Leave Your Ego at the Door and Unite with other Appraisers!

State Appraisal Coalitions: Leave Your Ego at the Door and Unite with other Appraisers!

Excerpt:

"Up in the Pacific Northwest, an ill-advised scheme was afoot. Residential builders in Washington state were working hard to persuade the legislature there to require “green” continuing education (CE) for all appraisers, regardless of whether an appraiser works on such appraisals.

Every appraiser there would have had to take seven hours of “green” CE credits out of the 28 hours of instruction required for biannual license renewal. Add in the USPAP coursework and that would have left just 14 hours for other elective credits.

Enter the Appraiser Coalition of Washington (ACOW). Among the pioneering industry coalition groups, ACOW went to work dispatching its lobbyists and members to explain why such a blanket requirement would be inappropriate and counterproductive to the professionals who would have to adhere to it.
The residential builders and lawmakers backed down. Why? Because ACOW spoke up, organized and focused on protecting its members’ interests.

It’s the sort of unity that should exist in every state across America, but sadly that’s not the case. In many states, appraisers don’t have such an assertive and organized voice and, as you’re probably aware, the results can be disastrous for the industry and the public whose interests we serve. We get scapegoated for the housing disaster, pushed around by lenders and regulated by legislators who have no idea how our business works."

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