Upgrading to Certified in Maryland

[Steve Fingles]

Anyone recently Certified in Maryland? I'm looking to upgrade. I've seen the Real Esate Commission's requirements, but I have a few questions. Trying to get info from the Commission is impossible. Please don't reply, "Check with your state." I'm not an idiot.

After Jan. 2008 the course requirements were increased to 200 hours. The requirements for a licensed appraiser were raised to 150 hours. I received my license before the increase (2006). I believe I needed only 75 hours. Do I just need the balance of 50 hours? Which is the current difference between the two licenses, or do I need to make up the entire 125 hrs? Please say it is the former.

Also, the 2,500 hours workload. I assume it's cummulative, but are there any special requirements of the additional 500 hours? i.e. complex or commercial? Also, do the additional hours need to be signed by a different appraiser? i.e. someone certified. Or, am I essentially signing off on my own hours? If so, can I use the same work experience log I used to become licensed and simply add 500 more?


Thanks in advance

 

[TJSum]

Your best source of information is the Maryland Association of Appraisers website.

http://www.mdappraisers.org/

From my experiences, it is much worse than you are thinking. When upgrading you have to start from scratch, as if the state has never met you.

1- Education. Yes, you can use the classes you took for your License, however you must have those Certificates to prove your education, even though they accepted them before, that does not matter, they must be resubmitted. Your hours have to add up to 200. So if you got your License with only 75 hours, which was the original requirement in the early 90's you need to take 125 hours more. But it may even be worse than that now, because the new requirements state a certain amount of hours for certain subjects, so I am not sure how your old classwork will comply with that. And of course, if you can not find all your old certs, you have to retake those classes. One last thing, all classes must be done in person, no online crapola...

2- Your work log must show 2500 hours, and if you were lucky enough to save your original log from licensing, you still can not use it unless you have all of those reports on file. Every report entered on the log must have the work file in your possession so that you can prove your work. I know an appraiser who got licensed in 1991 and used her original work log from back then to upgrade and she got a note back from the state to send five of those reports which they picked from random, and of course she no longer had possession of them. Long story short, you have to create a new 2500 hour log with more current reports. If you are licensed, you do not need to have someone else sign your reports.

That is all I know, maybe some other Marylandites will be along to clarify...