What is USPAP, and why does everyone ask for it?

USPAP — the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice — is the ethical and performance standard that appraisers in the United States are held to. It is developed by the Appraisal Standards Board of The Appraisal Foundation and is updated on a regular cycle.

When the IRS, a court, a lender, or an insurance carrier says they need a real appraisal, USPAP compliance is what they mean. It is the reason a report can be relied upon by someone who was not in the room when it was written.

A USPAP-compliant report has to state its intended use and intended users, define the scope of work performed, identify the value premise applied, disclose any extraordinary assumptions or hypothetical conditions, and be signed with a certification. An estimate from a dealer, an auction house, or a valuation website contains none of that.

The practical consequence is simple: a non-compliant document can be rejected outright by the receiving party, and you find out at the worst possible moment — during an audit, at a deposition, or when a claim is denied.