Supervision and Regulation Letters

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SR 17-4:

Interagency Advisory on the Availability of Appraisers

BOARD OF GOVERNORS
OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20551

DIVISION OF
SUPERVISION AND REGULATION

SR 17-4
June 1, 2017

TO THE OFFICER IN CHARGE OF SUPERVISION AT EACH FEDERAL RESERVE BANK

SUBJECT:

Interagency Advisory on the Availability of Appraisers

Applicability to Community Banking Organizations: This guidance applies to state member banks and bank holding companies and their nonbank subsidiaries, including those with $10 billion or less in consolidated assets.

The federal banking agencies1 completed a review of their respective regulations, including their appraisal regulations, pursuant to the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act (EGRPRA). In the review process, bankers raised concerns regarding the timeliness of appraisals due largely to what they believe to be problems with the availability of state certified and licensed appraisers, particularly in rural areas. Therefore, the federal banking agencies, jointly with the National Credit Union Administration, have issued an advisory to inform insured depository institutions and bank holding companies of two existing methods that may address appraiser shortages: temporary practice permits and temporary waivers.

  • Temporary practice permits issued by state appraiser regulatory agencies allow state certified and licensed appraisers to temporarily provide their services in states where they are not certified or licensed, including those experiencing a shortage of appraisers, subject to limitations in states' laws. Further, state appraiser regulatory agencies offer reciprocity, which allows one state to recognize the appraiser certification or licensing of another state and, thus, permits state certified and licensed appraisers to perform their services across state lines.2
  • Temporary waivers may be issued by the Appraisal Subcommittee of the Federal Financial Institution Examination Council that waive requirements relating to the certification or licensing of individuals to perform appraisals under Title XI of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act3 in states or geographic political subdivisions when certain conditions are met.

Reserve Banks should distribute this letter to state member banks and bank holding companies, as well as to appropriate supervisory and examination staff. For questions related to this guidance, please contact the following staff in the Board's Risk Policy Section: Carmen Holly, Senior Supervisory Financial Analyst, at (202) 973-6122; or Peter Clifford, Manager, at (202) 785-6057. In addition, questions may be sent via the Board's public website.4

signed by
Michael S. Gibson
Director
Division of
Supervision and Regulation

Attachments:

Interagency Advisory on the Availability of Appraisers (PDF)

Notes:
  1. The federal banking agencies are the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).  Return to text
  2. See Appraisal Subcommittee of the Federal Financial Institution Examination Council, Policy Statements, June 1, 2013, at https://www.asc.gov/Documents/PolicyStatements/ASC%20Policy%20Statements%2006.01.13.pdf.  (See Policy Statement 5.)  Return to text
  3. 12 U.S.C. 3348(b).  Return to text
  4. See http://www.federalreserve.gov/apps/contactus/feedback.aspx.  Return to text
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Last Update: June 02, 2017