Appraiser Commission Board Investigation for License

[Jdh8n]

I'm really just posting this to vent on how ridiculous the whole process of getting my license has been. On 11/6/2020, I priority shipped my application along with the background check and other required paperwork to the Georgia Real Estate Commission Board. I am applying for my state registered appraiser license. I completed the required 90 hours of education from the Appraisal Institute (AI), which was supposed to electronically send over my transcripts to the board. I priority shipped the application and tracking info said they received it on 11/7/2020. On 11/23/2020, I called the commission board and asked about the status of my application. They said they had not received my education and were waiting on that, which I found odd because I called AI before I mailed my application to make sure they sent the transcripts, which they assured me were sent automatically. That same day I called AI, told them the commission board is missing my education, they apologized and sent it over. The next day, on 11/24/2020, I called the commission board back to verify that they received my transcripts and they said they did, but the application hasn't gone under review yet and it should take up to 10 days. Approximately 10 days later I received my entire application back in the mail from the commission board stating that my application was incomplete because I was missing my education and to remail my application with an additional $25 incomplete fee, on top of my $125 application fee. The postage date was on 11/19/2020, so whoever I talked to on the 23rd and 24th was clueless that they had already mailed my application back to me. On 12/5/2020, I priority shipped my application back to them with the $25 dollar money order. On 12/8/2020, I called the board to make sure they got my application and they said they have it and the process would take up to 10 days. Today, on 12/15/2020, I called the board again just to check on the status of my application, and the woman who answered the phone said that it's under the process of review and will take up to 12 WEEKS! I asked if that is normal because everyone else has told me it takes 10-15 business days (every time I call it's a different person), the woman replied "Yeah" in an annoyed tone. By the way, half the people who answer the phone there are very rude for some reason. I work for a commercial appraisal firm and my boss is starting to get annoyed that I don't have my license yet, and if it literally takes 3 months for them to give me my license, I'll probably be fired way before then. Does anyone know how long it took for them to get their State Registered or State Trainee license?

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

About a week here...sorry. Call you state legislator and see if he/she can help.

 

[Mejappz]

What a disaster. Sorry, you have to go through this. It’s Government.

 

[Alsie35]

Suspect they may be short staffed due to COVID, but it still seems to be unreasonably long.

 

[The Warrior Monk]

The licensing process can be a ridiculous and tedious process. For my CG, I had to send in my application five separate times, over several years, and finally show up in person to an NYS Appraisal Board in person to get everything approved. My first application was rejected because it was incomplete, and the reason it was incomplete was because I followed the exact instructions from via a phone call to a person at the DOS, who had no idea what they were doing. The remaining applications were due to incompetence. What they were rejecting my application for was in direct conflict with the experience requirements, and in fact directly contracted the exact example they had on their own website!

The long and short of it is that you'll have to be patient. The wheels of government move really, really slow, and there's not much you can do about it other than be persistent.

 

[Elliott]

You should have said, "I voted for Biden," and you would have been 'iin like Flynn' since your in Georgia (honestly I just recognized the irony of of the use of Flynn).

 

[Deleted member 152047]

I'm really just posting this to vent on how ridiculous the whole process of getting my license has been. On 11/6/2020, I priority shipped my application along with the background check and other required paperwork to the Georgia Real Estate Commission Board. I am applying for my state registered appraiser license. I completed the required 90 hours of education from the Appraisal Institute (AI), which was supposed to electronically send over my transcripts to the board. I priority shipped the application and tracking info said they received it on 11/7/2020. On 11/23/2020, I called the commission board and asked about the status of my application. They said they had not received my education and were waiting on that, which I found odd because I called AI before I mailed my application to make sure they sent the transcripts, which they assured me were sent automatically. That same day I called AI, told them the commission board is missing my education, they apologized and sent it over. The next day, on 11/24/2020, I called the commission board back to verify that they received my transcripts and they said they did, but the application hasn't gone under review yet and it should take up to 10 days. Approximately 10 days later I received my entire application back in the mail from the commission board stating that my application was incomplete because I was missing my education and to remail my application with an additional $25 incomplete fee, on top of my $125 application fee. The postage date was on 11/19/2020, so whoever I talked to on the 23rd and 24th was clueless that they had already mailed my application back to me. On 12/5/2020, I priority shipped my application back to them with the $25 dollar money order. On 12/8/2020, I called the board to make sure they got my application and they said they have it and the process would take up to 10 days. Today, on 12/15/2020, I called the board again just to check on the status of my application, and the woman who answered the phone said that it's under the process of review and will take up to 12 WEEKS! I asked if that is normal because everyone else has told me it takes 10-15 business days (every time I call it's a different person), the woman replied "Yeah" in an annoyed tone. By the way, half the people who answer the phone there are very rude for some reason. I work for a commercial appraisal firm and my boss is starting to get annoyed that I don't have my license yet, and if it literally takes 3 months for them to give me my license, I'll probably be fired way before then. Does anyone know how long it took for them to get their State Registered or State Trainee license?

You aren't alone, my office has had similar issues with Georgia, including them flat out losing an application even though they signed for the delivery. After several days of searching for the application, they finally admitted that they lost it along with the money order.

It stinks, but you really never know what you are going to get when you are dealing with governmental agencies. I had major issues with my renewal this year in Florida. The only thing I could do was spend hours on the phone and become a thorn that they couldn't ignore. Just be glad that you aren't dealing with any midwest governments....you might not hear anything for six months.