Wilcox Appraisals, LLC provides honest and ethical appraisals for Orange County

Wilcox Appraisals, LLC upholds the highest professional ethics

We consider our job as a profession. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have become more difficult than ever before. So it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can unquestionably be considered a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we must follow strict ethical considerations.

We have many obligations as appraisers, but our main duty is 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. It's important to know that certain details relating to an assignment are to be discussed with the appraiser's client. So, as a homeowner, if you would like to obtain a copy of the appraisal document, you normally have to obtain it from your lender and not the appraiser.

Other responsibilities include accurate calculations appropriate to the scope of the report, acquiring and maintaining a respectable level of competency and education, and naturally, the appraiser must bear a professional demeanor. Here at Wilcox Appraisals, LLC, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

In some cases appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Those third parties normally are spelled out 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 things in the framework of the order.


	Wilcox Appraisals, LLC has worked hard for its track record for completing appraisals with the highest of ethics. To learn more, contact us.

Appraisers also have rules 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 Wilcox Appraisals, LLC makes a part of their standard routine.

We meet or exceed the industry standards and guidelines set in place for professional behavior. We won't accept anything less from ourselves. Doing assignments based on contingency fees is not something we can consider. That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and collect payment on the contingency of the loan closing. It should be apparent to anyone that inflating a value to achieve essentially a bigger fee is unethical!

Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (or simply "USPAP") clearly 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", or "the amount of a value opinion" as well as other situations. We follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident we are working hard to get you an accurate home or property value.

With Wilcox Appraisals, LLC, you won't have any doubts that you're receiving 100 percent ethical, honest service.