Certification of Real and Personal Property Values

Guidance for local assessors on the minimum standard of assessment performance proposed property valuations must meet annually.

Certification Standards, Certification Cycle

Annually the division publishes guidelines for the development of a minimum reassessment program.  The current guidelines can be found below:

• Certification Standards
• Current 5 year certification cycle

Under the DLS Publications we have manuals and guidelines relating to property certification and classification, see related resources to the right.

The bureau has published a best practice on using new technologies in data collection, this best practice is below.

Additional Resources

Data Collection Using New Technologies Best Practice

BLA Community Advisors

List of Appraisal Contractors

Appraisal Contractor Annual Reporting Form

LA3 sales report

The LA3 workbook below contains macros that will perform an analysis on the LA3 sales report, checking for compliance with our certification standards guidelines.  Step by step directions for using the LA3 workbook are also included below.  Assessors are encouraged to contact the Massachusetts Assessors Association Office (MAAO) with questions, or if they need additional training on the use of the workbook.

• LA3 Macros
• Macro Instructions

Assessors upload LA3 data to the DLS Gateway applications, but must ensure the file to be uploaded is in the appropriate format, to do this you must use the template below, also included is a guide to using the LA3 Bulk Upload:

• LA3 Sales Upload Template
• Upload Instructions

LA3 sales data can be search from the DLS Gateway application, to access Gateway use the related resources link to the right.

• LA-3 – Best Practices, Processes and Sales Code Review Presentation (PDF)
• LA-3 – Best Practices, Processes and Sales Code Review Webinar (Video)