Trainee Signing The Report!

[Ed]

There seems to be some confusion regarding trainees signing the report in order to receive credit for logged hours.

This is how my supervisor and I do it.

1. We both go to every inspection together. I mean every inspection. We both measure, sketch, take notes ect..ect.. on every inspection.

2. He then assigns a series Appraisals for me to complete after the inspections are completed.

3. After I completed the reports he assigns to me, he then reviews the entire file that I completed. From comp search, couthouse research to actual report.

4. After he either O.K's or has me make changes. I'm ready to electronicaly "ship" the report.

5. Before I "ship" the Appraisal I prepare a text addendum with the following disclosure. "My Full Name" significantly contributed in the completion of this Appraisal as assistant to the Certified Residential Appraiser. I then sign the addendum and scan it into the report. I make copies of the report and submit the report to the client. This is how I'm identified on the report and how I get credit to log those hours.

6. I never use an electronic signature for myself. My supervisor electronicaly signs the report as the Certified Appraiser. I simply add the addendum I mentioned.

Does anyone do it differently, if so please advise. There may be more trainees that need clarification on the proper way to log hours.

 

[Franco2]

I by no means am an expert. However, the way you are doing it seems as though it would not technically count as you completing an assignment. In the addenda you mention that you aided in research, but I believe your signature needs to go on the report to prove you actually wrote it. I think the state board would probably look at you as someone who aided in the reseaqrch rather than someone who appraised the property. Again, I am not sure about this.

 

[Ed]

Frank.... How would you do it? I as a trainee can't electronically sign it as the Certified Appraiser.

 

[Chris Colston]

In Florida, and I always thought it was so in most states, the trainee signs on the left and the supervisor (certified/licensed appraiser) signs on the right. That's the side where the DID/DID NOT inspect box refers to.

That's how a trainee gets credit for having completed the appraisal, including the final value opinion.

9 times out of 10 it's those reports that I see come across my desk for review.

 

[Ed]

In PA we are not required to have a trainee license. So we can not complete the section that requires a Certification number or License number. The Certified Appraiser is ultimately responsible for the report. Therefore, his/her signature would go on the 1004 or 2055 and the trainee would be identified on another form (i.e. addendum) I'll check on Monday with the State Board, but this method was how my supervisor did it when he was training. GOD I hope it will be OK, I have 1900+ logged hours using this method. I'll sh*# if I can't use them.

 

[Dee Dee]

I believe it would be in every trainee's best interest to contact their own state board and ask for clarification as to exactly what does or doesn't qualify as work that can be counted toward logged hours, as well as how it should be disclosed on the report if they do not sign.

Based on posts in this forum, I get the impression that most trainees ASSume that their supervisors know what the rules are, but if the supervisor is wrong or deliberately misleading it is the trainee who will lose if that log is put under scrutiny. All too often supervisors are handling the acknowledgement of their trainees in reports in the same manner that they were acknowledged (or not) as trainees, and the only reason they believe it's acceptable is because their own log didn't get put under the microscope. Just because they might have slipped through the system is no guarantee that the trainee will.

Trainees, for your own self-preservation don't wait until you think you have enough hours to qualify for licensure to ask! Once those reports are completed and sent out to the client they can't be modified and you can't get them back. Don't leave your professional future to chance!
Your supervisor could disappear or be disciplined tomorrow, or they could lay you off or fire you tomorrow. Look out for yourself.

 

[wyecoyote]

You need to contact you state and see what they say. Each state can be different. WA state says a trainiee can sign a report on the left and supervisor can sign on the right. Although they will alow credit if you are simply mentioned in the addendum on what you did for the appraisal report. OR when I started would not alow anyone other than a lic/cert appraiser to sign the report. No trainiee could sign the appraisal report.

 

[Ed]

Just an FYI - I checked again with the State Board in PA. On their web site is a complete application form along with the rules and regulations for becoming a Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser in PA. The trainee/assistant must sign the Appraisal somewhere as "Assistant To The Certified Residential Appraiser" in order to comply with USPAP.

Not trainee on the left and Appraiser on the right. That ain't gonna cut it. Then there is a check list that must be signed that indicates what the trainee assisted on the report.

So I am doing things in compliance with my state board. WHEW!!!!! I knew I was, but by the replies I got I wasn't sure.

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

What I can't quite grasp is that we appear to have all these trainees out there that have no clue what their State Laws and Rules are! Florida Appraisal Law & Rules are part of the initial classes to become a trainee. If any Florida trainee doesn't know or understand them, it's their own damn fault.... along with USPAP. I'm amazed that other states don't have their individual laws as a mandatory part of the initial class to become a trainee!!!

 

[Stone]

In Wisconsin, the trainee can sign on the left. He/she simply can not refer to a license or certification number. The certified appraiser signs on the right. The method of including a signature in the addenda, I am reasonably sure, would work as well. However, this is definitely something that is best answered on a state by state basis.

Edit - Pam, that is a very good point. I believe that was covered in the first course I took, but I don't recall for sure. Since WI doesn't have a trainee license, it would depend on where and who you took the initial hours from, I suppose. When you get your License, which is the first level here, then you are required to pass an open book exam on the state regs. But for this kind of thing, it is a little late at that point.