Blue Ridge Appraisal Co., L.L.C. provides honest and ethical appraisals for Staunton City County

Honesty and Integrity: Blue Ridge Appraisal Co., L.L.C.

Appraising is typically a long term career. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever before. That's why it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can certainly be dubbed a profession rather than a trade. As with any profession we are bound by an ethical code.

The appraiser's chief responsibility is to their client. Typically, for a normal residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal, and often the appraisal is ordered by a third party the lender has contracted in order to maintain independence. It follows that appraisers are privy to a lot of information, and like an attorney, can only discuss many of these matters with their client. As a homeowner, if you desire to review the appraisal document, you generally have to obtain it via your lender.

Other obligations include accurate figures appropriate to the nature of the report, reaching and maintaining an adequate level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at Blue Ridge Appraisal Co., L.L.C., we take these ethical responsibilities very to heart.

Appraisers may often have fiduciary obligations to third parties, including homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Normally the third parties are clearly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is limited to those third parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the assignment.

Blue Ridge Appraisal Co., L.L.C. has an established reputation for completing appraisals with the highest of ethics. To learn more, contact us.


Appraisers also have standards outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must be able to produce their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Blue Ridge Appraisal Co., L.L.C. diligently adheres to.

We require the highest ethical standards possible from ourselves. Working on orders based on contingency fees is not something we can consider. In other words, 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 and then get paid more money! We set ourselves to a higher standard.

Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (or simply "USPAP") explicitly 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", or "the amount of a value opinion" in addition to other situations We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident we are working hard to provide an unbiased determination of the home or property value.

When you order an appraisal from Blue Ridge Appraisal Co., L.L.C., we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the high ethical standards we're known for.