can rest assured that we adhere to that rule.

We demand the highest professional integrity possible from ourselves. Working on orders where our fee is dependent on our value conclusion is not something we can consider. That is, we don't agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. There's certainly a conflict of interest if an appraiser can report a greater value with the reward of getting paid more money! We set ourselves to a higher standard.

Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (or simply "USPAP") clearly states 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" in addition to other situations We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be at ease knowing we are going above and beyond to objectively determine the home or property value.

With Bell Appraisal Services, you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, honest service.