Honesty and Integrity: Tellier Associates (617) 945-1800

We consider our our business a profession. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever in the past. That's why it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can definitely be considered a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we are bound by ethical considerations.

The appraiser's main responsibility is to his or her client. Normally, for a normal residential appraisal, 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 want to obtain a copy of an appraisal report, you should obtain it from your lender. Other obligations also include, numerical accuracy depending on the scope of the assignment, reaching and sustaining an adequate level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Maintaining high ethics is is what we do everyday at Tellier Associates (617) 945-1800.

Appraisers may also have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Normally the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary roll is restricted to those parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the assignment.

Appraisers also have duties outside of boundaries of with whom we share information For example, appraisers must backup their work files for at least five years - at Tellier Associates (617) 945-1800 you can rest assured that we abide by that rule.

When creating reports, we follow the highest ethical standards possible. We never 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. Another practice that's restricted is doing assignments on percentage fees. That is perhaps the appraisal industries biggest no-no, because it would tend to make appraisers raise the value of homes or properties to increase their paycheck. We don't do that. Other improper practices may be defined by state law or professional organizations that the appraiser belongs.

The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (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," "the amount of a value opinion," in addition to other situations We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be assured we are doing everything we can to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

As soon as you request an appraisal from Tellier Associates (617) 945-1800 we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the an ethical approach with appraisals that we're known for.