Content area
Full Text
Abstract
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), which includes negotiation, mediation, and arbitration, presents a growing area of need for the skills of valuation professionals. This article introduces practitioners to some of the concepts of arbitration and the ways in which the professional can provide services in this area.
Introduction
Valuation professionals are consistently seeking to expand their areas of practice. Successful practitioners explore ways to apply their knowledge and experience to respond to the needs of clients and solve problems relating to property valuation.
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), which includes negotiation, mediation, and arbitration, presents one growing area of need for the skills of valuation professionals. This article will introduce practitioners to some concepts of arbitration and the ways in which the professional can provide services.
Valuers' Services in Arbitration
In addition to preparing appraisal reports for lending, decision-making, financial reporting, and various other uses, valuation professionals often serve as expert witnesses in courtroom trials, administrative hearings, ad valorem tax appeal settings, and other proceedings. Some practitioners provide such services as one part of their overall practices, while others do most of their professional work providing litigation services. ADR provides opportunities for valuers to expand their services beyond what is often thought of as the "typical" appraisal practice, in which the valuation professional is retained to value one or more properties and deliver reports expressing value opinions within a certain time period. Both in litigation and ADR work, the valuer has the opportunity to become involved in a larger process, of which the appraisal report is only a part.
Arbitration offers valuers three ways to become involved: as an expert valuation witness, as an arbitrator, or as a consultant. Each of these roles will be briefly described here. It is imperative that the appraiser understand which of these roles he or she is being retained to fill, as each requires the professional to provide different types of services, perform different tasks, and comply with different Standards. This is not always easy to discern, as lawyers often use the words "appraiser" and "arbitrator" as interchangeable synonyms. During our initial conversations with potential clients, we valuers often need to ask about the specific tasks that we are expected to perform in the course of the engagement so...