DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING

(1) Any person desiring to take an examination for licensure or certification as a state-licensed or state-certified residential real estate appraiser, or as a state-certified general real estate appraiser, must submit a completed examination application with supporting documents and appropriate fee to the department of licensing, business and professions division, at its official address. After the qualifications for the examination have been verified by the department, the applicant shall submit the preapproved examination application, the request for examination and the appropriate fee to the testing service approved by the director.

(2) At the time of filing with the department, an application for a state license or certification, the applicant shall possess the requisite hours of verifiable real estate appraisal experience. Experience shall be acquired within the requisite time. Qualifying experience shall consist of significant professional appraisal assistance under the supervision of a certified appraiser within the boundaries of the state of Washington except as referenced in WAC ((308-125-…)) 308-125-095.

(3) An application and fee shall be valid for six months from receipt by the department. An applicant may correct any discrepancies in the application other than experience during this six-month period. After six months, if the applicant has not met the prerequisites to sit for the licensure or certification examination, the applicant must submit a new application with the appropriate fee.

(4) Dishonored checks will be considered as an incomplete application.

(5) An applicant shall forfeit all examination fees for any examination or examinations for which the applicant has applied and does not take for any reason, other than through the fault or mistake of the department of licensing or the approved testing agency.

(1) Anyone who is not a licensed or certified appraiser or a registered appraiser trainee cannot provide assistance that includes analytical work and exercising discernment or discretion that leads to an appraisal conclusion.

(2) As a prerequisite to registration as a registered appraiser trainee, the applicant shall present evidence satisfactory to the director of successful completion within five years of the date of application of the following appraiser qualifications board modules of qualifying core curriculum of approved qualifying education ((modules)):

(a) Basic appraisal principles, thirty hours.

(b) Basic appraisal procedures, thirty hours.

(c) The National USPAP course or equivalent fifteen hours.

(3) Application for registration as a trainee from persons who have had either a real estate license or real estate appraiser license suspended or revoked shall not be accepted by the department until after the time period of the suspension or revocation has expired.

(4) An applicant for registration as a trainee shall present a completed registration form together with the appropriate fee and copies of core curriculum course completion certificates to the director prior to issuance of the approved trainee registration certificate.

(5) Registration as a trainee may be denied for unprofessional conduct as provided in RCW 18.235.130.

The general real estate appraiser classification applies to the appraisal of all types of real property.

(1) As a prerequisite to taking the examination for certification as a state-certified general real estate appraiser, an applicant shall present evidence satisfactory to the director that he/she has successfully completed not less than ((one hundred eighty classroom hours of qualifying education as approved by the director. Each applicant must successfully complete a thirty classroom hour course in the basic principles of real estate appraising and a fifteen classroom hour course in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice as part of the one hundred eighty classroom hours of course work: Provided, That effective November 1, 2007, the required number of classroom hours is)) three hundred hours in the following core modules:

(a) Basic appraisal principles, thirty hours.

(b) Basic appraisal procedures, thirty hours.

(c) The National USPAP course or equivalent, fifteen hours.

(d) General appraiser market analysis and highest and best use, thirty hours.

(e) Statistics, modeling and finance, fifteen hours.

(f) General appraiser sales comparison approach, thirty hours.

(g) General appraiser site valuation and cost approach, thirty hours.

(h) General appraiser income approach, sixty hours.

(i) General appraiser report writing and case studies, thirty hours.

(j) Appraisal subject matter electives, thirty hours.

(2) Credit towards qualifying education requirements may be obtained via the completion of a degree program in real estate from an accredited degree-granting college or university provided the college or university has had its curriculum reviewed and approved by the appraiser qualifications board.

(3) An original certification as a state-certified general real estate appraiser shall not be issued to any person who does not possess three thousand hours of appraisal experience obtained continuously over a period of not less than thirty months in Washington or in another state having comparable certification requirements.

