Set your firm up once.
We would rather be your firm’s appraiser than a vendor you re-brief every time. A master services agreement settles the terms once, so every assignment after it is an address and a matter — nothing more.
How it works
What the agreement covers
- Who the client isYour firm is our client. Every report names its intended users, so the file is unambiguous about who may rely on it.
- Who may place an orderAny attorney, paralegal or assistant you authorize, without re-establishing terms each time.
- Fees and paymentQuoted per assignment, invoiced on delivery, Net 30. Never contingent on the value reached.
- ConfidentialityWhat you send us and what we produce stays between your firm and us, except where USPAP or the law requires otherwise.
- No commitment either wayNeither side promises any volume of work, and either can end the arrangement in writing at any time.
Each assignment is still separately contracted under our standard engagement agreement, which governs scope, cancellation, withdrawal and limits of liability. The master agreement governs the relationship between our firms, not the individual appraisal.
The agreement
Read it in full, then sign below. Signing sends it to us for countersignature — under Section 8.1 it takes effect on the date of the last signature, so nothing is binding until Country First Appraisal has signed too and sent you the executed copy.
1. Parties and purpose
This Master Services Agreement (the "Agreement") is entered into by Country First Appraisal LLC, a Texas limited liability company, 4261 E University Dr #30-223, Prosper, TX 75078 (the "Appraiser"), and the law firm identified in the signature block below (the "Firm").
The Firm engages the Appraiser from time to time to perform real property appraisal services. This Agreement states the terms that govern that ongoing relationship. It does not itself commit the Firm to order any assignment, or the Appraiser to accept any.
2. Ordering assignments
2.1 How orders are placed. The Appraiser will issue the Firm an ordering link or equivalent means of placing orders. An order placed through that link, or by email or telephone, constitutes a request for an appraisal assignment.
2.2 Who may order. An order placed by any attorney, paralegal, legal assistant or other person acting on the Firm’s behalf is an order by the Firm, binds the Firm, and obligates the Firm for the resulting fee. The Firm is responsible for determining who within the Firm may place orders and for notifying the Appraiser in writing when that changes. The Appraiser may rely on an order that appears to come from the Firm until it receives written notice to the contrary.
2.3 Acceptance. No assignment exists until the Appraiser accepts it. The Appraiser may decline any assignment for any reason, including lack of competency, conflict, capacity, or any ground stated in the Engagement Agreement.
3. Each assignment is separately contracted
3.1 The Engagement Agreement governs. Each accepted assignment is governed by the Appraiser’s Appraisal Engagement Agreement then in effect (the "Engagement Agreement"), which the Firm accepts at the time that assignment is ordered. The Engagement Agreement controls scope of work, intended use and intended users, effective date, fee, cancellation, withdrawal, and limitation of liability for that assignment.
3.2 Acceptance per assignment. The Firm acknowledges that the Engagement Agreement contains provisions limiting the Appraiser’s liability, and agrees that those provisions are presented to and accepted by the Firm separately for each assignment. Nothing in this Agreement waives, modifies or substitutes for that acceptance.
3.3 Changes to the Engagement Agreement. The Appraiser may revise the Engagement Agreement from time to time. The version in effect when an assignment is ordered governs that assignment. Revisions do not apply retroactively to assignments already accepted.
4. The Client
4.1 The Firm is the Client. For every assignment ordered under this Agreement, the Firm is the Appraiser’s client.
4.2 The Firm’s own client is not the Appraiser’s client. A party to the underlying matter — a spouse, an executor, a beneficiary, a trustee, or any other person the Firm represents or advises — is not the Appraiser’s client, does not become an intended user of any report by reason of the Firm’s engagement, and is an intended user only if named as one in the report itself.
4.3 Reliance. No person other than an intended user named in a report may rely on it. The Firm will not represent to any person that they may rely on a report unless that person is named in it.
5. Fees and payment
5.1 Fee per assignment. The fee for each assignment is quoted and confirmed in writing before work begins, as provided in the Engagement Agreement. Nothing in this Agreement fixes a fee schedule or commits the Appraiser to any particular fee.
5.2 Net 30. While this Agreement is in effect, the Appraiser invoices on delivery of the report and payment is due thirty (30) days from the date of the invoice. The requirement in the Engagement Agreement that payment be made before the inspection date does not apply to the Firm while this Agreement is in effect.
5.3 The Firm pays. The Firm is responsible for the fee whether or not the Firm has been reimbursed by its own client, by an estate, or by any other person. Non-payment by the Firm’s client is not a defense to payment.
5.4 Suspension of terms. Where an invoice remains unpaid more than thirty (30) days past its due date, the Appraiser may, on written notice, suspend the terms in 5.2 and require payment in advance for assignments ordered after that notice. Suspension does not affect amounts already owed. The Appraiser may restore the terms at its discretion.
