Todd Barfield (Security One Valuation Services, LLC) Speaks

Last week, Appraiser Active mentioned that Todd Barfield, one of the owners of Security One Valuation Services, LLC, gave us a call to provide some explanation about what is going on behind the scenes. He was invited to send us an email with more information and assured it would be posted here. He no longer has control of the Security One web site and says he has no means of communicating with appraisers that have received checks that have been returned unapid.

The email below was received this morning from Todd Barfield. It is reproduced exactly as it was received.

In our efforts to keep the appraisers informed about this unfortunate situation with SecurityOne Valuation Services LLC (SecurityOne), below are some emails providing correspondence with the FDIC to SecurityOne. Please note, SecurityOne representatives and its legal counsel were working diligently to protect the funds and move the money from Platinum Community Bank several weeks prior to it’s closing, however, these requests were denied (the FDIC was not involved at that time). In addition, we encountered several delays once Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW) filed for bankruptcy protection. After discussions with the restructuring group for TBW, SecurityOne was permitted to resume operations and continue paying our appraisers. There are additional investigations we are pursuing in relationship to the account at Platinum Community Bank. At this time, SecurityOne and the FDIC have not been provided the necessary account information to determine if the funds qualify for The Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP). The FDIC has been very cooperative, however, to our understanding, must fully investigate SecurityOne’s affiliation with Taylor, Bean & Whitaker. Realistically, SecurityOne and its vendors are in a very unusual position because the bank funds are frozen.

Without belaboring too much detail, we are all in a similar situation and consequently the payments for SecurityOne’s legal representation have been returned also. Fortunately, our legal counsel believes we are very close to some answers on the insurable status of the funds and they will continue working on this for a limited period of time.

SecurityOne will continue to process payments and replace the returned checks once the funds are released.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

The following program may be applicable to SecurityOne’s account at Platinum. As indicated on the FDIC website, Platinum did not elect to “opt out” of this program, however, the FDIC legal department is researching this matter for clarification.

The Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP) is a program adopted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on October 13, 2008 during the Global financial crisis of 2008 to encourage liquidity in the interbank lending market.

Several stated purposes of this program are (1) "to decrease the cost of bank funding so that bank lending to consumers and businesses will normalize." [1] and (2) "to strengthen confidence and encourage liquidity in the banking system by guaranteeing newly issued senior unsecured debt of banks, thrifts, and certain holding company, and by providing full coverage of non-interest bearing deposit transaction accounts, regardless of dollar amount."

The TLG Program became effective on October 14, 2008 and was subsequently revised based on bank feedback. Many FDIC insured entities have chosen to not participate ("opt out") in one or both of these programs.

EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE FROM FDIC TO SECURITYONE VALUATION SERVICES LLC

Monday September 21, 2009 (it appears there is a typo on the date 08.04.2009 which should read 09.04.2009)

We are receiving a tremendous amount of phone calls regarding an appraiser blog reporting on SecurityOne Valuations and the returned checks. It may reduce the volume of calls both to your business and the FDIC and help your business's reputation is people knew the reason the checks were being returned. Perhaps you could post something like this on the blog:

"Platinum Community Bank was closed but the Office of Thrift Supervision on 09.04.2009. The FDIC was appointed as receiver of the institution and paid out the insured deposits. ALL deposit accounts were closed which means that checks that had not cleared our account as of 08.04.2009, are being returned to the payee with a notation "Bank Closed" or something similar. SecurityOne Valuations is working with the FDIC to release our funds so we can begin replacing the returned checks."

People just need to know what is going on. We would appreciate your assistance on this matter.


Wednesday September 16, 2009

I have requested information from my contractors onsite. It may take a few days for a response. However, I did want to let you know that I can not provide any information as to correspondence with the OTS. Number 3 in your letter requests document copies of "instructions or other communications with the OTS." I suggest you contact the OTS for this information. Thank you.


Tuesday September 15, 2009


This email is in response to the SEVERAL emails and phone calls from Security One Valuation Services to the FDIC.

Currently, there is an account hold in place on an account was originally set up with funds from TBW or funds that shared ownership with TBW or an officer of TBW. TBW is now involved in a fraud investigation for both the Platinum Community Bank Receivership and the Colonial Bank Receivership. The Receiver has the ability to hold accounts that may be related to a fraud investigation. If Security One can prove that none of the funds in the account stem from TBW or belong to TBW or any of its officers then we can release the hold.


