Honesty and Integrity: Andrew Cretti

By and large, appraising a long term career. The rigors of becoming 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 certainly be called a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we have a strict ethical code.

An appraiser's chief obligation is to their client. More often than not, in residential practice, the lender places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Certain matters pertaining to an assignment can only be discussed with an appraiser's client. As a a homeowner, if you require to review an appraisal report, you generally have to get it through your lender. Other obligations also include, numerical accuracy depending on the scope of the assignment, reaching and sustaining a certain level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Andrew Cretti, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers will frequently need to consider the interests of third parties, including homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Typically the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is limited 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 be able to produce their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Andrew Cretti makes a part of their standard routine.

We meet or beat the industry standards and guidelines set in place for professional behavior. We won't accept anything less from ourselves. We don't do assignments on contingency fees. That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. We can't do assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal professions most important rule, because it would invite fraudulent practices since raising the estimate of the home would up the fee. We don't do that. Other unprofessional practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations to which an appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also states 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 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 Andrew Cretti, you can be assured of 100 percent ethical, honest service.