OREA Links

As a result of Governor Schwarzenegger's Executive Order S-13-09 of July 1, 2009, the Office of Real Estate Appraisers will be closed on the first, second and third Fridays of each month (and the fourth Friday in January 2010) through June of 2010.

• The Fall 2009 edition of OREA's newsletter, The California Appraiser is now available.

• Appraisal Management Company Registration

  California Governor Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 237 into law on October 11, 2009, mandating the registration of appraisal management companies with the Office of Real Estate Appraisers (OREA). Under SB 237, OREA must develop and adopt regulations governing the implementation of the registration process, with specified minimum requirements, and establish the fees to be imposed in an amount sufficient to cover OREA's administrative costs for the registration and regulation of appraisal management companies.

  OREA's approved emergency regulations were filed with the Secretary of State on January 21, 2010. Said regulations shall be in effect for 180 days, or until OREA completes the Regular Rulemaking process.

  AMC Registration -- Approved Emergency Regulations

  AMC Application -- Form 5001

  Controlling Person Application -- Form 5002

• Attention OREA Course Providers and USPAP Instructors

  The 2008-09 USPAP basic and recertification courses may only be offered until 12/31/09. After January 1, 2010, only the 2010-11 versions of USPAP can be offered. Currently all USPAP instructors are certified until March 31, 2010. Instructors must successfully complete The Appraisal Foundation's online Instructor Recertification Course (IRC) between October 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010, in order to retain their instructor certification. Instructors are not permitted to teach the 2010-11 version of USPAP prior to completing this recertification process.

  Students will not receive credit for 2010-11 USPAP classes if they were taught by a certified instructor who had not completed the IRC process.

  In addition to the above recertification process, any USPAP instructor wishing to teach a distance offering of the 2010-11 USPAP must also possess the Certified Distance Education Instructor (CDEI) designation from International Distance Education Certification Council. Students completing the distance education version of these courses cannot receive credit if the instructor was not CDEI designated.

• Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) news release regarding the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC)

  The HVCC applies to lenders that sell single-family mortgage loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac beginning May 1, 2009. See the FHFA news release. Read the text of the HVCC.

  The Appraisal Foundation will be providing information on their interpretation of the HVCC policy.

• *** Important Announcement to FHA/HUD Appraisers ***

  The approval of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 mandates revised eligibility requirements for appraisers to qualify for placement and retention on the FHA Appraiser Roster.

  No later than October 1, 2009, all FHA Appraiser Roster appraisers in all states and territories must be state certified in order to be eligible to conduct appraisals for FHA-insured mortgages and remain on the FHA Appraiser Roster.

  For the full text of HUD's Mortgagee Letter 2008-39 click here. More information can be found at http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/appr/eligibility.cfm

  Please refer to pages 9-10 of OREA's Licensing Requirements Handbook for requirements to upgrade to a Certified Residential or Certified General license.

• OREA now has an email list for announcements of website updates and new publications. This will be a low volume list and we will not make the addresses available to any other entity unless required by law. You can join the list by clicking the link below and sending a blank email. If you use web-based email, you may have to copy the address and paste it into a new, blank message in your webmail.

  OREA Notices mailing list subscription address:
  orea_notices-join@orea.ca.gov

• Senate Bill 223 prohibits anyone with an interest in a real estate transaction from improperly influencing or attempting to improperly influence the results of an appraisal sought in connection with a mortgage loan. Find out more.
  Full text of Senate Bill 223

  APPRAISERS: If anyone has pressured you to "hit a value" in an appraisal assignment, please go to the California Real Estate & Financial Services License Status Check to determine the appropriate jurisdictional authority for violation of California Civil Code Section 1090.5

• Complaints against licensed appraisers (or applicants) will not be accepted unless the complaint form REA 4001 is completed, signed and dated. See the Enforcement section for details.
• OREA HAS CHANGED TESTING PROVIDERS: OREA's examination provider has changed, effective July 1, 2008 from Pearson Vue to Applied Measurement Professionals Inc. To schedule an examination please contact Applied Measurement Professionals Inc. at:
  
  http://www.goamp.com

  PLEASE NOTE: Admission to Examination Letters are valid for one year or five attempts, which ever comes first. Therefore, applicants who have a valid Admission to Examination Letter may take the examination in 2008 but they will take the 2008 version of the examination. Additionally, those applicants who submitted their applications with acceptable education prior to January 1, 2008 and who do not take the examination until after January 1, 2008, will not have to qualify under the 2008 education requirements unless their Admission to Examination Letter expires. Information regarding the 2008 examination may be found on the Applied Measurement Professionals Inc. website at http://www.goamp.com

• The 2008 Edition of USPAP became effective on January 1, 2008.
• OREA now offers online license renewal application with credit card acceptance for some licensees.
• 2008 Licensing Requirements Handbook and 2007 Course Provider Handbook are now available.
• New Upgrade interpretations according to 2008 criteria.
• Public Record Act Guidelines.
• Application Processing Time.
• All Distance Education courses must have IDECC approval.
• Other news and important announcements.

Change to the Work Sample Submittal Process

In the OREA Licensing Handbook, the references to submittal of work samples on pages 4, 6, 14, 15 and 16 should be disregarded. OREA licensing staff will contact the applicant regarding the submittal of work samples, based on the work experience log submitted with the license application.

NEW LICENSING REQUIREMENTS EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2008

In February 2004, The Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) of the Appraisal Foundation adopted changes to the real property appraiser qualifications criteria that will become effective January 1, 2008. The requirements individuals must meet in order to become a licensed or certified appraiser will change significantly. The changes include increased requirements for qualifying education and experience, and a new Uniform State Appraiser Examination.

The manner in which the Office of Real Estate Appraisers will implement the new criteria is important to understand. For all initial license applications and upgrade applications received on or after January 1, 2008, applicants must meet all components (education, experience, and examination) of the new requirements.

Initial or upgrade applications received on or before December 31, 2007, will be reviewed based on current licensing requirements. However, if an examination is not taken until after January 1, 2008, the examination content will be based on 2008 criteria. Any deficient component of an application not completed prior to December 31, 2007, will be required to meet the 2008 new requirements. This pertains primarily to the education and examination components.

Please refer to this website frequently. Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.

The real property appraiser criteria effective January 1, 2008 are summarized in the following table.

Individuals gaining experience at the AT level must be supervised by a certified licensed level appraiser under the new criteria. No supervisor can supervise more than three trainees.

* In lieu of the Associate Degree, an applicant can complete 21 college semester credits in courses covering specific subject matters: English Composition; Principles of Economics (Micro or Macro); Finance, Algebra, Geometry or higher mathematics; Statistics, Introduction to Computers; and Business or Real Estate Law.

** In lieu of the Bachelors Degree, an applicant can complete 30 college semester credits in courses covering specific subject matters: English Composition; Micro Economics; Macro Economics; Finance, Algebra, Geometry or higher mathematics; Statistics, Introduction to Computers; and Business or Real Estate Law; and two elective courses in accounting, geography, ag-economics, business management, or real estate.