Policy Statement Board Policies, Advisories and Guidelines (Real estate appraisers)

Date:	12/07/2017
Referenced Sources:	Board of Registration of Real Estate Appraisers

Board CORI Policy

Board of Real Estate Appraisers CORI Policy

Policy Statement 2014-001: Upgrading Existing Credentials Under the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) 2015 Criteria

This Policy Statement replaces Policy Statement 2007-001, entitled “Upgrading Existing Credentials under the 2008 Criteria”.

The Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) of The Appraisal Foundation adopted amendments to the Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria, effective date of January 1, 2015 (2015 Criteria). The Board also adopted the AQB’s 2015 Criteria located at 264 Code of Massachusetts Regulation (CMR) 5.00.

Accordingly, any Applicant taking the State-Licensed or Stated-Certified Real Estate Appraiser Examination on or after January 1, 2015 must meet the 2015 Criteria on the date of the examination. Per the AQB, there will be no exceptions and no grandfathering provisions.

APPRAISER TRAINEE:

Appraiser Trainee to State-Licensed Appraiser:

Residential Market Analysis and Highest and Best Use	15 Hours
Residential Appraiser Site Valuation and Cost Approach	15 Hours
Residential Appraiser Sales Comparison and Income Approach	30 Hours
Residential Appraiser Report Writing and Case Studies	15 Hours
Associate’s Degree or higher from an accredited college or university or 30 semester hours of college-level education from an accredited college or university
Complete 2,000 hours of real estate appraiser experience over a minimum period of 24 months

 

Appraiser Trainee to Certified Residential Appraiser:

Residential Market Analysis and Highest and Best Use	15 Hours
Residential Appraiser Site Valuation and Cost Approach	30 Hours
Residential Appraiser Sales Comparison  and Income Approach	15 Hours
Residential Appraiser Report Writing and Case Studies	15 Hours
Statistics, Modeling and Finance	15 Hours
Advanced Residential Applications and Case Studies	20 Hours
Other Real Estate Appraisal Courses
Bachelor’s Degree or higher from an accredited college or university
Complete 2,500 hours of real estate appraiser experience over a minimum period of 24 months

Appraiser Trainee to Certified General Appraiser:

General Appraiser Market Analysis and Highest and Best Use	30 Hours
Statistics, Modeling and Finance	15 Hours
General Appraiser Sales Comparison Approach	30 Hours
General Appraiser Site Valuation and Cost Approach	30 Hours
General Appraiser Income Approach	60 Hours
General Appraiser Report Writing and Case Studies	30 Hours
Other Real Estate Appraisal Courses	30 Hours
Bachelor’s Degree or higher from an accredited college or university
Complete 3,000 hours of real estate appraiser experience over a minimum period of 30 months. At least 1,500 hours of appraiser experience must be non-residential appraisal experience.

STATE-LICENSED APPRAISER:

State-Licensed Appraiser to Certified Residential Appraiser:

Statistics, Modeling and Finance	15 Hours
Advanced Residential Applications and Case Studies	15 Hours
Other Real Estate Appraisal Courses	20 Hours
Bachelor’s Degree or higher from an accredited college or university
Complete 2,500 hours of real estate appraiser experience over a minimum period of 24 months

State-Licensed Appraiser to Certified General Appraiser:

General Appraiser Market Analysis and Highest and Best Use	15 Hours
Statistics, Modeling and Finance	15 Hours
General Appraiser Sales Comparison Approach	15 Hours
General Appraiser Site Valuation and Cost Approach	15 Hours
General Appraiser Income Approach	45 Hours
General Appraiser Report Writing and Case Studies	15 Hours
Other Real Estate Appraisal Courses	30 Hours
Bachelor’s Degree or higher from an accredited college or university
Complete 3,000 hours of real estate appraiser experience over a minimum period of 30 months. At least 1,500 hours of appraiser experience must be non-residential appraisal experience.

