Quinn Debruin provides honest and ethical appraisals for Jefferson County

Quinn Debruin upholds the highest professional ethics

Appraising is a profession, and appraisers are professionals. Requirements to become a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever in the past. So it goes without question in this day and age that real estate appraisal can definitely be called a profession as opposed to a trade. As with any profession we have a strict ethical code.

We have a lot of obligations as appraisers, but above everything we answer to our clients. Typically, for a normal residential appraisal, the appraiser's client is the lender ordering the appraisal, and often the appraisal is ordered by a third party the lender has hired in order to maintain independence. It's important to know that many elements pertaining to an assignment are to be discussed with the appraiser's client. So, as a homeowner, if you would like to review an appraisal report, you generally have to obtain it from your lender.

Other obligations include numerical accuracy depending on the assignment's nature, acquiring and keeping a particular level of competency and education, and naturally, the appraiser must bear a professional demeanor. Here at Quinn Debruin, we take these ethical responsibilities very seriously.

In some cases appraisers will have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, such as homeowners, buyers and sellers, or others. Typically the third parties are specifically defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is restricted to those third parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other things in the framework of the job.

Quinn Debruin has worked hard for its track record for performing competent and ethically superior appraisals. Contact us today to learn more.


Appraisers also have rules outside of boundaries of clients and others. For example, appraisers must keep their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Quinn Debruin makes a part of their standard routine.

Quinn Debruin holds itself to the industry standards and guidelines set in place for ethics. We refuse to accept anything less from ourselves. Working on assignments based on contingency fees is not something we can consider. That means we can't agree to do an appraisal report and base our pay upon coming up with a particular value conclusion. It should be obvious that fabricating a home's value to achieve what amounts to a bigger paycheck is unethical! This isn't how we operate.

Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice explicitly defines a violation in ethics 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" in addition to other situations We diligently follow these rules to the letter which means you can be confident we are doing everything we can to get you an accurate home or property value.

When you engage Quinn Debruin, we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you deserve along with the principles we're known for.