A client sends comments disputing the appraiser's adjustment for condition. What is the appropriate response?
Correct Answer
C) Consider the information and change only if warranted
Why this is correct: USPAP's ethical rule requires appraisers to maintain independence and objectivity. A client's comments may contain new factual information. The appraiser must consider this information on its merits and change the report only if the new evidence warrants a change, not merely to please the client. Why the other choices are wrong: 'Amend the adjustment to satisfy the client' is wrong; this violates independence if not supported by evidence. 'Refuse to consider any client communication' is incorrect; appraisers should consider relevant new information. 'Withdraw the report and terminate the assignment' is an overreaction; withdrawal is not the first step unless an ethical breach is unavoidable. Exam tip: Always base changes on evidence, not client pressure. Document the consideration of new information.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
Considering the information and changing only if warranted honors both duties at once: it keeps the door open to relevant facts while keeping the conclusion anchored to evidence rather than to client preference. It also matches the practical reality that appraisers work in a review environment where reconsideration of value requests are routine and often legitimate. The test is always the quality of the new evidence, not the volume of the complaint. Any resulting revision creates a new report communication that must itself be supported in the workfile.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option A: Amend the adjustment to satisfy the client
Amending an adjustment to satisfy the client without supporting evidence is advocacy, and advocacy is prohibited by the Ethics Rule regardless of how small the change is. It also produces a misleading report, since the revised adjustment would not reflect the appraiser's actual analysis of the market. This is the single most common real-world pressure point and the most common disciplinary complaint.
Option B: Refuse to consider any client communication
A blanket refusal to consider client communication would cause the appraiser to ignore relevant information that is reasonably available, which undermines credibility rather than protecting independence. Independence means not being swayed by pressure, not being deaf to facts. Candidates choose this by overcorrecting, mistaking rigidity for integrity.
Option D: Withdraw the report and terminate the assignment
Withdrawing over a disagreement about one adjustment is disproportionate and abandons a client who may simply have supplied useful information. Withdrawal is the right answer when the client insists on a condition that would make the report misleading or preclude credible results, not when the client asks a question. Reaching for the most dramatic exit skips the analytical step the situation actually calls for.
Facts In, Pressure Out
Imagine a filter on the appraiser's inbox that passes evidence and blocks persuasion. A permit, an invoice, a photograph, or a missed sale goes through. A deadline, a relationship, a threat, or a preferred number does not.
How to use: In any reconsideration item, look for the option that says consider and then decide on the merits. Reject options that automatically comply, automatically refuse, or escalate to withdrawal.
Exam Tip
Extreme verbs are usually wrong in client-communication items. Always, never, refuse, and terminate signal a distractor; consider, evaluate, and if warranted signal the answer.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- -Treating every reconsideration request as improper pressure and dismissing it unread
- -Making a small unsupported change to keep the relationship, which is still advocacy
- -Revising the conclusion without documenting the new evidence and the analysis behind the change
Concept Deep Dive
Analysis
Client rebuttals sit at the intersection of two obligations that pull in opposite directions if you misunderstand them. The Ethics Rule requires impartiality, objectivity, and independence and prohibits acting as an advocate for any party, which means the appraiser may not move a number because the client wants it moved. At the same time, the appraiser must consider all relevant information reasonably available and must produce credible results, which means new facts are welcome no matter who supplies them. A client comment on a condition adjustment often carries genuine information, such as a recent renovation invoice, a permit record, or a comparable the appraiser missed. The professional response is to evaluate the substance of the comment on its merits, separate factual content from pressure, and revise only where the evidence justifies it. Either outcome, change or no change, should be documented in the workfile so a reviewer can see the reasoning.
Background Knowledge
You need the Ethics Rule's Conduct section on impartiality, objectivity, independence, and the prohibition on advocacy, plus the development requirement to collect, verify, and analyze all information necessary for credible results. You should also know how condition adjustments are ordinarily supported, through paired sales, cost to cure, or depreciation analysis, and that the workfile must document the basis for any revision.
Real-World Application
A client disputes a condition adjustment and attaches receipts for a recent kitchen and bath renovation the appraiser did not know about. She verifies the permits, revises the adjustment where the evidence supports it, leaves the rest unchanged, explains her reasoning in the revised report, and keeps the correspondence in the workfile.
More USPAP Questions
Reconciliation of the approaches to value is best described as which activity?
Why should the reconciliation address the quantity of evidence as well as its quality?
How long must a report be retained compared with the workfile?
What distinguishes an appraisal review from an appraisal?
An appraiser reconciles to a value at the top of the indicated range because the client needs that figure. What has occurred?
What does it mean that a value opinion must be reasonable rather than merely arithmetically derived?
What should the reconciliation section explain to the reader?
How do the content obligations of the two report options differ with respect to the information analyzed?
The three approaches indicate $480,000, $495,000 and $610,000. What should the appraiser do first?
Three approaches indicate $1.02 million, $1.05 million and $1.04 million. How should this be reported?
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