 

CERTIFIED RESIDENTIAL APPRAISER:

Certified Residential Appraiser to Certified General Appraiser:
 

General Appraiser Market Analysis and Highest and Best Use	15 Hours
General Appraiser Sales Comparison Approach	15 Hours
General Appraiser Site Valuation and Cost Approach	15 Hours
General Appraiser Income Approach	45 Hours
General Appraiser Report Writing and Case Studies	10 Hours
Bachelor’s Degree or higher from an accredited college or university
Complete 3,000 hours of real estate appraiser experience over a minimum period of 30 months. At least 1,500 hours of appraiser experience must be non-residential appraisal experience.

 

Adopted Date: October 9, 2014

Effective Date: January 1, 2015

Advisory Statement 2012-001: Reconciliation and USPAP Standard Rule 1-6

Adopted: November 29, 2012

INTRODUCTION

One of the most common complaints received by the Board is that an appraiser did not value a property correctly. The value reached by the appraiser may be actually appropriate, however, the report failed to justify that value. This avoidable problem can be addressed by appraisers focusing on the relatively straightforward requirements of Standard Rule 1-6. 

RULE

Standard Rule 1-6

In developing a real property appraisal, an appraiser must:

(a)       reconcile the quality and quantity of data available and analyzed within the approaches used; and

(b)       reconcile the applicability or suitability of the approaches used to arrive at the value conclusion(s).

ADVISORY

The purpose of Standard Rule 1-6 is clear on its face, that once an appraiser has done the work of choosing the data used in creating a value, the choices of data and the basis for the value must be justified. Generally speaking, section (a) of the rule requires that the appraiser show, in writing, how they came up with a value WITHIN the chosen approach. For example, a written reason for the basis for final value within the Market Approach would explain how and which sales are weighted in that value and why. Similarly, section (b) of the rule follows up on this justification with the requirement that the appraiser must identify which approach was used and justify, in writing, why that approach was used for the final value. As one might assume, the provisions section (a) must be fulfilled before section (b), thus the appraiser must explain the value picked within each individual approach before the appraiser can justify the approach chosen as that appropriate for the final value. 

Policy Statement 2011-002: Continuing Education for Reciprocity Licensees

This Policy Statement replaces Policy Statement 2002-003, dated December 12, 2002.

Any licensee/certificate holder who has obtained a Massachusetts license/certification by reciprocity may complete the requisite continuing education of either Massachusetts or from the state in which reciprocity was granted. Licensees/certificate holders who do not hold a current license in the State where the continuing education was satisfied on the exact date of renewal will not get credit for the out-of-state continuing education. Therefore, in the case where the licensee of another State completes their State's continuing education requirement but chooses not to renew their State's license, they may not use the continuing education to renew their Massachusetts license.

Adopted December 15, 2011

Policy Statement 2011-001: 7-Hour Uniform Standards Of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP)

On May 26, 2011, the Board of Registration of Real Estate Appraisers (Board) met to discuss the impact of the statutory amendment to Massachusetts General Law Chapter 112, Section 181 on the Board's enforcement of the 7-hour Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) Update course.

To date, the Board requires that a licensee shall complete 45 hours of continuing education which shall include the completion of a 7-hour USPAP Update course every 24 months to renew a three (3) year appraiser license. However, effective May 13, 2011, Massachusetts General Law Chapter 112, Section 181 requires that the Board reduce its licensure period from three (3) years to two (2) years and prorate its continuing education regulation.

Consequently, due to the statutory amendment, the Board voted to propose that a licensee renewing a two (2) year appraisal license shall complete twenty-eight (28) hours of continuing education which shall include the 7-hour USPAP Update course. The Board's proposed regulatory amendment removes a licensee's obligation to complete the 7-hour USPAP Update course every 24 months. The amendments only require the completion of a 7-hour USPAP Update course for licensure renewal.

In recognition that the statutory amendment may be causing confusion, pending adoption of the new regulations, the Board shall, effective immediately, not actively enforce the requirement in 264 CMR 4.01(5)(e) that licensees complete the 7-hour USPAP update within 24 months of the last USPAP update. This decision by the Board is based on its discretionary authority to direct its enforcement resources where they are most needed. It should not be interpreted as overruling any past disciplinary action for violation of the above regulation.