The FDIC's specific statutory basis for freezing a depositor's funds of a failed bank is codified in 12 U.S.C. § 1822(d), which allows the FDIC to withhold payment of a portion of an "insured deposit" of a depositor pending the determination and payment of a liability of the depositor to the bank involved. The Corporation may withhold payment of such portion of the insured deposit of any depositor in a depository institution in default as may be required to provide for the payment of any liability of such depositor to the depository institution in default or its receiver, which is not offset against a claim due from such depository institution, pending determination and payment of such liability by such depositor or any other person therefore.”


Please let me know if you have any further questions. Thank you.

At this point, that's all I have. We'll stay in touch and provide updates when available

Security One Valuation Services - UPDATE

Earlier today Appraiser Active received a telephone call from Todd Barfield. As many of you know, Todd was/is one of the principals of Security One Valuation Services, LLC. Todd has been following Appraiser Active, the posts about Taylor, Bean & Whitaker, Security One, and the comments about appraisal fees and bounced checks.

Todd provided quite a bit of information and background along with some explanation about what is going on behind the scenes. Because he is interested in letting folks know what is going on, and no longer has control over the Security One website, I invited him to write a post for Appraiser Active. I expect he will take me up on the offer.

Information will be posted here on Appraiser Active just as soon as it becomes available.

HVCC Moratorium Bill Update - 10/2/2009

UPDATE 12/9/2009
UPDATE 11/10/2009
UPDATE 10/15/2009
UPDATE 10/9/2009
UPDATE 10/2/2009
UPDATE 9/29/2009

Shortly after Congress returned from their summer recess, members started signing on as Cosponsors of H.R. 3044.





As of today, there are 86 Cosponsors.

As of today (September 19, 2009), there are 91 Cosponsors!

As of today (September 28, 2009), there are 99 Cosponsors!

As of Today (October 2, 2009), there are 108 Cosponsors!

As of Today (October 9, 2009), there are 110 Cosponsors!

As of Today (October 15, 2009), there are 112 Cosponsors!

As of Today (November 10, 2009), there are 121 Cosponsors!

As of Today (December 9, 2009), there are 123 Cosponsors!

Although there has been quite a bit of news about amendments passed in Committee to alter the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, it appears as though there is still interest in H.R. 3044

If your US Representative is not on the list, PLEASE contact your Member of Congress and ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 3044.

The bill has not yet been heard in committee, but adding cosponsors will help ensure that will happen.

Never Forget

No additional explanation necessary

REALTOR Mag - The Trouble With the HVCC

Here is the long awaited REALTOR® Magazine article about the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC), HAVOC. Blanche Evans, Stacy Moncrieff and I spent quite a bit of time discussing the issue, including the initial investigation, the companies under investigation, appraisal practices, appraisal standards, enforcement and the effects of the HAVOC on the appraisal profession and real estate markets. In an effort make sure all points of view were represented, I furnished names and contact information for several parties in favor of the agreement, including several folks involved with Appraisal Management Companies (AMC).

Not only did Blanche and Stacy collaborate to produce a balanced and informative article, the story includes the best HVCC/HAVOC graphic encountered by Appraiser Active. We might just award a gold star or seal for that one.

It's appropriate for the article, "The Trouble With the HVCC" to start with a quip from Jonathan Miller:

"You can't make this up," New York appraiser Jonathan Miller riffed in his entertaining blog, Matrix, back in June.

Miller was recounting the frustration of a real estate salesperson who was trying to refinance her own New York apartment with her current lender. According to Miller's telling, the out-of-town appraiser walked into the apartment, threw his hands in the air, and asked "How am I supposed to appraise this thing?"

Of course, the favorite quote is from yours truly:

"The HVCC sets up AMCs as the guardians of appraiser independence, and isn't it ironic that the investigation that prompted the rules centered on an AMC allegedly manipulating the system to please its customer?"

Later in the article comes this gem:

For the largest lenders, AMCs are simply the way business is done today. "When you're ordering thousands of appraisals every single day, the risk to you is extraordinary," says Jeff Schurman, executive director of the Title/Appraisal Vendor Management Association in Pittsburgh, which represents a variety of settlement service vendors, including large AMCs. "Would it make sense to hand those off to thousands of [independent] appraisers?"

To which Appraiser Active responds: "Yes, it makes sense to "hand off" those to thousands of [independent] appraisers. Unlike Appraisal Management Companies, the appraisers are licensed and certified by an agency of government and subject national standards; recognized by every state and territory of the United States. What appraisal standards must the Appraisal Management Companies follow?" Which agency of government regulates their involvement in brokering valuation services?

