Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 17, 1991 TAG: 9102190394
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: E-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY HOMES EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The board, appointed in late fall, is working to establish a structure for the regulation of appraisers, who must pass a state exam and be licensed by July 1.
The problem with an appraisal, said retired appraiser W.C. Chewning of Richmond, is that "no one really wants an honest appraisal of property."
The seller wants the value to be as high as possible; the buyer wants the value as low as possible; and lenders want a piece of paper to cover their tracks, Chewning said.
In the past, he said, an appraiser often has been a person willing, for a fee, to sign that piece of paper.
The cozy appraiser-lender relationship was so common in the past that the MAI (Member, Appraisal Institute) designation was jokingly used to refer to the profession's lowest standards ("made as instructed"). Since 1987 a member of the institute has required a college degree, three years of experience and courses and exams in five areas.
Appraisers have been called on in the past to do a "lot of file stuffers," said Catherine Smeltzer, an associate in Miller, Long & Associates Inc. in Roanoke.
Smeltzer, a graduate of Sweet Briar College and an appraiser since 1978, is vice president of the Blue Ridge chapter of the Appraisal Institute. The institute, a merger of the local chapters of the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers and the Society of Real Estate Appraisers, covers territory from Staunton to Bristol, Lynchburg south to Danville and includes all of Western Virginia.
The president of the group is Joseph S. Durrer Jr., a University of Virginia graduate and owner of Durrer Appraisal and Consulting Services in the Roanoke Valley.
Other officers are Louis S. Waldrop Jr. of the Roanoke Valley, secretary, and Sharon M. May of Lynchburg, treasurer. Board members are William A. Hopkins and Dewey R. Robertson of the Roanoke area and Eames A. Powers Jr. of Lynchburg.
Ex-officio voting members are Walter A. Garbee Jr. of Lynchburg and Elizabeth H. Oberlin and Allen H. Oberlin of the Roanoke area. The three are immediate past presidents of the merged associations.
The new association is working with the state board to prepare people for the state exam. Three review courses have been held and another is scheduled to begin Friday.
Also, appraisers are required to pass a two-day professional practice course before taking the state exam. That course will be offered by the association March 12 and 13 at the Sheraton Inn-Airport in Roanoke.
Durrer said the state hopes to be ready by mid-March to offer the computerized exam, which will be given in four locations, including Roanoke.
Durrer said last week that the main concern is whether the state can process applications in time for appraisers to take the exam before the licensing deadline.
The chairman of the state board, Robert E. Barton of Richmond, said no one knows how many appraisers are in the state. He also said he expects that some will not meet the educational requirements or the level of experience that the licensing program will require.
Barton said he hopes the state applications and handbooks will be ready to mail by early March.
"I'm personally concerned about how many people can get through that pipeline by July 1," Barton said.
The state appraisal board is a result of a 1989 federal legislation, the Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989, which deals with appraisers and appraisal standards.
The pileup of bad loans at lending institutions in recent years brought major changes in the banking system, and, because so many bad loans could be traced to questionable appraisals, the law was one of the changes instituted.
State legislation passed last spring establishing standards in Virginia provided that all appraisers be licensed by July 1, 1991, or stop doing appraisals until they are licensed.
The legislation also established a nine-member Real Estate Appraiser Board to be made of up four professional appraisers, two representatives of the mortgage-lending business and three citizen members, one of them an educator. The board will issue regulations for appraisers and will have the power to issue sanctions against an appraiser and to suspend or revoke licenses.
The board also has the power to set education and experience levels for appraisers. The program is part of the Department of Commerce.
\ ROBERT E. BARTON\ CHAIRMAN
\ Owner of Barton & Co., Richmond real estate consulting and appraisal firm Attended University of Richmond Evening School Founding director and first president of Virginia Association of Professional Appraisers 1990 chairman of Coalition of Appraisers in Virginia, a group that worked with government and industry groups to push for regulation of appraisers Worked in real estate consultation and appraisal since 1962\ \ CHARLES AUBREY MOORE JR.\ VICE CHAIRMAN
Owner of Republic Real Estate Appraisal Corp., Vienna Business administration degree from University of Maryland Has been a builder, mortgage banker, real estate investment trust trustee and general contractor \ \ DEMETRA Y. KONTOS\ ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AND ADMINISTRATOR\ Master of arts from University of Richmond, bachelor's degree from the College of William and Mary Assistant administrator for Virginia Real Estate Board, June 1988-March 1990\ JAMES H. BOYKIN\ EDUCATOR MEMBER\ Professor of real estate at Virginia Commonwealth University and director of the Virginia real Estate Research Center, Richmond Immediate past regional vice president of the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers Author of real estate books, and a real estate expert witness\ \ SHIRLEY A. LLOYD\ BANKING MEMBER\ Administrative assistant, Loudoun Regional Consumer Loan Department and Regional Home Equity Loan Coordinator for eight offices of First American Bank of Virginia Native of Middlesex County Virginia State University graduate\ \ JEROME A. WILSON JR.\ BANKING MEMBER\ President, Citizens Bank and Trust Co., Blackstone Attended University of Richmond; graduated from Virginia-Maryland School of Bank Management at University of Virginia Served on legislative committee of the Virginia Association of Community Banks\ \ NICHOLAS D. HEIL\ CITIZEN MEMBER\ Partner in Richmond law firm of Fears, Agar & Heil Undergraduate and law school, Rutgers; master's degree study at University of Wisconsin Former chairman New Jersey parole board\ \ W.C. CHEWNING\ CITIZEN MEMBER\ Attended T.C. Williams School of Law Real estate broker 1945-1990 in Richmond Taught real estate appraisal courses at J. Sargent Reynolds Community College\ \ ANNE P. THOMPSON\ APPRAISER MEMBER\ Owner United Appraisal Services Inc., Norfolk Licensed as real estate broker Graduate of Old Dominion University\ PERRY E. TURNER JR.\ APPRAISER MEMBER\ President since 1980 of P.E. Turner & Co Ltd., real estate appraisal and consultant firm in Richmond Graduate University of Richmond
by CNB