Comments (AO-27)

Accepting the assignment from the second potential client is not prohibited by USPAP, assuming any existing confidential information is handled properly.

Several parts of the Confidentiality section of the ETHICS RULE are pertinent to this matter.

An appraiser must not disclose . . .  assignment results prepared for a client to anyone other than the client and persons specifically authorized by the client . . .

An appraiser cannot disclose the results of a particular assignment, performed for a particular client, to anyone other than those designated by that client.  However, an understanding of the definitions of assignment, assignment results, and client are key to a complete understanding of this requirement.

Assignment – a valuation service provided as a consequence of an agreement between an appraiser and a client

Client – the party or parties who engage an appraiser (by employment or contract) in a specific assignment

Assignment Results – an appraiser’s opinions and conclusions developed specific to an assignment

As can be seen in the definitions, both the client and the assignment results are specific to an assignment.  If there is a new potential client, valuation services performed for that new client would constitute a new assignment and the assignment results would be specific to that new assignment.  Therefore, acceptance and performance of the new assignment to appraise the same property would not be considered revealing the first client’s assignment results to the second client, even if the value conclusions were the same. It should be noted that the value conclusion could easily be different if the effective date or the scope of work changed in any manner.  It should also be noted that USPAP requires the appraiser to provide an unbiased opinion of value to each client.

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