Proposed Rules And Changes

[Francois K. Gregoire]

Hi All,

On Monday, August 4th, the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board met to
discuss rules to implement changes made in Chapter 475 which became
effective July 1, 2003. Here is a synopsis of what is proposed. Keep
in mind, THESE ARE NOT YET EFFECTIVE. The rules have yet to be fully developed and have not been adopted by the FREAB. The information presented here is to provide an indication of the direction the FREAB is headed and what to expect.

After the rules are developed, opportunities are provided for public
comment. Feel free to provide comment at any time here or by email.

REGISTRATION DETAILS AND FEE STRUCTURE - Proposed is in increase in
the Fingerprint Card Processing Fee to $47.00 (increase of $8.00)
This is required as the fee charged the DBPR has been increased.

MINIMUM EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS - Proposed for State - Certified
Residential and State Certified General Appraisers is a requirement
to attend the 15 Hour National USPAP Course taught by an AQB
Certified USPAP Instructor. This is being done to meet the AQB
Appraiser Qualification Criteria.

CONTINUING EDUCATION - Proposed is a requirement for all appraisers
to attend the 7 Hour National USPAP Updated course taught by an AQB
Certified USPAP Instructor as part of their biennial Continuing
Education Requirements. This is being done to meet the AQB Appraiser
Qualification Criteria.

POST LICENSING EDUCATION FOR REGISTERED TRAINEE APPRAISERS -
Proposed is a requirement for 45 hours of education to be completed
by Registered Trainee Appraisers within their first two registration
renewal periods. All Registered Trainee Appraisers (including those
registered prior to July 1, 2003) will be required to complete this
education.

SUPERVISION OF REGISTERED TRAINEE APPRAISERS - Proposed is the
following language:

Supervision of Registered Trainee Appraisers.

(1) Any registered trainee appraiser shall be subject to direct
supervision by a supervising appraiser who shall be state licensed or
certified in good standing.
(2) The supervising appraiser shall be responsible for the training
and direct supervision of the appraiser trainee by:
(a) Accepting responsibility for the appraisal report by signing and
certifying the report is in compliance with the Uniform Standards of
Professional Appraisal Practice for the property type.
(B) Reviewing the appraiser trainee appraisal reports and
© Personally inspecting each appraised property with the appraiser
trainee until the trainee is competent in accordance with the
Competency Rule of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal
Practice for the property type
(3) A registered trainee appraiser is permitted to have more than one
supervising appraiser.
(4) Any supervising appraiser, whether acting as primary or secondary
appraiser, may not supervise more than 4 appraisers at one time.
(5) A supervising appraiser shall train or supervise appraisers
concerning only located in:
(a) The county where the supervising appraiser's office is
registered
with the Department and
(B) Any county contiguous to the county where the supervising
appraiser's office is registered with the Department.
(6) An appraisal log shall be maintained by the registered trainee
appraiser and shall, at a minimum, include the following for each
appraisal:
(a) Type of property
(B) Date of report
© Client name and address
(d) Address of appraised property
(e) Description of work performed
(f) Number of work hours
(g) Signature and state license/certification number of the
supervising appraiser
(7) Separate appraisal logs shall be maintained for each supervising
appraiser.

EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS - Proposed are changes to the Experience Log
Requirements.

(5) Experience as defined in paragraph (2) above shall be accounted
for on an appraisal experience log, which shall include the following
minimum information: type of property, date of report, client name
and address, address of appraised property, description of work
performed, number of work hours, and signature and license number of
supervising appraiser (if applicable). The log and supporting
documents shall be retained for a minimum of 5 years after licensure
or certification. All work submitted for experience shall comply
with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.

OPERATION AND BUSINESS - Proposed are the following allowed
designations for Registered Trainee Appraisers:

State-Registered Trainee Real Estate Appraiser
Registered Trainee
Trainee

There are a myriad of other changes, but most are minor and relate to
the manner of making application, forms to use, etc.

As always, your comments are welcome.

Frank

 

[Dale Smalley]

OK Here goes it

1. Fingerprinting- once in a lifetime should be enough. Why do we need a new one every time we upgrade our license.

2. More USPAP!!!! – I am sure the non appraisers came up with this one. Have you ever stayed awake through 7hrs of this stuff. :asleep: 7hours or 15 hours it is still clear as mud and we can't change that.

3. That is a lot of rules for trainees. Overkill in my opinion and makes them a pure liability with little upside for the cert economically. Who is going to pay the staff at the department to review all of these new forms and logs? If you expect me to pay, then I oppose the new rules as they serve no benefit to me, nor protect the public from harm. Just a wast of time and money.

