101.03: Use of Supervisory or Review Appraisers

We allow an unlicensed or uncertified appraiser who works as an employee or subcontractor of a licensed or certified appraiser to perform a significant amount of the appraisal (or the entire appraisal if he or she is qualified to do so) -- as long as the appraisal report is signed by a licensed or certified "supervisory" or "review" appraiser and is acceptable under state law.  In some cases, a lender may request that the appraisal reports prepared by a specific state-licensed or -certified appraiser be cosigned by his or her employer or contractor as a "supervisory" appraiser either because that is a tradition in the locality or because it wants to acknowledge the relationship between the appraiser and the employer or contractor.

When a "supervisory" appraiser is used, the "supervisory" appraiser must certify that he or she directly supervises the appraiser who prepared the appraisal report, has reviewed the appraisal report, agrees with the statements and conclusions of the appraiser, agrees to be bound by some of the same certifications that the appraiser made, and takes full responsibility for the appraisal report.

If an appraiser is performing a "review" function that is different from the one discussed above, he or she must prepare a separate review report and attach it to the appraisal report being reviewed.  For instance, this approach would apply when a lender chooses to use an appraisal service and one of the conditions of the delegation is that the appraiser or appraisal service must assume responsibility for the appraisal.