A reporter requests confidential assignment information and the appraiser’s value conclusions about a public figure’s home. No authorized disclosure exception applies. What should the appraiser do?
Correct Answer
A) Decline to disclose the protected information and results
Protect confidential information and assignment results despite a party’s public prominence. A media inquiry supplies no automatic exception, and a final value is not inherently public. Public physical facts do not become confidential merely by observation, but assignment results and protected client information remain subject to the rule’s permitted disclosures.
Why This Is the Correct Answer
Option A is correct because USPAP requires an appraiser to protect the confidential nature of the appraiser-client relationship and not to disclose confidential information or assignment results to anyone other than the parties the rule permits. A reporter is not among them, so the appraiser should decline.
Why the Other Options Are Wrong
Option B: Disclose only the value because it must become public
Option B discloses only the value because it supposedly must become public. A value conclusion is an assignment result, and it is not inherently public; it may be disclosed only to permitted parties.
Option C: Disclose all opinions because they are not data
Option C discloses all opinions because they are not data. Opinions and conclusions are assignment results, which USPAP protects from disclosure to unauthorized parties.
Option D: Treat public prominence as client consent
Option D treats public prominence as client consent. The owner's fame does not supply consent; only the client or another permitted exception can authorize disclosure.
Fame is not consent
A famous owner or a curious reporter does not unlock confidential assignment results.
How to use: Use this when an outside party asks for results of an assignment.
Exam Tip
When an unauthorized third party requests assignment results and no exception applies, choose the answer that declines disclosure.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- -Thinking the final value is public information
- -Believing opinions are not protected because they are not data
- -Treating public interest as client authorization
Concept Deep Dive
Analysis
This question tests the Ethics Rule's confidentiality duty when a third party asks about an assignment. A reporter is not an authorized recipient, and no permitted exception applies. The appraiser must protect confidential information and assignment results regardless of the owner's public prominence.
Background Knowledge
USPAP restricts disclosure of confidential information and assignment results to the client, parties the client authorizes, those required by due process of law, and certain peer review and regulatory bodies. Public physical facts observable by anyone do not become confidential, but assignment results remain protected.
Real-World Application
A local news reporter calls an appraiser asking what she valued a celebrity's estate at. The appraiser declines to discuss the assignment and tells the reporter she cannot share client information.
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