I agree. The board is failing to protect the public trust and harming its credibility as long as it takes the position that if: Person A charges money to tell someone what property is worth, that is an appraisal, but if Person B charges money to tell the same person what the same property is worth, that is not an appraisal.My memory fails me as to the details. But I lost faith in USPAP and the intention of the ASB years ago when the definition of market value was changed to include the word "opinion" as opposed to "estimate". That opened the door to AVM's not being included and went totally against any sort of notion of 'protecting the public'. I'm not quite sure why appraisers have to pay to fund the AF if it's for protecting the public.
I believe that position is unique and unprecedented in the history of professional ethics and standards.