DEADLINE APPROACHING FOR STATES TO COMPLY WITH NEW APPRAISER QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Each State has an appraiser regulatory agency, which is responsible for certifying and licensing real estate appraisers and supervising their appraisal-related activities, as required by Federal law. In 2004, the Appraisal Foundation, authorized by Congress as the source of Appraisal Standards and Appraiser Qualifications, adopted revisions to the Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria that will become effective on January 1, 2008. State appraiser regulators are responsible for choosing an implementation option for the new appraiser requirements which include a new Required Core Curriculum, an increase in qualifying education hours, and college course requirements for the certification classifications. With the deadline fast approaching, some states have not yet adopted legislative and regulatory language to meet the January 1, 2008 deadline. By not doing so, appraisers in those states would find that they are no longer qualified to complete federal appraisal projects come January 1 thereby reducing the number of appraisers available to accept those assignments and making it more difficult for lenders to obtain an appraisal report. GAD's should contact their state appraiser regulators to determine if they have adopted the appropriate regulations in order to meet the 2008 deadline.