ARK Appraisal Services, LLC provides honest and ethical appraisals for Saint Louis County

ARK Appraisal Services, LLC upholds the highest professional ethics

We think of our business as a profession. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. So it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can certainly be dubbed a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we have a strict ethical code.

We have many responsibilities as appraisers, but first and foremost we answer to our clients. Typically, in residential practice, the lender (or an agent of the lender) places the order to the appraiser, becoming the appraiser's client. Certain details relating to an assignment are to be discussed exclusively with the appraiser's client. So, as a homeowner, if you desire a copy of an appraisal report, you normally have to get it through your lender instead of the appraiser.

Other responsibilities include numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, attaining and maintaining a respectable level of competency and education, and the appraiser must conduct him or herself as a professional. Here at ARK Appraisal Services, LLC, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

There are some scenarios in which appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, both sellers and buyers, or others. Typically the third parties are clearly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary responsibility is restricted to those parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the job.


	ARK Appraisal Services, LLC has worked hard for its reputation for producing appraisals with the highest of ethics. To learn more, contact us.

Appraisers also have duties outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of five years - at ARK Appraisal Services, LLC you can rest assured that we abide by that rule.

We require the highest professional integrity possible from ourselves. Working on orders based on contingency fees is never an option. That means we can't agree to do an appraisal report and base our pay upon coming up with a particular value conclusion. There's an obvious conflict of interest if an appraiser can report an unsubstantiated value and then get paid more money! We just don't do it.

Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice clearly 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", or "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 going above and beyond to objectively determine the home or property value.

As soon as you order an appraisal from ARK Appraisal Services, LLC, we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the business principles we're known for.