Appraisal Foundation warns of federal push to relax appraisal entry requirements; PEREA program producing qualified candidates

Representatives from the Appraisal Foundation and the Appraisal Institute told the Tennessee Real Estate Appraiser Commission on April 20 that the appraisal profession faces near-term pressure from a March 13 presidential executive order to modernize appraisal requirements and broaden alternative valuation methods.

Pete Fontana, a trustee of the Appraisal Foundation and chair of its state-harmonization task force, told the commission that the executive order "put the target right on the back of the appraisal foundation," and that federal agencies may press for changes such as expanded use of desktop and hybrid valuations and softened experience or education criteria.

Scott Debbasio of the Appraisal Institute outlined likely consequences: expanded appraisal waivers and more use of automated or alternate valuation models could reduce residential appraisal demand and accelerate workforce contraction unless states and professional bodies take steps to recruit entrants. Debbasio said the executive order also directs federal regulators to reexamine qualification timelines and experience requirements; the Appraisal Foundation and AQB (Appraisal Qualifications Board) could face pressure to propose faster or alternative pathways into the profession.

The presenters also highlighted PEREA (the Appraisal Institute’s supervised alternative experience program). Debbasio said the program has enrolled more than 240 participants nationally and reported that early PEREA graduates have passed licensure exams at unusually high first-attempt rates; the presenters called those results a proof of concept for alternative supervised pathways.

Commissioners asked how state statutes and licensing rules could better accommodate alternative experience (for example, mass-appraisal experience) and whether the commission should codify PEREA acceptance in state rules. Task force members recommended accepting mass-appraisal experience where practical and using work-product reviews (standard one/two reports) as a verification step.

The commission took no formal regulatory action at the meeting. Task-force speakers urged the board to review forthcoming AQB exposure drafts and to comment while the national criteria are in flux.