Appraiser Income

For the last two years, the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) has been examining potential changes to the Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria (Criteria).

To solicit feedback from its stakeholders, the AQB issued a Concept Paper, Discussion Draft, three Exposure Drafts, held a public hearing, an online briefing, and several public meetings over the last two years. The number of responses for each publication has far exceeded comments received on past drafts issued by the AQB. The AQB had hoped that consensus would start to build among the proposed requirements, which include: changes to the college degree requirement, revisions to Guide Note 4 (GN-4) and the development of modules in lieu of field experience, and revisions to experience requirements.

The only consensus at this time seems to be a lack of consensus. Comments from the Third Exposure Draft, which can be downloaded here, ranged widely:

• 43% of respondents did not address Section 1 (Licensed Residential and Certified Residential College-Level Education Requirements) of the draft. Of those that did respond, 58% were opposed to the proposals.
• 53% of respondents did not address Section 2 (Practical Applications of Real Estate Appraisal). Of those who responded, 55% were opposed to the proposals.
• 65% of respondents did not address Section 3 (Experience Requirements), and of those that did, 58% were opposed to the proposals.

Common feedback the Board has received includes:

• The current requirements should remain in place
• There is a shortage of appraisers because of the current AQB requirements
• There is no shortage of appraisers – it’s a matter of economics
• Not enough Trainees are entering the profession
• Trainees are having difficulty finding a supervisor
• Licensed Residential appraisers are unable to find work and are unable to move up to Certified Residential because of the requirement to have a bachelor’s degree

The AQB’s primary responsibility when setting qualifications is to protect the public trust. With this in mind, and based on the feedback received, the AQB has decided on the following course of action:

• Appoint a Focus Group to solicit input as to whether any Criteria change is needed, and if so, in what areas and to what extent is appropriate
• Survey state regulators regarding potential reciprocity issues if the Criteria is revised

The Board next meets publicly in Minneapolis, Minnesota on September 8. You can register by clicking here.