I am the current Chair of the Ethics Committee for the International Society of Appraisers, and the committee members and I have been presented with quite a few different complaints over the years regarding members of our organization. I have come to the conclusion that most of these complaints could have been avoided with just a few precautions on the part of the appraisers. I'm sure these issues are covered in the core courses taught by our instructors, but it never hurts to be reminded of basic guidelines in our profession.
1. A well-written contract, signed by both parties, is the best insurance against problems later in the appraisal process. If you don't have one, ask someone who does, or get an attorney to draft one for you. My first question is if there is a contract when I start investigating a complaint, and I am amazed at the number of professional appraisers who omit this important step. If you have a contract specifying exactly what you will do, the client doesn't have to guess what comes next, and he or she feels comfortable with this knowledge. Of course, the contract also protects you when the time comes to collect your fees.
2. Communicate with your client! This is another big problem that shows up in our complaint files. If you are going to have trouble finishing the appraisal within the agreed upon time frame, call the client and discuss it with him. I can understand people's frustration when I try to contact appraisers myself about complaints and don't get answers to my inquiries. A lack of communication is never a good thing.
3. Do not misrepresent your credentials. This is the most common complaint we receive, and usually stems from advertising using misleading or fraudulent status in the appraisal profession. Our organization takes this very seriously, and does its utmost to weed out the false ads, and keep our credentials records up to date.
I am not even going to mention the basics of ethical behavior, because I know that most appraisers do their best to uphold high ethical standards. We do receive serious cases with breaches of ethical conduct, but most of the complaints that come in could have been avoided with a little common sense and courtesy. Let's be careful out there!
Terri Ellis, ISA CAPP
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