(((3))) (4) To fulfill the experience requirement, ((a candidate)) an applicant must have at least one thousand five hundred hours of nonresidential appraisal experience.

(((4))) (5) Effective January 1, ((2008)) 2015, applicants for the certified general license must possess a bachelor's degree or higher in any field of study. Through December 31, 2014, applicants for the certified general license must possess a bachelor's degree or higher in any field of study or, in lieu of the required degree, thirty semester credit hours covering the following subject matter courses:

(a) English composition;

(b) Principles of economics (micro and macro);

(c) Finance;

(d) Algebra, geometry or, higher mathematics;

(e) Statistics;

(f) Introduction to computers: Word processing/spreadsheets;

(g) Business or real estate law; and

(h) Two elective courses in accounting, geography, agricultural economics, business management, or real estate;

as approved by the appraiser qualifications board and the director, in addition to the required qualifying core curriculum requirements.

The state-certified residential real estate appraiser classification applies to appraisals of all types of residential property of one to four units without regard to transaction value or complexity and nonresidential property having a transaction value less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars.

(1) As a prerequisite to taking the examination for certification as a state-certified residential real estate appraiser, an applicant shall present evidence satisfactory to the director that he/she has successfully completed not less than ((one hundred twenty classroom hours of qualifying education as approved by the director. Each applicant must successfully complete a thirty classroom hour course in the basic principles of real estate appraising and a fifteen classroom hour course in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice as part of the one hundred twenty classroom hours of course work: Provided, That effective January 1, 2007, the required number of classroom hours is)) two hundred hours in the following core modules:

(a) Basic appraisal principles, thirty hours.

(b) Basic appraisal procedures, thirty hours.

(c) The National USPAP course or equivalent, fifteen hours.

(d) Residential market analysis and highest and best use, fifteen hours.

(e) Residential appraiser site valuation and cost approach, fifteen hours.

(f) Residential sales comparison and income approaches, thirty hours.

(g) Residential appraiser report writing and case studies, fifteen hours.

(h) Statistics, modeling and finance, fifteen hours.

(i) Advanced residential applications and case studies, fifteen hours.

(j) Appraisal subject matter electives, twenty hours.

(2) Credit towards qualifying education requirements may be obtained via the completion of a degree program in real estate from an accredited degree-granting college or university provided the college or university has had its curriculum reviewed and approved by the appraiser qualifications board.

(3) An original certification as a state-certified residential real estate appraiser shall not be issued to any person who does not possess two thousand five hundred hours of appraisal experience obtained continuously over a period of not less than twenty-four months in Washington or in another state having comparable certification requirements.

(((3))) (4) Effective January 1, ((2008)) 2015, applicants for the certified residential appraiser license must possess a bachelor's degree or higher in any field of study. Through December 31, 2014, certified residential real estate appraiser applicants must possess an ((associate's)) associate degree or higher in any field of study or, in lieu of the required degree, twenty-one semester credit hours covering the following subject matter courses:

(a) English composition;

(b) Principles of economics (micro or macro);

(c) Finance;

(d) Algebra, geometry or, higher mathematics;

(e) Statistics;

(f) Introduction to computers: Word processing/spreadsheets; and

(g) Business or real estate law;

as approved by the appraiser qualifications board and the director, in addition to the required core curriculum.

The state-licensed real estate appraiser classification applies to appraisal of noncomplex one to four residential units having a transaction value less than one million dollars and complex one to four residential units having a transaction value less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars and nonresidential property having a transaction value less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars.

(1) As a prerequisite to taking the examination for certification as a state-licensed real estate appraiser, an applicant shall present evidence satisfactory to the director that he/she has successfully completed not less than ((ninety classroom hours of courses in qualifying education as approved by the director. Each applicant must successfully complete a thirty classroom hour course in the basic principles of real estate appraising and a fifteen classroom hour course in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice as part of the seventy-five classroom hours of course work: Provided, That effective January 1, 2007, the required number of classroom hours is)) one hundred fifty hours in the following core modules:

(a) Basic appraisal principles, thirty hours.