There, aren't you sorry you asked? <_<

 

[Francois K. Gregoire]

Dale,

Thanks for the comments. Let's see if some of what is proposed can be clarified:

1. Fingerprinting- once in a lifetime should be enough. Why do we need a new one every time we upgrade our license.

These are required of applicants as a matter of law. The fee must equal, at least, what the state is being charged by the FBI. Believe it or not, some folks actually acquire a criminal record after their first application. At yesterday's meeting, 7 - 9 folks were denied due to prior criminal history. Over the next few months, the FREAB will be dealing with several dozen folks that failed to disclose crimial history. The DBPR learned of it by their fingerprint review.

2. More USPAP!!!! – I am sure the non appraisers came up with this one. Have you ever stayed awake through 7hrs of this stuff. :asleep: 7hours or 15 hours it is still clear as mud and we can't change that.

Hate to tell you, but the hours of USPAP required is NOT a change from what exists. The only difference is the NATIONAL USPAP COURSE and AQB CERTIFIED INSTRUCTORS. Not the choice of FREAB - Imposed by the AQB (Appraisers, by the way)

3. That is a lot of rules for trainees. Overkill in my opinion and makes them a pure liability with little upside for the cert economically. Who is going to pay the staff at the department to review all of these new forms and logs? If you expect me to pay, then I oppose the new rules as they serve no benefit to me, nor protect the public from harm. Just a wast of time and money.

Log is already required by current rules. The changes just make things more clear and meaningful. Trainees are already a liability and a tremendous responsibility. There will be more flack on this rule and it will likely be tweaked, but they do protect the public.

Your comments are important and do not fall on deaf ears. Thanks!!

 

[Dale Smalley]

Fingerprinting when you apply as trainee (see I get it) is ok but again to apply as a cert and again as general doesn't make sense to me. Your fingerprints don't change what are you looking for here?

Sorry I am anti USPAP so I have nothing constructive to say about that. The instructors barely understand this stuff. The best I can do is keep the link on my favorites and search topics when there is a question. Actually this is how I found this forum by looking for USPAP answers on the net. But answers to USPAP questions are hard to come by.

Log is already required by current rules.

I keep one for accounting purposes I hope that will do, but that is another rule I did not know. Anyway as sad as this trainee thing seems to be I have been persuaded to take on another. The guy has three kids and needs to have a career so I couldn’t say no. Apparently he doesn't care what you call him as long as he can get started. So there appears to be no stigma about being a trainee vs. an assistant for this guy.

I hope someone else has something to add. Where is Angry Jeff?

 

[jeff samolinski]

The one about supervisors must inspect with trainee until they are competent per USPAP is a little fuzzy but I guess supervisors would have to use their own judgement on a case by case basis depending upon the degree of difficulty of the assignment.

 

[Judy Whitehead (Florida)]

I haven't mastered the quote thing yet. My eyes glaze over when I read rules...I'm sorry. You have been helping me so much, Frank, with my trainee.

The one about post licensing education 45 hours - the way I read it it would work similar to new licensees in real estate - 45 hours of education to be completed by Registered Trainee Appraisers withint their first two registration renewal periods. All registered Trainee Appraisers (including those registered prior to July 1, 2003) will be required to complete this education.

That sounds to me like if the rule passes, then my trainee has to complete 45 hours of post licensing prior to taking his ABII course and the state exam, which he will be eligible to do this October.

This would make it difficult if the rule is approved in, say, September and he wants to take his ABII and exam in October. Is that correct? We would have to "scramble around" and find a course for him to take. Of course, I ready to admit I may be reading it wrong.

 

[Francois K. Gregoire]

Judy,

Good questions.

The idea behind the Post License Education for Registered Trainee Appraisers is to get them on track to become State-Certified by their second renewal period. The FREAB is attempting to require education equal to what is required in ABII. If all goes as planned, a Trainee should be able to make an application for a State-Cerfied Residential ticket after completing the post license courses, the 15 Hour National USPAP Course and submitting proof of two years' experience.

Does that answer your question?

 

[Dale Smalley]

Hey Frank
Do you still have that link to 475. online?

We are arguing about the trainee rules and when they went into effect.

 

[Wally Jones]

I agree with Jeff o ) about determining when a trainee becomes competent. Each individual is different as well as each assignment. Perhaps the requirement could be amended to include a specific number of appraisals of which the majority are single family residences, a few income properties, some vacant land reports and a couple of condominiums. This still wouldn't guarantee competence, but at least would ensure all the trainees in the state had been exposed to the same number of supervised inspections with the same mix of property types. (Now that I've said that, there are undoubtedly some markets which wouldn't offer such a variety of property types, so perhaps some sort of waiver could be arranged.)

Overall, sounds like good progress. We'll never have a perfect system, but at least we're trying to improve! Thanks for keeping us informed, Frank!

 

[Judy Whitehead (Florida)]

Thanks for responding, Frank. I'm sorry to be so dense. Does this mean that the post licensing 45 hours takes the place of 45 hourse of ABII? If you take ABII do you have to take the post licensing course?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but can you only stay a trainee for two licensing periods anyway? Isn't there already a limit of time that you can be a registered trainee?