Karen Castaneda maintains the utmost professional ethics

We think of our job as a profession. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. That's why it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can certainly be dubbed a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we are bound by ethical considerations.

We have quite a few responsibilities as appraisers but our chief duty is to our clients. Normally, for a normal residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal. Appraisers are required to only disclosing information to their clients, and as a homeowner, if you require to obtain a copy of an appraisal report, you should get it through your lender. Other obligations also include, accurate figures appropriate to the nature of the report, reaching and keeping a particular level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Karen Castaneda, we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers can frequently have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, buyers and sellers, 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 is aware of, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the job.

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 Karen Castaneda diligently adheres to.

When creating reports, we follow the highest ethical standards possible. Working on assignments that contingency fees is not something we can consider That is, we can't agree to do an appraisal report and get paid only if the loan closes. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is probably the appraisal industries biggest no-no, because it would tend to make appraisers increase the value of homes or properties to increase their fee. We set ourselves to a higher standard. Other unethical practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) also defines 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," as well as other situations. We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be at ease knowing we are doing everything we can to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

As soon as you engage Karen Castaneda we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the ethical handling of appraisals that we're known for.