(b) Basic appraisal procedures, thirty hours.

(c) The National USPAP course or equivalent, fifteen hours.

(d) Residential market analysis and highest and best use, fifteen hours.

(e) Residential appraiser site valuation and cost approach, fifteen hours.

(f) Residential sales comparison and income approaches, thirty hours.

(g) Residential appraiser report writing and case studies, fifteen hours.

(2) Credit toward qualifying education requirements may be obtained via the completion of a degree program in real estate from an accredited degree-granting college or university provided the college or university has had its curriculum reviewed and approved by the appraiser qualifications board.

(3) An original certification as a state-licensed real estate appraiser shall not be issued to any person who does not possess two thousand hours of appraisal experience obtained continuously over a period of not less than twenty-four months in Washington or in another state having comparable certification requirements.

(1) To be accepted under WAC 308-125-030(1), 308-125-040(1), and 308-125-045(1), courses must:

(a) Be a minimum of fifteen classroom hours in length;

(b) Include an examination;

(c) Be directly related to real estate appraising; and

(d) Be approved by the director as identified in the appraiser program's publication Approved Courses, Real Estate Appraisers; or

(e) Be approved by the appraiser qualifications board and approved by the director.

(2) The following limitations may apply to course work submitted to the department for approval:

(a) Distance education may be acceptable to meet classroom hour requirements only if each course meets the following conditions:

(i) The course provides interaction. Interaction is a reciprocal environment where the student has verbal or written communication with the instructor;

(ii) An individual successfully completes a closed-book written, proctored examination administered at a location by an official approved by the college or university; and

(iii) Content and course delivery mechanism approvals are obtained from the appraisal qualifications board or an accredited college, community college, or university that offers distance education programs and is approved or accredited by the commission on colleges, a regional or national accreditation association, or by an accrediting agency that is recognized by the United States Secretary of Education. Nonacademic credit college courses provided by a college shall be approved by the appraisal qualifications board and approved by the director.

(b) An applicant shall not receive "dual credit" for courses that have the same or very similar content and are deemed comparable by the department, even if an applicant completes the courses through different course providers.

(3) Copies of official transcript of college records or certificates of course completion will be considered as satisfactory evidence for education requirements.

(4) Preexamination review seminars or examination preparation seminars will not be approved for clock hour credit.

(5) An application shall be submitted for approval not less than ninety days preceding the course start date. Course approval expiration shall be three years from the date of approval, except for the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice courses or seminars having a definite date.

(6) All courses approved by the appraiser qualifications board will continue to be accepted by the department as approved courses until the expiration date.

(7) Appraisal course providers who have received the appraiser qualifications board's course approval are not required to submit course material or content materials to the department for approval. The course provider shall submit a secondary provider course content approval application to the department.

(1) A minimum of two years (twenty-four months) full-time experience within five years of application is required for the state licensed and certified residential appraiser. Certified general applicants must accumulate three thousand hours within a minimum of thirty months and a maximum of seven years. However, no more than one thousand five hundred hours may be credited in any consecutive twelve months for any of the licensing categories.

(2) Any work product claimed for experience credit dated January 1, 1990, and later shall conform to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice in effect at the time the appraisal is completed.

(a) Reports shall be in writing.

(b) An appraisal work file must be available to the director to substantiate work performed.

(3) A registered trainee may gain experience under the supervision of no more than six supervisory appraisers during his/her trainee period.

(4) The department may request appraiser work files to verify, confirm, or compare entries made on the experience log. Failure to provide work files to the department upon its request may disqualify the reports as qualifying experience.

(((4))) (5) An applicant for certification or license shall certify, under penalty of perjury, the completion of the required experience.