There's much more. Read the whole thing right HERE.

UPDATE: Jonathan Miller provides his take on MATRIX.

My Hometown Paper Discovers the HAVOC of the HVCC

For the past last four days, I've been attending the Florida Association of REALTORS Annual Convention and Trade Show. From the moment I walked into the building, the topic foremost on the minds of the friends and colleagues encountered was the Home Valuation Code of Conduct - HAVOC.

In the past week the story has been picked up by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Today, on the front page of the Business Section of the August 23, 2009 St. Petersburg Times, James Thorner writes about the HAVOC resulting from the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC).

New Home Valuation Code of Conduct cures some ills, creates new ones

First, Jim offers up an example of a an experience similar to hundreds of others reported in papers and blogs across the country:

Builder Charlie Hannah thought he was being generous when he agreed to sell a new 5,000-square-foot home for $1.15 million in the Tree Tops neighborhood near Tampa's Westchase. But the appraiser returned an appraised value of $1 million on the lakeside house in June. Two months later, the sale remains in limbo and Hannah remains indignant.

Four other homes Hannah built in the same neighborhood recently sold for much more per square foot than the $1.15 million home. But the appraiser found a comparable home sale miles away in Odessa to justify what Hannah considers to be a low-ball valuation.

Although I live and work in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida, my appraisal practice is limited to Pinellas County. The example cited is from across the bay in Hillsborough County. It's not possible for me to comment with any credibility about the allegations made by Charlie Hannah.

However, Thorner goes on to describe a couple of situations of which I have firsthand knowledge:

Since the new rules took effect, the law of unintended consequences has upended real estate deals. St. Petersburg Realtor Nancy Riley blames sloppy appraisals. She had a buyer for a sixth floor Feather Sound condo overlooking the water and golf course. Both parties agreed to the $200,000 purchase price.

But the lender, using an appraisal management company, got an out-of-county appraiser. The disappointed buyer and seller learned the condo appraised at only $157,000. As two of his comps, the appraiser used a unit in a former assisted living facility and a single story condo without a view.

Riley tried to challenge the appraiser's findings — which included wrong photos attached to the wrong properties — but got a cold shoulder from the bank. She's still trying to salvage the deal."I sent them two pages of things wrong with the appraisal. They refused to listen," Riley said. "I got one or two snippy responses."

Along with this one:

Mortgage refinancing — the centerpiece of the government's antiforeclosure efforts - has also suffered. Gregoire noted a case involving a house in upscale Tierra Verde. The home owner sought a reverse mortgage to pull cash from the home. Taking into account the recent depreciation, the home owner estimated the 2,000-square-foot home at $400,000. The initial quick-hit appraisal, using a $10 computer-generated valuation that isn't as good at distinguishing some of the nuances of real estate valuations like the differences between nearby neighborhoods, delivered a market price of $252,000.

When a real appraiser went to work on the house after driving up from Fort Myers, he, too, concluded the house was worth $252,000. Gregoire assumes the appraiser shoe-horned in comparable sales to make his numbers match the computer-generated price.

"That happens with appraisers who lack geographic confidence,'' Gregoire said. "I've been doing appraisals 30 years, but I don't go outside of Pinellas County. The most important thing is to know neighborhoods and submarkets.''

NOTE: The term I used in the interview was "GEOGRAPHIC COMPETENCE", but you all should get the drift.

Copies of the appraisal reports described in the two examples above are part of ever increasing pile of evidence sitting on the floor within two feet of my desk. The Feather Sound "appraisal" is a jewel. To some readers, it might look fine; the Comparable Sales are all relatively recent, two are less than 1/4 mile from the subject and the third is only 3/4 of a mile away. Unfortunately, for the seller and the buyer, only one of the Comparable Sales is an example of an acceptable substitute property and could could come close to being considered competitive with the subject.

The "appraiser" includes quite a bit of boilerplate claiming an oversupply of listings and declining prices in the development. Although a case could be made there is an imbalance between supply and demand for all housing in the Feather Sound area, the case is less supportable when condominiums only are considered in the analysis. As of the effective date of the appraisal, according to the Suncoast Multiple Listing Service, there were 89 active listings in Feather Sound. Eighteen of these (20%) are either under contract or pending sale. In the twelve months prior to the effective date of the appraisal, there have been 56 sales in Feather Sound reported by the Suncoast Multiple Listing Service. Both the average time and median time on the market for sold listings is close to three months; 96 days and 92 days respectively. Absorption rates have increased from about four units a month over the last half of 2008 and first quarter of 2009 to about 7 units a month in the second quarter of 2009.