Please note, due to requirements of the Appraisal Qualifications Board (AQB), the Board remains obligated to enforce a more lenient requirement that licensees take the 7-hour USPAP Update course every two (2) calendar years as well as a full 45 hours of continuing education prior to renewal.

Effective Date: May 26, 2011

Policy Statement 2010-001: Education Equivalency under the 2008 Criteria - College-Level Examination Program (CLEP)

Adopted: March 18, 2010
(Effective: 7-1-10)

ISSUE:

The AQB has adopted a new interpretation with regards to its 2008 criteria relative to the educational requirements of all levels of appraisers. Since the Board adopts this criteria for the State-Licensed, Certified Residential and Certified General levels, adopting this new interpretation will ensure that the Board adheres to AQB's intent in the administration of the Real Property Appraiser Qualification and Criteria.

POLICY:

Per 264 Code of Massachusetts Regulation (CMR) 5.04 (certified residential) and 5.05 (certified general), applicants for the certified residential and certified general licenses must possess a degree in order to qualify for licensure. These sections further provide an option whereby an individual can qualify for licensure without a degree so long as they successfully pass certain "collegiate level subject matter courses from an accredited college or university". By this policy and to be consistent with AQB criteria, the Board interprets qualifying collegiate level subject matter courses to be courses which are comprised of at least three (3) semester credit hours put on by an accredited college or university (accredited by the Commission on Colleges, a regional or national agency that is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education) which accepts the College-Level Examination Program© (CLEP) examination(s) and issues a transcript for the examination, showing its approval.

Policy Statement 2005-001: Examination Approval Downgrade to a Lower Level Examination

ISSUE: An approved applicant for, Certified Residential has decided he/she is not prepared to pass the Certified Residential examination. The application was approved for Certified residential and he/she has submitted a request that the approval be downgraded to State Licensed.
 

Massachusetts General Law Chapter 112, section 177, simply states that "An application for original certification and licensing, renewal certification and licensing, and examination shall be made in writing to the board on forms approved by the board." 265 CMR 3.01 (7) states "When an application is fully processed and ready for Board action, it shall be reviewed by the Board or a subcommittee to determine whether the applicant is eligible to sit for a licensing or certification examination. When the Board has made its decision, the applicant will be notified thereof in writing. If an applicant fails to provide any all of the required or requested documentation necessary to complete the application, pay required fees, appear before the Board, or cooperate with an audit of claimed experience within six (6) months of the date the applicant is notified by the Board of such a requirement or request, such application shall be considered denied and a new application and application fee shall be required to be submitted for license qualification." Neither the statute nor the regulations prohibit the Board from re-designating or downgrading an examination approval.

Although this is not prohibited, the Board must be mindful to maintain clear, concise and accurate records. It would not be a good practice to allow applicant to repeatedly move from one level of approval to another without restriction or proper measures to ensure the integrity of the process. Moreover, an applicant that expresses concern about his or her own abilities at a specific level of licensure or fails the examination at that level and requests a downgrade should not be subsequently returned to the higher level of approval with a new review of his or her education and experience.

Therefore, the policy is as follows. When an approved Certified General or Certified Residential applicant seeks to obtain a downgrade of the approval issued to them by the board he or she must petition the Board in writing within one year of the initial approval date. The petition must explain the reasons for the downgrade and include the original examination approval certificate issued to the candidate with the initial approval. The candidate may only request to be downgraded one level from Certified General to Certified Residential or from Certified Residential to State Licensed. The original approval period of two years will continue to run without interruption and will not be extended. At no time will the candidate be entitled to an up-grade back to the higher level for which the initial approval was given. The candidate is responsible for ensuring that prior to taking the examination, the examination service has processed the downgrade and is properly registered for the appropriate examination. The applicant shall be responsible for any expenses assessed by the examination service in connection with the downgrade or failure to ensure his or her registration for the appropriate examination.

