The MBREA has an active Government Affairs Committee that recently met and identified several issues for 2012. Supported by the association's Board of Trustees, the committee will be enlisting the support and engagement of the appraisal community to see the agenda is successfully carried out. The committee's mission statement reads, "The mission of the MBREA's Government Affairs Committee is to support appraisers and the appraisal profession through public policy advocacy on current and prospective issues."
Locally, the committee is monitoring progress on two pieces of legislation. The first, House Bill 124, will require appraisal management companies to register with the State Board of Registration for Real Estate Appraisers. This bill received its hearing in May, 2011 and is awaiting further action this year.
The second bill is Senate Bill 2016. Last year, MBREA led the efforts to curtail state disciplinary action against appraisers who exceed 24 months between versions of USPAP. The state announced last year they were reallocating its enforcement resources to other issues and ceased disciplinary actions for this issue. This decision though did not reverse actions previously taken and it's estimated a few hundred appraisers have a black mark on their record. Senate Bill 2016 will cause these disciplinary actions to be expunged from the appraisers' files.
A significant focus for MBREA's attention in 2012 will be on turning around the trend of the thinning ranks of trainees. In five years, the Commonwealth has seen the number of trainees decline from a high of 1,634 to a low of 303. And, the majority of the 303 are not engaged in the appraisal profession. We have a two-pronged action plan: convince lenders to retreat from tightened guidelines and accept reports with significant trainee involvement, and a request to Congress to amend the National Housing Act to permit trainees to work under the supervision of FHA roster appraisers. In both cases our goal is to have properly trained and supervised trainees, who are deemed competent by their supervisors, perform inspection unaccompanied and perform up to one hundred percent of the work on an assignment.
The committee will keep an eye out for emerging issues throughout the year. We expect to see activity at the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau as well the issuance of updated state regulations announcing continuing education requirements for those with a two-year license.
The Government Affairs Committee is chaired by Allan Cohen with members: Tim Close, Preston Curtis, Steve Elliott, Tom Frodema, Ann Marie Howlett, Greg Johnson, Bill Lanciloti, Jay Mavrakos, Paul Morgan, Deb Olken, Murray Regan and Tom Whiting. They work hard to the benefit of the entire Massachusetts appraiser community.
Jonathan Asker is the 2012 president of MBREA and is CEO at North Atlantic Appraisal Company, West Bridgewater, Mass.