5.5 Other charges. Late balances, collection costs, additional work and fee adjustments are governed by the Engagement Agreement.
6. Confidentiality
6.1 The Appraiser’s obligation. The Appraiser is bound by the confidentiality provisions of the Ethics Rule of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. The Appraiser will not disclose confidential information, the Firm’s identity as client, or assignment results to anyone other than the Firm, persons specifically authorized by the Firm, and those to whom disclosure is required by law or by duly authorized professional peer review committees.
6.2 The Firm’s matters. The Appraiser understands that information the Firm provides may be subject to the attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine, and will treat it accordingly. Providing information to the Appraiser is not intended by either party to waive any privilege.
6.3 Workfile. The Appraiser retains a workfile for each assignment and may retain it indefinitely. Retention is for the Appraiser’s compliance and defense; it does not entitle any person to access it.
6.4 Compelled disclosure. If the Appraiser is served with a subpoena or other legal process seeking information about an assignment, the Appraiser will notify the Firm promptly, unless prohibited by law, so the Firm may seek a protective order.
7. Independence
7.1 Not an advocate. The Appraiser is an independent professional, not an advocate for the Firm or for any party. The Appraiser’s opinion of value is reached from market evidence and is not influenced by the outcome the Firm or its client would prefer.
7.2 No contingent fee. The Appraiser’s compensation is not and will not be contingent on the reporting of a predetermined value, a direction in value favoring the cause of any party, the amount of a value opinion, the attainment of a stipulated result, or the occurrence of a subsequent event directly related to the intended use of an appraisal.
7.3 Requests inconsistent with independence. A request that the Appraiser reach a particular value, omit material information, or alter a conclusion other than on the basis of market evidence is grounds for the Appraiser to withdraw from the assignment under the Engagement Agreement, and may be grounds to terminate this Agreement.
7.4 Both sides of a matter. The Appraiser may accept assignments from firms on opposing sides of the same matter, provided the Appraiser is not thereby placed in conflict and the confidentiality obligations in Section 6 are observed. The Appraiser will disclose a known conflict before accepting an assignment.
8. Term and termination
8.1 Term. This Agreement begins on the date of the last signature below and continues until terminated.
8.2 Termination. Either party may terminate this Agreement at any time, with or without cause, on written notice. Termination takes effect when received.
8.3 Assignments already accepted. Termination does not affect assignments already accepted. Those continue to completion under this Agreement and the applicable Engagement Agreement, unless the parties agree otherwise in writing.
8.4 Survival. Sections 4 (The Client), 5 (Fees and payment, as to amounts owed), 6 (Confidentiality), 7 (Independence), 11 (Governing law) and 12 (Order of precedence) survive termination.
9. Notices
Notice under this Agreement must be in writing. Email is sufficient and takes effect when received. Notice to the Appraiser goes to info@countryfirstappraisal.com. Notice to the Firm goes to the email address in the signature block, or to any address the Firm later designates in writing.
10. General
10.1 No exclusivity, no minimum. Neither party commits to any volume of work. The Firm may engage other appraisers. The Appraiser may serve other clients, including other law firms.
10.2 Independent contractor. The Appraiser is an independent contractor. Nothing here creates a partnership, joint venture, employment or agency relationship.
10.3 Assignment of this Agreement. Neither party may assign this Agreement without the other’s written consent, except that either may assign it to a successor to substantially all of its business on written notice.
10.4 No third-party beneficiaries. This Agreement is for the benefit of the Firm and the Appraiser only. No other person acquires any right under it, including any client of the Firm.
10.5 Amendment and waiver. This Agreement may be amended only in a writing signed by both parties. A failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it.
10.6 Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, the rest remains in effect and the unenforceable provision is modified to the least extent necessary to make it enforceable.
11. Governing law and venue
This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to conflict of laws principles. Venue for any dispute lies in the state or federal courts serving Collin County, Texas, and both parties consent to that venue.
12. Order of precedence
12.1 Relationship terms. Where this Agreement and the Engagement Agreement conflict on a matter governed by this Agreement — who the Client is, who may order, payment terms, confidentiality, independence, term and termination — this Agreement controls.
12.2 Assignment terms. Where they conflict on a matter governed by the Engagement Agreement — scope of work, intended use and intended users, the fee for a particular assignment, cancellation, withdrawal, limitation of liability and indemnity — the Engagement Agreement controls.
12.3 Entire agreement. Together, this Agreement and the Engagement Agreement applicable to each assignment are the entire agreement between the parties on their subject matter, and supersede any prior understanding.
Sign
Complete the form below. Fields marked required are the ones the agreement needs for its signature block.