FAQ #4: Are Appraisals Part of the Public Record?

FAQ #4 Are Appraisals Part of the Public Record?

Have you ever wondered if the tax assessor gets a copy of your appraisal?  Or maybe the seller of a home you’re purchasing?  Quite often, and usually towards the end of our appraisal inspection, we get asked a question that goes like this:  “The PVA isn’t going to see this are they?”  

In Kentucky, the tax assessor is known as the Property Valuation Administrator, or PVA.  What most people are worried about when they ask this question, is if their taxes are going to go up because of the appraisal.  Maybe their current assessment is at $290,000 and the home will likely appraise for around $350,000.  Or perhaps they have an addition the assessor isn’t aware of.  Whatever the reason for the question, you can rest easy.  Because the short answer to this FAQ is ‘no’.

Usually, the only ones who end up seeing the appraisal report are the client and any other intended users.  For most residential refinance or purchase transactions, this includes the bank or mortgage company, usually the loan officer and underwriter, and then most of the time the borrower.  The borrower is the homeowner in the case of a refinance, or the purchaser in the case of a home purchase.

If you’re the buyer or borrower, you will usually get a copy of your appraisal report from your lender, but it might be right before closing.  Sometimes, you just get a ‘thumbs up’ from your lender if everything went ok.

Many times we show up for a purchase appraisal, and the seller asks if they’ll either get a copy of the appraisal, or at least see how much the home ended up appraising for.  My answer to them is that unless the buyer wants to show it to you, or tell you what the home appraised for, you’ll likely not ever know.  Most of the time the seller is just curious if they priced the home well or not.

So go ahead and rest easy the next time you’re having your home appraised – especially if you’re hoping to keep everything private.  Appraisers are not allowed to send the report to anyone other than their client, and the lender isn’t going to be sending it to anyone who isn’t using it for lending purposes.  That means no seller (if you’re buying), no Realtor, no assessor, and no national database for everyone to access.

If you have a question you’d like us to feature on our blog, email me at ryanbays@riverfrontappraisals.com

Committed to helping you understand your home’s market value,

Ryan Bays, SRA, AI-RRS