The nation’s leading organizations of appraisers recently told all 50 state appraiser boards that real estate agents and brokers allegedly are providing broker opinions of value of commercial real estate without appropriate appraiser credentials. The Appraisal Institute, the American Society of Appraisers, the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, and the National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers joined in this effort.
The organizations stated that the performance of “BOVs” by agents and brokers “blatantly disregards numerous state statutes that require appraiser credentialing for opinions of value of real estate” and urged the boards to “take aggressive enforcement action against any provider of a BOV who does not hold an appropriate appraiser credential.”
This has been a contentious issue for some time. There are circumstances where real estate experts who are not appraisers can provide a valuation opinion. For example, Pennsylvania Courts have expressly ruled that real estate brokers can serve as valuation experts in eminent domain cases even if they do not have a real estate appraiser license.
Of course, any professional should consider the relevant law – statutory or case law – before he or she provides a valuation opinion.