A client supplies comparable sales and asks that only those be used. How should the appraiser treat this?
Correct Answer
A) Consider them, but select comparables independently
Why this is correct: The governing concept is appraiser independence. While client-supplied data should be considered, the final selection of comparable sales must be the appraiser's independent professional judgment. Allowing the client to dictate comparables could compromise objectivity. Why the other choices are wrong: "Use exactly those, since the client defines the scope" is wrong; the client does not control comparable selection. "Refuse the assignment on receiving the list" is wrong; the list is information, not an automatic reason for refusal. "Use them and note the client made the selection" is wrong; this does not absolve the appraiser of the responsibility for selection. Exam tip: You must independently verify and select comparables, even when a client provides suggestions.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
The appraiser may consider client-supplied sales as data but must apply comparability judgment and select comparables independently, since that selection is the exercise of appraisal judgment.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option B: Use exactly those, since the client defines the scope
The client defines the assignment, not which sales are comparable. Delegating selection surrenders the appraiser's independence.
Option C: Refuse the assignment on receiving the list
Receiving data from a client is not itself improper. Refusing the assignment overreacts to a common and often useful contribution.
Option D: Use them and note the client made the selection
Disclosure does not cure improperly delegated judgment. The selection must be the appraiser's regardless of what is disclosed.
Their Data, Your Judgment
Their Data, Your Judgment. Look at everything they send and choose for yourself.
How to use: Run the client's sales through the same comparability test as every other candidate. Some will survive it.
Exam Tip
Distinguish supplying data from restricting the pool. A list offered as a resource is different from an instruction to use only that list.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- -Using the client's list without independent review
- -Refusing an assignment because the client supplied data
- -Relying on disclosure to cure delegated selection
Concept Deep Dive
Analysis
There is nothing wrong with a client sending data — clients often hold information the appraiser would not otherwise find, and ignoring it would be unhelpful. What cannot be surrendered is the selection. Choosing which sales are genuinely comparable is the exercise of appraisal judgment, and delegating it to the client makes the appraiser an advocate for whatever conclusion the supplied set produces. So the appraiser considers the client's sales alongside everything else the market offers, applies the same comparability tests to all of them, and selects independently. Some of the client's sales may prove to be the best available; others may be excluded. The distractors mark out the two failure modes: accepting the list wholesale, which abandons independence, and refusing the assignment on receipt, which overreacts to what is often an innocent contribution. Disclosing that the client made the selection does not cure it either, because the selection itself was improperly delegated.
Background Knowledge
USPAP requires appraisers to be impartial and to exercise independent judgment. Client-supplied data may be considered, but comparable selection is an appraisal judgment that cannot be delegated.
Real-World Application
An appraiser reviews six client-supplied sales, retains two that genuinely match the subject, and adds three found independently.
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