It is common to hear that appraisers are to protect the public trust. Therefore, by extension, it is also common to hear that protecting the public trust extends to protecting the client—whether that be a lender/GSE, the homeowner, or the borrower.
As the basis for this claim, appraisers cite USPAP’s Preamble, which states, “[T]he appraiser’s responsibility is to protect the overall public trust…”. However, for good or bad, the Preamble does not make it clear which public trust we are to protect, nor, in its wisdom, does the USPAP document itself define, explain, or describe what it means by public trust.
Learn more about this topic by Timothy C. Andersen, as seen in Working RE.
View the complete article here.
Disclaimer: The views, opinions or examples included in the linked article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect an official policy or position of ASA or its members.