(((5))) (6) Appraisal work qualifying for appraisal experience includes, but is not limited to, the following: Fee and staff appraisal, ad valorem tax appraisal, appraisal review, appraisal analysis, appraisal consulting, highest and best use analysis, feasibility analysis/study.

(((6))) (7) The department may require a supervisory appraiser to certify, under penalty of perjury, the applicant's work experience.

(((7))) (8) The department may request written reports or work files to verify an applicant's experience.

(1) A real estate appraiser from another state who is licensed or certified by another state ((may)) shall apply for registration to receive temporary licensing or certification for a single assignment in Washington by paying a fee((, providing a license history,)) and filing an application with the department on a form provided by the department. An applicant may be required to provide a statement from the state in which the person is licensed or certified establishing licensure or certification.

(2) Licensing and certification privileges granted under the provisions of this section shall expire six months from issuance. Licensing or certification shall not be renewed. However, an applicant may receive an extension of a temporary practice permit to complete ((an)) the assignment, provided that a written request is received by the department prior to the expiration date, stating the reason for the extension.

(3) Persons granted temporary licensing or certification privileges under this section shall not advertise or otherwise hold themselves out as being licensed or certified by the state of Washington.

(4) Persons granted temporary licensure or certification are subject to all provisions under this chapter. ((A)) Each temporary permit issued under this section allows an appraiser to perform an independent appraisal service((s)) required by a contract for appraisal services submitted to the department with the application for temporary permit.

(1) As a prerequisite to renewal of certification ((or)), licensure, or registration, the holder of a certificate ((or)), license, or registration shall present evidence satisfactory to the director of successful completion of the continuing education requirements of this section.

(2) The continuing education requirements for renewal of certification ((or)), licensure, or registration shall be the completion by the applicant of twenty-eight hours of instruction in courses or seminars which have received the approval of the director. Courses must be completed within the term of certification ((or)), licensure, or registration immediately preceding renewal. An applicant shall not receive credit in consecutive renewals for courses that have the same or very similar content and are deemed comparable by the department. The holder of a certificate ((or)), license, or registration will present evidence of successful completion of the seven-hour National USPAP update course or its equivalent.

(3) In order for courses or seminars to be accepted under subsection (2) of this section, the course or seminar must be a minimum of two hours in length and be directly related to real estate appraising. However, a maximum of one-half of the continuing education hours required for renewal can be in two-hour seminars or courses.

(4) An examination is not required for courses or seminars taken for continuing education classroom hours.

(5) Up to one-half of the requirement under subsection (2) of this section may be met by participation other than as a student in educational process and programs approved by the director including teaching, program development, and authorship of textbooks and other written instructional materials. A licensee or certificate holder may receive continuing education credit for teaching an approved real estate appraisal course. Once a licensee or certificate holder has received credit for teaching an approved real estate appraiser course, the credential holder shall not receive credit for teaching that course or any substantially similar course on any subsequent occasion, with the exception of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, USPAP, 7-hour update.

(6) Courses or seminars taken to satisfy the continuing education requirement for real estate appraisers, should include coverage of real estate appraisal related topics, such as:

(a) Ad valorem taxation.

(b) Arbitrations, dispute resolution.

(c) Business courses related to practice of real estate appraisal and consulting.

(d) Construction estimating.

(e) Ethics and standards of professional practice, USPAP.

(f) Land use planning, zoning, and taxation.

(g) Management, leasing, brokerage, timesharing.

(h) Property development, partial interests.

(i) Real estate appraisal (valuations/evaluations).

(j) Real estate financing and investment.

(k) Real estate law, easements and legal interests.

(l) Real estate litigation, damages and condemnation.

(m) Real estate related computer applications.

(n) Real estate securities and syndication.

(o) Real property exchange.

(p) Appraisal and consulting report writing.

(q) Green buildings.

(t) Such other presentations approved by the director.

(7) The director may approve continuing education credit for attendance at one real estate appraiser commission meeting of no more than seven hours.