If the analysis is limited to condominium parcels only, as of the effective date of the appraisal, the Suncoast Multiple Listing Service reports 56 active listings in Feather Sound. Fourteen of these (25%) are either under contract or pending sale. In the twelve months prior to the effective date of the appraisal there have been 30 sales of Feather Sound condominium units reported by the Suncoast Multiple Listing Service. Both the average time and median time on the market for sold condominium units is close to three months; 100 days and 80 days respectively. Absorption rates have increased from about 2 units per month over the last half of 2008 and first quarter of 2009 to nearly 4 units (3.7) units per month in the second quarter of 2009.

Although the appraisal report indicated prices are in decline, analysis of the sales data did not support such a conclusion, at least for the two quarters prior to the effective date of the appraisal. If all residential Feather Sound sales reported by the Suncoast Multiple Listing Service are considered, the median sales price over the last three months is about $155,000. This compares with a median price of $120,000 for the first quarter of 2009 and about $167,750 for the last half of 2008.

Although the market analysis was contrived and two of the pictures of Comparable Sales were of units that did not match the address or the description of the sales in the Sales Comparison Analysis, the bank loved the appraisal report!

The Tierra Verde Appraisal was just as "good" as the Feather Sound Appraisal Report. It was completed by an appraiser after being assigned by RELS, the AMC often associated with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. , the same institution accused of rigging the appraisal process in a scheme to boost profits at the expense of homeowners and independent appraisers.

RELS has the audacity to use this on their website:

"Quality appraisals — and rapid turn times"

Right!

Florida Association of Realtors Convention

Appraiser Active will be out of the office for the next few days. We're heading to Orlando for the Florida Association of Realtors Annual Convention and Trade Show. FAR committees and councils will be meeting, as will the FAR Board of Directors.

There will be discussion of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct and the effort to introduce and pass legislation to regulate Appraisal Management Companies in Florida.

On Friday, I will be attending the meeting of the Florida Quality Council and making a presentation about the Home Valuation Code of Conduct.

It would be nice to see some of you at either one of the meetings. Make sure you come up to say HI!

Frank

NYT - Lotsa Love for AMCs and the HVCC - NOT!

Yesterday it was the Wall Street Journal. Today, it's the New York Times! It's nice to see all the love going to the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) and Appraisal Management Companies. In this article the NYT even throws a dig in at Andrew Cuomo.

In Appraisal Shift, Lenders Gain Power and Critics

Mike Kennedy, a real estate appraiser in Monroe, N.Y., was examining a suburban house a few years ago when he discovered five feet of water in the basement. The mortgage broker arranging the owner’s refinancing asked him to pretend it was not there.

Kudos, Mike! By the way, what's a basement?

The Home Valuation Code of Conduct is setting off a bitter battle. Mortgage brokers, lenders, real estate agents, regulators and appraisers are all arguing over whether an effort to fix one problem has created many new ones.

The agents, maintaining that the changes are effectively blocking home sales by encouraging the use of inexperienced appraisers, are asking Washington to suspend the code until 2011. For their part, appraisers acknowledge that the change may have been well intentioned but contend that it has no teeth and is undermining the economics of their profession.

There's more!

Appraisal management companies and lenders say the agents’ charges are not true. “We’re an easy scapegoat,” said Donald Blanchard, chief compliance officer of Lender Processing Services Inc., which works with 20,000 appraisers. “We’ve yet to see any quantifiable proof as to the problems that management companies are supposedly causing.”

The real source of trouble for independent appraisers, he suggested, is not the code but a changing economy.

“Appraisers want to go back to the way it used to be,” Mr. Blanchard said. “But it’s good business for us to demand more for less.”

CLASSIC!!

Appraisers might be earning less, but consumers are being asked to pay more. The cost of an appraisal is now about $500, up from $400, appraisers say, because of the management companies’ share.

Moreover, if the goal of the code is to lessen pressure on appraisers, it is not clear that is happening.

A memo from U.S.Bancorp, which is based in Minneapolis, was posted recently on Appraisers’ Forum, an online discussion group. The memo bluntly urged the lender’s appraisers to “try and get the value we need the first time.” (A U.S. Bancorp spokeswoman said the memo was “not an official document.”)

There's even mention of the phantom Independent Valuation Protection Institute!

