2024 marks 33 years of the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board (TALCB) and its work to safeguard consumers in real property appraisal services. As that new chapter soon opens, here are some highlights from the Board’s efforts during the last 12 months.
TALCB’s Mentorship Program
This year kicked off with the Board approving a new process for appointing new TALCB Mentors yearly. TALCB Mentors work one-on-one with appraisers required to complete remedial education.
The Board previously appointed Mentors in odd-numbered years for two-year terms at its February meetings. Applications are accepted until a deadline set before the February meeting.
TALCB Appointee Confirmations
TALCB welcomed the reappointment of Rolando Castro, and John H. Eichelberger, III as a new member (pictured right). Both were confirmed by the Texas Senate on April 26, 2023. Texas Governor Greg Abbott appointed them with terms set to expire on January 31, 2029.
TALCB thanks Clayton Black, pictured left, for his dedicated service to the citizens of Texas as a member of the Board since 2013. His latest term expired in April.
Be Mindful of Your Practice
TALCB received state tips from Fannie Mae on discriminatory language in appraisals. Appraisers should exercise care to avoid comments in a report that may be perceived as biased or illegally discriminatory. For example, describing a neighborhood as “poverty stricken with _% of Black; _% Hispanic; _% Asian" would be considered inappropriate.
Exam Topics Resource
TALCB now publishes exam topic reports for Appraisers which identify the pass rates for each exam category. Education providers and students may find this information helpful in identifying topics where the success rate is lower.
TALCB Notebook
The TALCB Notebook is ready for use. Trainees can use the Notebook to track appraisal experience hours and submit experience to their supervisors for approval. The Notebook was developed using Appraisal Subcommittee Grant funding.
First Anniversary of TALCB’s Partnership With TWC
TALCB's Division Director Melissa Tran sat alongside the director of the Texas Workforce Commission's Civil Rights Division, Bryan Snoddy at the spring conference of the Association of Appraiser Regulatory Officials (AARO) to discuss the TALCB-TWC partnership for Fair Housing & appraisal bias violations.
Steve Kahane, certified residential appraiser with Greater Houston Area Appraisals and president of the Association of Texas Appraisers, also attended the conference.
“I met with regulators from other states and heard about their regulatory structure and their resources and how getting a license works. From everything that I can tell, I’m pretty happy that I’m in Texas. I think TALCB is structured pretty well, things go pretty smoothly, it’s run by professionals who are actually appraisers, which isn’t the case for all states,” he said.
In October 2022, TALCB tapped the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) Civil Rights Division to ask for help in working towards making the appraisal industry bias-free. The partnership has allowed each agency to fill in knowledge gaps. Read how.
The 88th Texas Legislative Session
The 88th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, began January 10, 2023, and ended May 29, 2023. This session opened with the Texas Appraiser Licensing Board (TALCB) following 358 bills relevant to the administration of the agency. A much smaller number became law, including Senate Bills 1222 and 1577.
1222 clarifies that a license is not required to obtain experience through Practical Applications of Real Estate Appraisal (PAREA). The bill also removes the requirement that an affidavit be included in experience submission, simplifying the application process.
The Texas Appraisal Management Company Registration and Regulation Act now has an extra layer of transparency in the AMC complaint process. TALCB now can create an investigative committee that works in a similar way to the peer investigative review process that is currently used by appraisers.
Senate Bill 510 requires all licensing agencies, including the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board, to remove or redact certain details about applicants and current and past license holders in publicly available information, such as the TALCB website license holder search or via public information requests. This legislation enhances privacy by protecting personal information like address, telephone number, and email address. Prior to this bill contact information of license holders was available to the public.
Senate Bill 422 honors out-of-state licenses of military service members, their spouses, and veterans if certain criteria are met.
PAREA
McKissock staff spoke with TALCB in June. The education provider is estimated to start its PAREA program for licensed residential trainee appraisers in June 2024.
After three years of development and one test release the Appraisal Institute released its licensed residential module on September 6. Cost of the program starts at $3,995.
Appraisers Know Their Jobs Aren’t Going Away
In August TALCB Director Melissa Tran attended and spoke at the “How to Become a Real Estate Appraiser Workshop” hosted in Houston by the Appraiser Diversity Initiative (ADI). She and the other panelists fielded questions and emphasized that the industry can bring a flexible schedule, stability, and a variety of opportunities.
ADI was created five years ago. The program includes touring the nation with workshops that offer scholarships to aspiring appraisers and supporting them with a pool of close to 100 advisors guide trainees through the process of becoming an appraiser.
Texas Strong
September kicks off TREC’s and the Texas Appraiser Licensing & Certification Board’s Season of Giving. The agency raises money for various Texas charities enrolled with the State Employee Charitable Campaign (SECC) and Partnerships for Children’s Holiday Wishes Campaign. This year staff raised nearly $21,000 and filled the wish lists of 42 children.
Coming in 2024 and Beyond
The current edition of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) is effective through 2023. The new edition becomes effective January 1, 2024, and there is no end date.
One of the notable changes to the 2024 USPAP is an update to the ETHICS RULE related to nondiscrimination. USPAP prohibiting bias is not new, the addition makes that stance more explicit.
Effective January 1, 2026, appraiser education will include topics on fair housing and appraisal bias. The Appraiser Qualifications Board adopted these changes in June: eight hours of qualifying education and seven hours of continuing education on topics of valuation bias and fair housing laws and regulation, for all license types. Afterwards, license holders will be required to take a four-hour valuation bias course every two years.
Appraisal Management Companies registered with TALCB must complete AMC National Registry mandatory reporting and pay the registration fee by March 31, 2024. AMCs that do not timely comply will not be added to the national registry, resulting in ineligibility to perform services on federally related transactions. The current registry reporting period is January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023. Mandatory reporting can be completed by logging on to TALCB’s Online Services.
TALCB’s next Meeting is February 23 in Austin. License holders may earn continuing education credit for attending in person. Also during this meeting, a TALCB vice-chair and secretary will be elected. Board Member Bolton nominated Board Member Mark McAnally for secretary and Board Member Martha Gayle Reid Lynch for vice-chair; the two currently hold those positions.
The above are some of TALCB’s 2023 highlights. To keep up with the Board visit its website: talcb.texas.gov.
If “new year, new job” sounds like a good motto, check out TALCB’s employment opportunities.