(8) The director may defer completion of continuing education for ((licensees or)) the holder of a certificate ((holders)), license, or registration returning from military service active duty and place the registration, license, or certificate in an active status for a period of ninety days pending completion of education. If the ((licensee or certificate)) holder of a certificate, license, or registration fails to comply with the continuing education requirement within said ninety days, the registration, license, or certificate will revert to an expired status.

(1) A certified real estate appraiser licensed by the state of Washington may supervise trainees in accordance with the following provisions:

(a) The certified real estate appraiser is in good standing and not subject to any disciplinary action which affects their legal eligibility to engage in appraisal practice within the three years preceding registration to become a supervisory appraiser.

(d) Not more than three real estate appraiser trainees may be supervised in accordance with the appraiser qualifications board standards unless written authorization by the department is granted to exceed that number of trainees at any one time.

(((b))) (e) Supervision of trainees in the process of appraising real property shall occur within the boundaries of the state of Washington and comply with jurisdictional and established agreements with other states. If a trainee is supervised by a certified appraiser who is licensed in both the state of Washington and with another state or has a temporary license in another state; and the trainee is registered as a trainee in that other state by either temporary permit, license, or registration, then the appraisal assignments shall qualify as work experience on the experience log.

(((c))) (f) Authorization to exceed supervision of three trainees may be granted by the director upon approval of a written request and under the provisions of subsection (2) of this section.

(((d))) (g) A registered real estate appraiser trainee may assist in the completion of an appraisal report, including determination of an opinion of value and may sign the appraisal report, provided that he/she is actively and personally supervised by a state-certified real estate appraiser, and provided that the appraisal report is reviewed and signed by the state-certified real estate appraiser; and provided the state-certified appraiser accepts total responsibility for the appraisal report.

(((e))) (h) The certified appraiser shall:

(i) Personally inspect with the trainee, at a minimum, the interior of twenty-five subject properties, or until the supervisory appraiser considers the trainee competent.

(ii) Personally review and verify each appraisal report prepared by the trainee as entered on the trainee experience log as qualifying work experience prior to the log being submitted to the department by the supervised trainee. The trainee shall be entitled to obtain copies of the appraisal reports in which the trainee provided appraisal assistance.

(iii) Personally review and verify each appraisal report prepared by a state licensed or certified residential appraiser as entered on the qualifying work experience log prior to the log being submitted to the department by the licensee. The state licensed or certified residential appraiser shall be entitled to obtain copies of the appraisal reports in which the state licensed and certified residential appraiser provided appraisal assistance.

(iv) Comply with all USPAP requirements.

(v) Maintain a separate "properties inspected with trainee" log for each supervised trainee. This log must be made available to the department upon request and is to be submitted with trainee's application for license or certification.

(vi) Register with the department as a supervisory appraiser and include the names of the registered real estate appraiser trainees being supervised. Registration must be five business days prior to the start of supervision. The supervisory appraiser shall notify the department when they are no longer a supervisory appraiser of a trainee, with such notice including the name, address, and registration number of the registered trainee.

(2) Authorization may be granted by the director to a certified appraiser to exceed the number of trainees allowed to be supervised providing:

(a) The certified appraiser has more than five years certified experience.

(b) The certified appraiser shall make a written application to the department requesting to supervise not more than three trainees with less than one year experience; and three trainees with more than one year experience; and five trainees with greater than two years experience. The total number of supervised trainees shall not exceed eight for all experience levels at any one time.

(c) The certified appraiser shall prepare and maintain trainee progress reports and make them available to the department until such time as the trainee becomes certified or licensed or after two years has lapsed since supervising the trainee.

(d) The certified appraiser shall provide to the department a mentoring plan for consideration prior to the department authorizing supervision of more than three trainees.

((A)) The minimum scaled score ((of seventy is)) required to pass the real estate appraiser examination is established by the appraiser qualifications board.