An appraiser is asked to remove an unfavorable comparable sale from a completed report before delivery. Complying would:
Correct Answer
C) Make the report misleading by omitting relevant data
Why this is correct: The governing concept is USPAP's ethical requirement for impartiality and not suppressing relevant data. The original explanation clarifies that removing a comparable because it is 'unfavorable' is suppression, not legitimate analytical selection. The intent is to avoid a biased outcome, which makes the report misleading. Why the other choices are wrong: 'Be acceptable if the remaining sales still bracket' is wrong because bracketing does not justify suppressing data to please a client. 'Be acceptable, since comparable selection is discretionary' is wrong because while selection is discretionary, it must be based on objective analysis, not client pressure. 'Require only a note explaining the removal' is wrong because a note does not cure the unethical act of removing relevant data to alter the conclusion. Exam tip: Remember: USPAP prohibits omitting relevant data to mislead. 'Selection' is analytical; 'suppression' is unethical.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
Option C identifies the harm precisely: the omission itself makes the report misleading. Intended users read the comparable grid as the appraiser's set of relevant market evidence, so a grid scrubbed of the one sale that contradicts the desired value misrepresents the market. The ETHICS RULE bars communicating assignment results in a misleading or fraudulent manner, and the development standard bars committing a substantial error of omission that significantly affects the results. Whether the final number remains defensible does not cure the corrupted process.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option A: Be acceptable if the remaining sales still bracket
Bracketing shows the subject falling inside the range of adjusted comparable values, and it is useful support, but it is not an ethical safe harbor. A hand-picked set can bracket the subject while still hiding the sale that would move the indication. This option treats a presentation convention as though it were a test of credibility.
Option B: Be acceptable, since comparable selection is discretionary
Selection is discretionary only within the bounds of relevance and impartiality, and the discretion belongs to the appraiser's analysis rather than to the client's preference. The moment the reason for removal is the client's displeasure with the result, the choice is no longer analytical. A client request to delete unfavorable data is an unacceptable assignment condition, not an exercise of appraiser judgment.
Option D: Require only a note explaining the removal
A note explaining that a sale was deleted at the client's request does not repair the analysis; it documents that the appraiser acted as an advocate. Disclosure cures an assumption or a scope limitation, not a biased result. In practice such a note becomes the exhibit in a state board complaint rather than a defense to one.
Select vs. Suppress
Two S words with opposite ethics. SELECT asks 'is this sale a competitive substitute?' SUPPRESS asks 'does this sale hurt the number?' If the stated reason for deletion mentions the client, the value, or the deal, you are looking at suppression.
How to use: In any ethics stem about altering a finished report, restate the reason for the change in one sentence. If the reason references who is paying or what number is needed, choose the option that calls the report misleading.
Exam Tip
Ethics answers are rarely conditional. Options beginning 'acceptable if' or 'acceptable as long as' are usually wrong when the underlying act is suppression or advocacy.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- -Confusing the client's right to request additional analysis with a right to direct removal of data
- -Believing a disclosure statement neutralizes a biased result
- -Assuming that a defensible final value makes the process compliant
Concept Deep Dive
Analysis
This question tests the ETHICS RULE's conduct requirements and the line between analytical judgment and data suppression. An appraiser exercises judgment in choosing comparables, but the criterion is relevance: is the sale a competitive substitute a buyer of the subject would consider? Once a sale has been analyzed and found relevant, deleting it because the client dislikes the indication it supports converts judgment into advocacy. USPAP prohibits performing an assignment with bias, communicating assignment results in a misleading manner, and accepting assignment conditions that would distort the analysis. A report can be accurate in every sentence it contains and still be misleading because of what was pulled out of it.
Background Knowledge
You need the ETHICS RULE's conduct section, which prohibits bias, advocacy, and misleading communication, and the development rule forbidding substantial errors of omission or commission. You also need to know that a sale is included or excluded on the basis of comparability and relevance, and that client instructions that would distort the analysis are unacceptable assignment conditions the appraiser must decline.
Real-World Application
A lender's reviewer emails after delivery asking the appraiser to drop a distressed sale two blocks away that came in low, calling it 'not really comparable.' The right move is to reexamine comparability on the merits and document the verification, keeping the sale with an explanation if it is relevant, or declining the assignment condition and, if necessary, the engagement.
More USPAP Questions
Which statement best defines a hypothetical condition under USPAP?
According to the Competency Rule, if an appraiser lacks the knowledge and experience to complete an assignment competently, which action is NOT acceptable?
An appraiser runs only the sales comparison approach on a standard tract home and omits the cost and income approaches. Under Standard 1 this is:
A value opinion for a subdivision as if fully built out two years from now is what kind of assignment, and what does it require?
A hypothetical condition differs from an extraordinary assumption in that a hypothetical condition:
An appraiser must disclose in the certification whether they have:
A client-imposed requirement — 'use only comps from our approved list' — is best described as:
Under Standard 1, when developing a real property appraisal, an appraiser must:
The certification required by Standards Rule 2-3 must be signed by:
According to Standard 1, when developing an opinion of market value, an appraiser must analyze:
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