Under the code, the role of deciding what is pressure is assigned to a new entity called the Independent Valuation Protection Institute. If appraiser complaints are deemed valid, the institute is supposed to forward them to regulators.
Seventeen months after it was announced, the institute has no staff and no appraiser complaint hotline. All that exists is a single Web page.

Read the whole thing

My comment posted to the NYT site:

The comments from the AMC folks are telling -“Appraisers want to go back to the way it used to be,” Mr. Blanchard said. “But it’s good business for us to demand more for less.” This line of thinking is exactly why credentialed, designated, and experienced professionals refuse to accept work from meddling middlemen.

Many of the Appraisal Management Company assignments are accepted by recently licensed, inexperienced folks that often travel a significant distance to provide their supposedly "expert" service in areas where the buyer has examined more of the market than the appraiser is allowed to in order to meet the AMC mandated 48 hour turnaround time.

Mr. Blanchard will soon see the "quantifiable proof as to the problems that management companies are supposedly causing.” It will come in the form of complaints to state regulatory agencies due to poorly developed and incomprehensibly reported baloney prepared by their rookie independent contractors.

The source of the pressure, claimed by Mr. Cuomo to be eliminated, has shifted to the AMC. Although value pressure still exists, the real culprit is fee and turn time pressure. Their panel of appraisers will tend to deliver a product and service commensurate with the price paid, and the AMC will charge the borrower a premium.

When consumers, borrowers, and the public at large get the full story, attitude and demands may change. Folks will learn that the largest banks all have a piece of one or more Appraisal Management Company. The fact that Appraisal Management Companies are, for the most part, unregulated will not go over well with consumers. Borrowers will be surprised that these invisible middlemen often take a larger part of the borrower's appraisal fee than the appraiser, and that the AMC portion of the payment and their relationship with the bank is not disclosed at any point in the transaction.

Homeowners trying to refinance will be shocked to learn that the AMC appraiser was provided with an Automated Valuation Model generated value indication with the appraisal assignment; ostensibly to "assist" the appraiser. Without a doubt, the borrower will be pleased to learn the appraiser's opinion of value duplicates the computer generated number.

There are many more stories to be told and much more investigation needed of the Cuomo generated deal. It will be interesting to sit back and watch it develop.

WSJ - Unintended Consequences of HVCC

The Wall Street Journal has another article about the real estate market, appraisers and the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC). It's an interesting take with more tales of woe with a couple of interesting observations.

Reappraising Home Appraisers

After being blamed for helping to inflate home values during the housing boom, the appraisal business is again coming under fire. Squeezed by a drop in fees, some appraisers are compensating by driving long distances to handle more assignments.

Their wanderings are raising questions about whether they know enough about the neighborhoods to accurately assess the value of homes—which has implications for both home buyers and owners.

Bob Blake, a flight-test engineer who lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., was shocked when an appraiser who traveled 44 miles from Port St. Lucie, Fla., valued his home at $228,000 in late May. Mr. Blake's mortgage broker, Skip McDonough, protested to the appraisal-management company, Nations Valuation Services Inc., that the appraiser had failed to look at comparable homes. Eventually, Nations sent another appraiser, who valued the home at $295,000. The dispute delayed Mr. Blake's refinancing by more than six weeks.

A spokesman for Nations Valuation declined to discuss the details of the appraisals but said, "We feel we handled it properly."

NOTE: Nations Valuation Service has posted their "commitment" to the HVCC. However, Appraiser Active does not find a "self-certification" or seal. Dang!

The WSJ goes on to give their interpretation of why appraisals are completed for a mortgage finance transaction:

Appraisals are supposed to shield home buyers from paying too much and lenders from overestimating the value of collateral. If appraisals come in too high, buyers may overpay, making defaults more likely. If they are too low, it becomes hard to sell or refinance homes. Many real-estate agents and builders say that the pendulum has swung too far toward caution, and that lowball appraisals threaten to snuff out any recovery in the housing market.

It's a nice interpretation, but a common misconception. The regulatory scheme for real estate appraisers adopted by the United States Congress in 1989 was in response to the collapse of the Savings and Loan industry. The purpose of the federal legislation is to protect federally regulated financial institutions, not individual home purchasers or borrowers.

Appraisals are completed for the benefit of the client and intended users. Rarely, in the case of an appraisal completed for a real estate purchase or refinance transaction, is the borrower named as an intended user.

