Yes, in most cases, but by different routes. On a mortgage secured by a first lien on a Claremont home, federal Regulation B requires the lender to give the applicant a copy of every appraisal developed for the application, promptly on completion or three business days before closing, whichever is earlier. On a private assignment, the report goes to the client, the party who engaged the appraiser, so a homeowner who ordered it receives it directly, and anyone else gets a copy only through the client.
The difference comes from three roles the report states on its first page and that are easy to blur: who the client is, who the intended users are, and who is merely holding a copy.
Client, intended user, copy holder
- The client engages the appraiser and sets the assignment, including the intended use, what the report will be used for, and the effective date, the date the opinion of value applies to. The client receives the report.
- The intended users are the people the report names as entitled to rely on it. A trust's CPA or both spouses in a divorce can be intended users if the engagement says so.
- A copy holder has the report in hand but may not be anyone it was written for. Receiving a copy does not add a name to the list of intended users.
Who sits in each role on a lender assignment, and why paying for a report does not buy a direction, is covered in who a Claremont appraiser works for. This article stays with the copy.
On a mortgage: what Regulation B requires
When the loan will be secured by a first lien on a dwelling, which Regulation B defines as a residential structure of one to four units, the rule at 12 CFR 1002.14 says a creditor "shall provide an applicant a copy of all appraisals and other written valuations" developed in connection with the application. The timing is "promptly upon completion, or three business days prior to consummation" for closed-end credit, whichever is earlier. The regulation defines a valuation broadly, as "any estimate of the value of a dwelling developed in connection with an application for credit."
The rest of the section fills in the details a borrower usually asks about:
- Waiving the timing. An applicant may waive the three-business-day timing and agree to receive the copy at or before closing, and the waiver has to be obtained at least three business days before closing. If the applicant waived the timing and the loan does not close, the copy is due no later than 30 days after the creditor determines it will not close.
- Denied or withdrawn applications. The copy requirement applies whether credit is extended or denied, and when the application is incomplete or withdrawn.
- The notice. The creditor must give the applicant a written notice of the right to receive a copy.
- Cost. The creditor "shall not charge an applicant for providing a copy," although it may charge a reasonable fee to reimburse the cost of the appraisal itself unless other law says otherwise.
- Electronic delivery. The copy may be delivered electronically, subject to the consumer consent rules the section references.
So on a refinance of a postwar ranch house or a purchase in the Village, the borrower should expect the report from the lender, not from the appraiser. The lender, usually directly or through an appraisal management company, is the client. Fannie Mae's Selling Guide makes the lender "responsible for the selection of appraisers and for the qualifications and quality of work," and says lenders "may not use appraisals ordered or received by borrowers or other parties with an interest in the transaction." The borrower holds a copy because federal law requires it, not because the borrower became the client.
On a private assignment: the client decides
When no lender is involved, whoever engages the appraiser is the client and receives the report. These are the kinds of assignments that come in, and how the copy usually travels:
- A pre-listing or pre-purchase appraisal. The owner or buyer who orders it is the client and gets the report directly.
- A property tax appeal. An owner in Claraboya engages the appraisal for a Los Angeles County Assessment Appeals Board hearing. The owner receives the report and decides whether to file it; the board reads it and decides the appeal.
- An estate or trust. An executor or trustee orders a date-of-death appraisal of a long-held house near the Colleges. The fiduciary is the client. An heir sees the report when the fiduciary shares it, and whether the heirs are named as intended users is settled at engagement.
- A divorce. Under a joint engagement, both spouses or both attorneys are named, and the report is delivered to everyone at once. If one side engages the appraiser alone, the other side sees it through the process the case follows.
The engagement letter, the written agreement that states the client, intended use, intended users, effective date, scope of work and fee before work begins, is where the copy question should be answered. If several people will need the report, say so at the start, so the intended users are named on the face of it rather than added by forwarding.
Why the appraiser will not simply send you a copy
USPAP, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice that California makes the minimum standard of conduct for a licensed appraiser under Business and Professions Code section 11319, includes a confidentiality section in its Ethics Rule. The standard defines what counts as confidential information and assignment results, and in general limits their disclosure to the client and people the client authorizes, with narrow exceptions the standard itself lists. The practical effect is plain: an appraiser who receives a call from someone other than the client, even the homeowner, may not simply read out the value or send the file.
That is why the route for a borrower runs through the lender, and the route for an heir or the other side of a divorce runs through the client who ordered the work. It is also why a request to correct or reconsider a lender's appraisal goes through the lender; how a reconsideration of value request is written describes that path.
Can I use a copy for something else?
A copy can be read for any purpose, but it was written for one intended use and one set of intended users. A lender's report on a Claremont refinance was not developed for a tax appeal, an estate filing or a divorce, and its effective date may be the wrong one for those purposes. When a new decision needs a value, it usually needs a report developed for that use, which is why matching the report to the decision is the first question at engagement. The pillar on what a Claremont appraisal measures shows where the client, intended use and intended users appear in the report, and the Home Appraisal in Claremont hub collects the series.
Ordering a report you will receive directly
For an estate, trust, divorce, tax appeal or pre-listing decision, the owner, fiduciary or attorney can engage the appraisal directly and will be the client. The appraisal services page lists those assignment types and the Claremont area page describes the pockets they cover. The fee is set by the scope of the assignment and quoted before work begins, and it does not depend on the value. To start, request an appraisal or call (909) 324-6122.
Sources
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation B, 12 CFR 1002.14, Rules on providing appraisals and other valuations, accessed November 6, 2026
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide, B4-1.1-03, Appraiser Selection Criteria, accessed November 6, 2026
- California Business and Professions Code section 11319 (california.public.law copy), accessed November 6, 2026
- California Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers, license lookup for Gordon Hall, accessed November 6, 2026
Gordon Hall, California Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, BREA No. AR003877 (lookup: https://www2.brea.ca.gov/breasearch/faces/party/view.xhtml?id=23601). Reports are prepared in conformity with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). Nothing here is legal or tax advice; admissibility is always the court's decision.
Frequently asked questions
Will my lender give me a copy of the appraisal on a Claremont refinance?
For credit secured by a first lien on a one-to-four unit dwelling, Regulation B (12 CFR 1002.14) requires the creditor to provide the applicant a copy of all appraisals and other written valuations developed for the application, promptly upon completion or three business days before closing, whichever is earlier, unless the applicant waives that timing.
Can the lender charge me for the copy?
Regulation B says a creditor shall not charge an applicant for providing a copy of appraisals and other written valuations. It may require the applicant to pay a reasonable fee to reimburse the cost of the appraisal itself, unless other law provides otherwise.
Do I get a copy if my loan is denied or I withdraw the application?
Yes. Regulation B says the copy requirement applies whether credit is extended or denied, and when the application is incomplete or withdrawn.
Why won't the appraiser send me the report directly?
The appraiser's client receives the report. On a mortgage that is the lender. USPAP's Ethics Rule has a confidentiality section that, in general, limits disclosure of assignment results to the client and people the client authorizes, so the copy comes from the lender, or on a private assignment from whoever ordered it.
Does having a copy let me use the report for a tax appeal or an estate?
You can read it, but it was written for one intended use, one set of intended users and one effective date. A different decision, such as a tax appeal, an estate filing or a divorce, usually needs a report developed for that use.
