AARO - Association of Appraiser Regulatory Officials

The ASSOCIATION OF APPRAISER REGULATORY OFFICIALS (AARO) will be meeting October 10 - 13, 2009 in Washington, D.C. for the Annual Conference. This is the second of two meetings AARO has each year.

According to their bylaws, their MISSION is to improve the administration and enforcement of real estate appraisal laws in member jurisdictions. The agenda for the Fall, 2009 program reveals the effort to meet that mission. In addition to regular meetings of their committees on AQB Oversight, ASB Oversight, Investigator Training and Education, several panel discussions and guest speakers are scheduled. These include:

Consistent Enforcement - Enforcing USPAP

• Joe Traynor - Chair, The Appraisal Foundation Consistent Enforcement Task Force
• Jenny Tidwell - Appraisal Policy Manager, Appraisal Subcommittee

Updates

• Jim Park - Executive Director, Appraisal Subcommittee
• David Bunton - President, The Appraisal Foundation
• Sandy Guilfoil - Chair, Appraisal Standards Board
• Gary Taylor - Chair, Appraiser Qualifications Board

The Changing Face of the Appraisal Profession

• Joan Trice - Appraisal Buzz
• Jim Amorin - President, Appraisal Institute (AI)
• Richard Edmunds -President-Elect, American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA)
• John Marazzo - President, National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers (NAIFA)

HVCC - Appraisal Management Companies and Broker Price Opinion Issues

• Jeff Dickstein - National Association of Broker Price Opinion Professionals (NABPOP)
• Frank Gregoire - National Association of Realtors® NOTE: I am appearing as a representative of the National Association of Realtors® Appraisal Committee
• David Feldman - Real Estate Valuation Advocacy Association (REVAA) and Title/Appraiser Vendor Management Association (TAVMA)

Lender Policy Updates and Issues

• Peter Gillispie - Federal Housing Administration / Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Robert Murphy - Fannie Mae
• Jacqueline Doty - Freddie Mac
• Gerry Keifer - Veterans Administration

From 2000 through 2008, when I was a member and Chairman of the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board, I attended nearly every meeting of AARO. Each provided great opportunities to meet with other state regulators as well as individuals involved in appraisal policy development, appraisal standards development and enforcement and refinement of appraiser qualifications.

Although I won't be able to attend the entire meeting, each of the above discussions is on my calendar. I'll try to live blog a bit from the AARO meetings next weekend and provide a full update after returning to the Sunshine State.

FWIW, you can catch my article about the HVCC on page 4 of the latest AARO Newsletter.