The debate over appraisals is inflamed by a natural tension: Real-estate agents and mortgage brokers, who need to complete transactions to collect their fees, are unhappy when an appraiser nixes the sale price. But it also suggests that there may be unintended consequences to an attempt by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to reform the appraisal business.
....
"Many appraisers are struggling to survive on the fees paid by the AMCs," says Bill Garber, a spokesman for the Appraisal Institute, a trade group based in Chicago. Appraisers are being asked to work faster even as their fees are cut, and that conflicts with the goal of getting reliable appraisals, he says.

Appraisal-management companies deny they are squeezing appraisers too hard. A spokesman for banking giant Wells Fargo & Co., which owns an AMC, says it "has invested substantial time and resources in the quality control of the valuation process to, among other things, ensure that individual appraisers have relevant knowledge of the markets and properties they review." A spokeswoman for Mr. Cuomo says the new code is working well and helping protect appraisers from pressure to inflate estimates.

The pile of appraisals generated by AMC Independent Contractor appraisers accumulating on the floor by my desk proves otherwise. The complaints about non-geographic competent appraisers pouring in to regulatory agencies provides even more evidence that the non-regulated, Big Bank Owned AMCs and Andrew Cuomo are blowing smoke.

In fact, within my collection is an "appraisal" generated by an individual contracted by RELS, the Wells Fargo affiliated AMC. Along with the "appraisal", the borrower provided a copy of the Automated Valuation Model (AVM) generated value estimate produced by RELS. The AVM was crap, and the "appraisal" mysteriously provided an opinion of value that mirrored the AVM estimate. The Wells Fargo claim that "that individual appraisers have relevant knowledge of the markets and properties they review."? The property was in Pinellas County, Florida. The "appraiser" is based in Ft. Myers, Florida. That's 120 miles away!

Here's more:

Sometimes appraisers are called on to express opinions on the values of faraway homes without even seeing them. LandSafe, an appraisal unit of Bank of America Corp., in May assigned Jane Price, an appraiser in Dallas, to review another appraiser's estimate of a home in Cathedral City, Calif. Ms. Price didn't visit the neighborhood in question, but her review cited nearby homes she used to determine comparable value.

I'll bet Ms. Price has no idea where in tarnation Cathedral City, California is, and that she does not have a license or certification to appraise in California. How does this protect the federally regulated financial institutions, never mind Fannie Mae and Feddie Mac. Is it any wonder the GSEs are in their current mess?

Go ahead and read the whole thing. By the way, it's 1320 miles from Dallas to Cathedral City.

HVCC Certified, and a Blog Award

One of the most popular accoutrement's for Appraisal Management Companies these days is a SEAL to bolster their claims of compliance with the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC).

"Certification refers to the confirmation of certain characteristics of an object, person, or organization. This confirmation is often, but not always, provided by some form of external review, education, or assessment. One of the most common types of certification in modern society is professional certification, where a person is certified as being able to competently complete a job or task, usually by the passing of an examination." - Wikipedia

Interestingly enough, AMC's appear to be comfortable with "self-certification" and awarding themselves Seals and Certificates.

Appraisers, on the other hand, must meet the Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria developed by the Appraiser Qualifications Board of the Appraisal Foundation and their state's licensing and certification laws to become Certified. For instance, here in Florida, appraisers must comply with Chapter 475, Part II of the Florida Statutes to become certified.

Section 475.615 Qualifications for registration or certification, among other things, requires the applicant to be competent and qualified to make real estate appraisals with safety to those with whom they may undertake a relationship of trust and confidence and the general public. The statute also requires a fingerprint card to be forwarded to the Division of Criminal Justice Information Systems within the Department of Law Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for purposes of processing the fingerprint card to determine if the applicant has a criminal history record.

475.617 Education and experience requirements, specifies the minimum education and experience requirements to become certified. These mirror the AQB Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria. No self-certification here.

After all that, Section 475.616 Examination requirements states that an applicant for certification must demonstrate their knowledge of appraisal law, appraisal standards, an understanding of the principles of land economics, real estate appraisal processes, reliable sources of appraising data, and problems likely to be encountered in the gathering, interpreting, and processing of data in carrying out appraisal disciplines by passing a written examination.

After meeting the Character, Education, Experience and Examination requirements, the Certified Appraiser is subject to discipline by the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board for misconduct, as specified in 475.624 Discipline.

The Florida Certified Appraiser is NOT awarded a seal. Sheesh!

Nevertheless, I found a blog award and I hereby bestow it upon Appraiser Active (h/t Iowahawk)