Book 4 - Appraisal Institute of Canada

From the Counsellor’s DeskConfidential dataRobert Patchett, LL.B.Counsellor, Professional PracticeAs an appraiser, you are often facedwith multiple requests concerninga specific property. You havecompleted an appraisal for one clientand you are asked to appraise for a new client.You may even be asked to simply ‘readdress’the report, ‘recertify’ or ‘reassign’ it. Sometimes,the same client may even ask for an ‘update.’In responding to these types of requests, it isimportant to consider the confidentiality andconflict of interest sections in the Standards.It is important to clarify your instructions, asthe requesting party may not understand whatthey are asking you to do or may not understandwhat they need, and, more importantly,may not understand what your professionalstandards permit.Assignment results are your opinion, conclusionsand factual data collected and renderedspecific to an assignment. The Standards providethat an appraiser cannot disclose confidentialinformation or assignment results to anyoneother than the client and persons authorized,intended users 1 , or as required by law or byvirtue of your membership in AIC. The act of discussingyour conclusions, even with a peer, couldbe viewed as divulging assignment results.You can accept a new assignment 2 relativeto a previously appraised property, recognizingthat you cannot disclose confidential informationduring this subsequent assignment. In someinstances, however, you may have to disclosein advance if you have previously provided anyprofessional services in relation to a property (notyour opinion and conclusions) before acceptingan assignment. 3 By virtue of this being a newassignment, the results are confidential, even ifthe conclusions are the same.Confidential information is information that isidentified by the client as confidential when providingit to an appraiser and that is not otherwisepublicly available 4 . It can also be informationthat, by legislation or regulation, is personalinformation as defined in PIPEDA, privacy orbanking legislation, or by regulation published bya regulator such as OSFI or RECA.The Appraisal Institute of Canada (AIC) hasconsistently recommended that, in providingassignment results in writing, appraisers includespecific limiting conditions relative to the use ofdata in a report and who may rely on that report.Further, it is recommended that you label eachreport as being Copyright, All Rights Reserved. 5The factual data that you include in your report,along with your opinions, recommendationsand conclusions, should be protected as yourintellectual property. Your data is your ownthat you use in the provision of professionalservices, and you, in fact, re-use that factualdata and opinions in other assignments,subject to guarding confidential and personalinformation. That data is your knowledge baseand expertise that you rely on in providingprofessional services.It will remain a business decision as towhether or not to accept an assignment, toprovide your opinions, data and conclusions,in whole or in part, or to permit a client to relyon them, in whole or in part, subject to yourprofessional obligation to comply with theStandards, which includes compliance withapplicable legislation and regulations. Thefinal remaining caveat should be to alwaysconsider if there will be coverage under yourprofessional errors and omission insurancepolicy, should you choose to accept a particularassignment.End notes1See CUSPAP 2010 Section 6.2.1. For examplein a litigious matter, the lawyers, courts andparties to the litigation would normally allreceive copies.2It is recommended that, before taking onan assignment for a consumer or mortgagebroker, you explain that a lender may decidethemselves if they need an appraisal andwho may perform that appraisal. In practice,to avoid fraud, lenders would not normallyaccept such a report that they had not orderedthemselves.3See CUSPAP 2010 Section 12.8.144See CUSPAP 2010 Section 2.175See Handbook on Disclosure Guidelines Section 2.742Canadian Property Valuation Volume 54 | book 4 | 2010 Évaluation Immobilière au Canadaclick here to return to table 0f contents