Policy Statement 2004-001: Expired Transitional License Re-examination

ISSUE: An applicant for State Licensed, Certified Residential, or Certified General Appraiser license/certification originally took and passed a license/certification examination. Now that all Transitional Licenses have expired, is the applicant required to take another license/certification examination?

Massachusetts General Law Chapter 112, section 180 C states, in part "Until January first, nineteen hundred and ninety-three, any person who passes the requisite state administered licensing examination but who lacks either the requisite education or requisite experience required for licensing under subdivision B may apply for and receive a transitional license, valid for two years from the date of issuance and delay satisfaction of the education or experience requirement until expiration of the transitional license. If, by the time of expiration of such transitional license, such person presents evidence satisfactory to the board that he has satisfied the education and experience requirements, a renewal license as a state-licensed real estate appraiser shall be issued…"

265 CMR 7.01 (4) states, in part "(a) A transitional license is valid for two years and is not renewable. Prior to its expiration, a transitional licensee may apply to upgrade his/her license to a state license provided that …"

The Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria and Interpretations of the Criteria (Criteria) as adopted by the Appraiser Qualifications Board of the Appraisal Foundation state, within each of the criteria for State Licensed, Certified General Appraiser, and Certified Residential Appraiser states, in part, "…Successful completion of the examination is valid for a period of 24 months…"

Therefore, Since all Massachusetts Transitional Licenses are expired and have been expired for more than twenty-four (24) months, all applicants who previously held a Transitional License and did not up-grade prior to its expiration MUST successfully complete an examination at the level of license sought by the applicant. Furthermore, since the Board adopts the Criteria for State Licensed, Certified Residential and Certified General Appraisers, there are no exceptions to this policy.

Policy Statement 2002-004: Licensure by Endorsement

An applicant for licensure may qualify for licensure by out-of-state endorsement provided the applicant:
has completed qualifying education that meets the minimum AQB education criteria; and
has passed an AQB certified examination; and
is currently licensed in another state (with which the Board does on offer reciprocity); and
has been working as a state licensed, certified residential or certified general for 3 of the past five years; and
is applying for the same level license; and
is listed on the Federal Registry as in compliance with AQB minimum criteria for licensure/certification.
may apply for licensure by out-of-state endorsement by submitting, together with a completed application and the appropriate fees, the following:

a score report issued by the examination authority or service that indicates a passing score consistent with Massachusetts;
a certified record of license history issued by the state in which the license/certification is held;
a written request that the Board accept the examination, experience and education and grant licensure by out-of-state endorsement.
other such documents including but not limited to: completed appraisal assignments done after passing the AQB examination.
The Board may upon review of the application, and accompanying submissions, require successful completion of the Massachusetts examination, additional experience, and/or completion of Massachusetts approved courses prior to licensure.
Adopted December 12, 2002

Policy Statement 2002-001: Multiple Properties on a Temporary Permit/License

At the 11-14-02 Board meeting a question of approving multiple properties for one temporary permit was brought to the Board by the administrative staff. An applicant for temporary permit submitted two applications, one each for two properties. Although the company engaging the appraisal services was the same, the applicant understood from past applications that two permits were needed.

This was discussed and it was determined that the ASB encouraged expedient approval of temporary permits and ASB guidelines allowed one permit to be applicable for all properties under one employer.

Therefore the policy is as follows:

In the event that an applicant for a temporary permit is being employed by one individual or company for more than one property, only one temporary permit is required. However, if there are separate employers on different properties then a temporary permit is required for each property or properties under each employer.

Adopted December 12, 2002

Board of Real Estate Appraisers Policy on Distance Education

Board of Real Estate Appraisers Policy on Distance Education
September 9, 2021

The Board of Real Estate Appraisers ("Board") voted at its meeting on September 9, 2021, to adopt the following Policy on Distance Education.

In this Policy, the following words and acronyms shall have the following meanings:

“AQB” means the federal Appraiser Qualifications Board established by Title XI of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989;

“AQB Criteria” means the Real Property Appraiser Qualifications Criteria established by the AQB;

“Second Exposure Draft” means the Second Exposure Draft of Proposed Changes to the Criteria adopted by the AQB on August 24, 2021 and available here.

