Molinaro Associates provides honest and ethical appraisals for Ocean County

Molinaro Associates maintains the utmost professional ethics

We consider our job as a profession. The rigors of becoming a licensed appraiser have increased more than ever in the past. So it goes without question these days that real estate appraisal can definitely be dubbed a profession rather than a trade. In our field, as with any profession, we must follow strict ethical considerations.

The appraiser's main responsibility is to their client. Typically, for a regular 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 retained to maintain independence. Certain elements relating to an assignment are to be shared with the appraiser's client. So, as a homeowner, if you would like a copy of the appraisal document, you generally have to get it via your lender and not the appraiser.

Other obligations include accurate calculations appropriate to the parameters of the report, attaining and maintaining a particular level of competency and education, and of course, the appraiser must behave in a professional manner. Maintaining high ethics and client confidentiality is standard operating procedure for us at Molinaro Associates.

Appraisers can regularly have fiduciary responsibilities to third parties, including homeowners, sellers and buyers, or others. Normally the third parties are explicitly defined in the appraisal report. An appraiser's fiduciary duty is only to those parties who the appraiser is aware of, based on the scope of work or other written parameters of the job.

Molinaro Associates has worked hard for its track record for completing competent and ethically superior appraisals. To learn more, contact us.


There are also ethical duties that have nothing to do with clients and others. For example, appraisers must store their work files for a minimum of five years - something else Molinaro Associates takes very seriously.

We only perform to the highest ethical standards possible. Accepting orders where our fee is dependent on our value conclusion is not something we can consider. That is, we are not able to agree to do an appraisal report and base our pay upon coming up with a particular value conclusion. There's certainly a conflict of interest if an appraiser can report a greater value with the reward of getting paid more money! We just don't do it.

Finally, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice 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 at ease knowing we are working hard to get you an accurate home or property value.

As soon as you request an appraisal from Molinaro Associates, we'll make sure you're getting the professional service you expect along with the honesty and integrity we're known for.