The system is broken: Refer to me as Captain Amidon - by Patricia Amidon

Patricia Amidon, Amidon Appraisal Company

Earning a living as a real estate appraiser is becoming increasingly difficult. Appraisers find themselves in a no-win situation between a rock and a hard place. We are under pressure from all sides the least of which is deadline pressure. Sellers, buyers and brokers accuse us of killing the deal. Others accuse us of developing values that are ridiculously high or low, some of whom are very abusive in their delivery of that message. Financial institutions through the bidding process tend to drive fees down. More and more clients are refusing to pay if we don’t derive the “correct” value. Regulatory agencies are ready to threaten us with a wide variety of sanctions if we are considered to be in violation of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) and other supplemental standards. Costs of licenses and professional fees are ever increasing. Entry into the field is increasingly onerous with the educational and experience requirements. We work very hard under the burden of responsibility for not a great deal of remuneration. The Maine Board of Real Estate Appraisers has only added to our woes.

In a conversation with one of the existing board members, it was explained to me that the state has far too many appraisers and the goal is to whittle this number down. This is indeed happening through the actions of the board and not through the natural process of supply and demand where this dynamic more appropriately belongs. In their overzealous crusade to rid the state of the supposed over supply of appraisers, the board assumes infallibility. They are not. However, to prove them wrong is outrageously costly in terms of time and finances, particularly if legal representation is necessary, to say nothing of the stress. The Board has become so bore sighted that they have lost touch with the reason for their very existence, that is, to protect the public interest.

The Board of Real Estate Appraisers has an overriding responsibility to safeguard the public interest. The reason for the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (also known as FIRREA) which indirectly created the state boards of real estate appraisers through Title XI in 1989 was specifically drafted to protect the public interest. The Preamble of USPAP also states: The purpose of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice is to promote and maintain a high level of public trust in appraisal practice by establishing requirements for appraisers.

With current strategies of threats, intimidation, and disciplinary action the board is actually harming the public good by doing such an effective job of decreasing the number of appraisers in the state and suppressing the advancement of appraisers’ licensing levels to handle more complex properties. Nationwide as of June 2014, an estimated 80,500 appraisers were actively practicing. Of these, 62% were 51 years or older. In ten years, those of us who are currently in our sixties and seventies will be in our seventies and eighties. The attrition rate will be very high due to retirement, death and senility. The number of new appraisers coming up through the ranks are far and few and will be woefully inadequate to deal with the demand for appraisers in the future. The impact of the board’s actions is already being felt. The minutes of the board meeting of October 6, under other business includes a lament from a member of the general public concerning the lack of appraisers in Maine and the difficulties of procuring future appraisers given the current qualification criteria required for licensing. This is just the tip of a very large iceberg. The long term impact of this situation is to severely damage the Maine economy, something the state can ill afford.

The board has squandered the unique opportunity to improve the quality of appraisals in the state. Instead of offering guidance and support to the appraisal community through engaging in meaningful dialogue when a complaint is filed or when an appraiser’s work is thought to be in error or lacking in depth, the board has acted in the role of prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner. The board has chosen to be schoolyard bullies ready to pounce and take appraisers’ lunch money and has done nothing to improve the profession.

There is a better approach to the heavy handed review of appraisal reports that currently exists for certification from the Maine Board of Real Estate Appraisers. What I recommend is the following: if one or more of the appraisal reports submitted for experience credit is found to be unsatisfactory, the applicant is given the review and 30 days to revise the report with a letter describing what they did to correct the deficiencies such as consulted with another appraiser, reviewed the literature, etc. Even our most demanding clients (including state and federal agencies and financial institutions) give appraisers the opportunity to revise reports when warranted. After resubmission of the revised report(s), the reports are again reviewed and if the revisions are correct, the applicant is permitted to sit for the exam which must be passed before certification is granted. This is a viable alternative to the heavy handed approach that now exists.

After careful consideration and weighing in on many factors, only one of which is the Maine Board’s actions against me and/or select members of the staff of my company over the years, I have decided not to renew my real estate appraisal license. Therefore, as of the beginning of 2016, I will no longer be at the helm of the Amidon Appraisal. Very capable staff will assume that role. However, I will be at another helm, that of the trawler Velomer, a 36’ watercraft, cruising the inland river system, the Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes and Atlantic waters. After the first of the New Year, instead of referring to me as Patricia Amidon, MAI, you may refer to me as captain Amidon. Life is good!

Patricia Amidon, MAI is president of Amidon Appraisal, Portland, ME.