This Policy incorporates provisions of the AQB Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria, including the Second Exposure Draft of Proposed Changes to the AQB Criteria, which the AQB voted to adopt on August 24, 2021, to become effective January 1, 2022.

This Policy incorporates the Second Exposure Draft immediately, although the effective date of the changes to the AQB Criteria is January 1, 2022.

Policy: Distance Education

1. Board Approved Distance Education Courses may be utilized for Primary Education and Continuing Education requirements in accordance with (1) this Policy and (2) the AQB Criteria, including the Second Exposure Draft of Proposed Changes to the AQB Criteria adopted by the AQB on August 24, 2021. The mandatory course governing the requirements and responsibilities of trainees and supervisory appraisers, as referred to in 264 CMR 5.02 and 264 CMR 6.01(6)(a)(8), may be a Distance Education course.

2. Distance education is defined as any education process based on the geographical separation of student and instructor. Components of distance education include synchronous, asynchronous, and hybrid. In synchronous educational offerings, the instructor and students interact simultaneously online, similar to a phone call, video chat or live webinar, or web-based meeting. In asynchronous educational offerings, the instructor and student interaction is non-simultaneous; the students progress at their own pace and follow a structured course content and quiz/exam schedule. Hybrid courses, also known as blended courses, are learning environments that allow for both in–person and online (synchronous, or asynchronous) interaction.

3. Synchronous courses provide for instruction and interaction substantially the same as on-site classroom courses. Synchronous courses meet class hour requirements if they comply with requirements III.A and III.B of the AQB Criteria.

4. An asynchronous distance education course is acceptable to meet class hour requirements if:

a. The course provides interaction. Interaction is a reciprocal environment where the student has verbal or written communication with the instructor; and

b. Content approval is obtained from the AQB, the Board, or an accredited college, community college, or university that offers distance education programs and is approved or accredited by the Commission on Colleges, a regional or national accreditation association, or by an accrediting agency that is recognized by the US Secretary of Education. Non-academic credit college courses provided by a college shall be approved by the AQB or the Board; and

c. Course delivery mechanism approval is obtained in compliance with AQB requirements.

5. Hybrid courses meet class hour requirements if each of its sessions meet the requirement for the delivery method employed:

a. in-person course sessions must meet all requirements for classroom education in the Board’s regulations;

b. synchronous course sessions must meet all requirements for classroom education in the Board’s regulations.

c. asynchronous courses sessions must meet requirements in paragraph 4 above.

Primary Education, a/k/a Qualifying Education

6. In addition to the requirements for Primary Education described in the Board’s regulations 264 CMR 5.00, distance education courses intended for use as qualifying education must include a written, closed-book final examination. The examination must be proctored in person or remotely by (proctored by an official approved by the college or university, or by the sponsoring organization). Bio-metric proctoring1 is acceptable as part of the method of proctoring, but a natural person must supplement the bio-metric proctoring at the time all exams for qualifying education are administered. The term, “written,” as used herein, refers to an exam that might be written on paper or administered electronically on a computer workstation or other device. Oral exams are not acceptable. The testing must comply with the examination requirements of this section.

_{1 Bio-metric proctoring process provides that student identity is continually verified through processes, such as facial recognition, consistency in keystroke cadence, and the observation of activity in the testing location. Aberrant behavior or activity can be readily observed.}

Continuing Education

7. In addition to the requirements for continuing education described in the Board’s regulations 264 CMR 4.00, asynchronous distance education courses intended for use as continuing education must include at least one of the following:

a. A written examination proctored by an official approved by the sponsoring organization. Remote proctoring, including bio-metric procedures supplemented by a natural person per paragraph 6 and Footnote 1 above, is acceptable. The term, “written,” as used herein, refers to an exam that might be written on paper or administered electronically on a computer workstation or other device. Oral exams are not acceptable; or

b. Successful completion of prescribed course

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A downloadable, PDF version of this policy is available here.