What is USPAP?

USPAP, (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice is published and maintained by the Appraisal Standards Board (ASB) of the Appraisal Foundation, a non-governmental entity charged by Congress with promulgating appraisal standards.

USPAP is covers rules such as an Ethics Rule, a Departure Rule, and a Competency Rule. It includes 10 Standards, each covering in detail different functions an appraiser might perform (“Real Property Appraisal, Reporting”; “Business Appraisal, Development”). It includes 10 Statements, some retired, which are used to clarify or supplement the Standards. It also includes Advisory Opinions, such as “When does USPAP apply in valuation services?” and “Clarification of the client in a federally related transaction,” which describe real-life problems and how they would be governed under the Rules and Standards of USPAP.

Every appraiser is charged with knowing and following USPAP, usually by operation of state law, and must complete Continuing Education periodically to relearn the basics and become familiar with new Advisory Opinions and annual changes to USPAP.

Appraiser Independence

Badger Appraisals encourages our appraisal team to foster the development of skills and practices that promote sound independent analysis and product excellence. We provide industry-competitive appraisal products that adhere to the highest level of professional standards.

Appraiser Ethics

Appraisal is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. In our field as with any profession we are bound by ethical considerations.

An appraiser’s primary responsibility is to his or her client. Normally, in residential practice, the appraiser’s client is the lender ordering the appraisal to decide whether to make the mortgage loan. Appraisers have certain duties of confidentiality to their clients — as a homeowner, if you want a copy of an appraisal report, you normally have to request it through your lender — obligations of numerical accuracy depending on the assignment parameters, an obligation to attain and maintain a certain level of competency and education, and must generally conduct him or herself as a professional.

Appraisers may also have fiduciary obligations to third parties, such as homeowners, both buyers and sellers, or others. Those third parties normally are spelled out in the appraisal assignment itself. An appraiser’s fiduciary duty is limited to those third parties who the appraiser knows, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the assignment.

There are ethical rules that have nothing to do with clients and others. Appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of five years.

We only perform to the highest ethical standards possible.

You can be assured of 100 % ethical, professional service.