Nebraska Real Property Appraiser Board

Tyler Kohtz

The Real Property Appraiser Board is statutorily charged with administering and enforcing the Real Property Appraiser Act and the Appraisal Management Company Registration Act. The Board's primary functions are to issue and renew appraiser credentials, develop and implement standards for appraiser credentialing, register and renew registration for appraisal management companies, approve appraiser qualifying education courses and appraiser continuing education activities, investigate and adjudicate grievances, develop laws and rules through relevant, efficient and effective legislation and rulemaking, and disseminate relevant information to general public, stakeholders, credentialed appraisers and appraisal management companies.

750

1,978,000

1991

33

NA

Neb. Rev. Stat. Secs. 76-2201 to 76-2250; 76-3201 to 76-3222

None

5

Governor

None

The board shall consist of five members. One member who is a certified real property appraiser shall be selected from each of the three congressional districts, and two members shall be selected at large. The two members selected at large shall include one representative of financial institutions and one licensed real estate broker. The Governor shall appoint the members of the board. The term of each member of the board shall be five years. Upon the expiration of his or her term, a member of the board shall continue to hold office until the appointment and qualification of his or her successor. No person shall serve as a member of the board for consecutive terms. Any vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. The Governor may remove a member for cause.

Each member of the board shall receive a per diem of one hundred dollars per day (a) for each scheduled meeting of the board or a committee of the board at which the member is present and (b) actually spent in traveling to and from and attending meet

Each member of the board shall be reimbursed for expenses incident to the performance of his or her duties under the Real Property Appraiser Act and Nebraska Appraisal Management Company Registration Act as provided in sections 81-1174 to 81-1177.

Five Years

Terms Rotate

0

12

0

13

0

10

4

Seperate

$345,939

$370,576

$358,737

None.

Neb. Rev. Stat. 76-2226 and 76-3219

FY 2016-17The Title 298 rewrite project, begun 3 years prior, incorporated three separate law updates, established cohesiveness with the Real Property Appraiser Act and AMC Registration Act, and incorporated a structure change to be more procedural and easier to follow. Staff reached full strength for the first time in a while, increasing both the long-term and short-term efficiency and effectiveness of the Board and its staff.A couple complex investigative matters were resolved, which allowed the staff to get caught up on the backlog of investigations.The Appraisal Subcommittee audit in March included the fewest issues found in quite a few years. The Director has been working to resolve many ASC audit issues since starting in 2012. The newsletter has been issued for an entire year, and the feedback from the appraiser community has been positive.The Boards relationship with UNO was re-established at the beginning of the fiscal year, which has proven to be beneficial to both sides. Because of this, UNO pursued and was granted AQB approval for its real estate program. Also, the Director had the opportunity to discuss the appraiser profession and the credentialing process with some of the programs students. FY 2017-18The Real Property Appraiser Act was updated to recognize the latest edition of USPAP, and to remove many of the burdensome continuing education requirements. The AMC Registration Act was updated to incorporate the needed changes to implement the AMC Final Rule (federal requirements). The Board continued to build its relationship with the University of Nebraska at Omaha. This relationship has proven to be beneficial for the success of the Universitys Real Estate program and for the Boards mission to increase opportunities to enter the appraiser profession. Currently, the Board is working to allow for individual approval of qualifying education activities at UNO. This would allow students to obtain trainee status as they complete the program. The compliance procedures were updated to streamline the initial review process. Now the Board receives the grievance, supporting documentation, the respondents response, and the respondents report and workfile. The additional information received allows the Board to dismiss a grievance prior to investigation if there is no evidence of a violation. This relieves the stress of the respondent, and saves the Board investigative costs for an investigation that would be dismissed anyway. The temporary credential procedures have been updated to incorporate the temporary credential information into the approval letter for increased efficiency.The new education numbering system has been developed and implemented. The new numbers provide very important information to staff during review of continuing education submitted with appraiser renewal applications. FY 2018-19LB77 was passed by the Legislature, which included a major law change that opens the door a bit more for future appraisers by reducing requirements and allowing online qualifying education.Title 298 was updated to address previous law changes and issues faced by the Board. This update also included the ability for colleges and universities with AQB approved degree programs to apply to have each course approved as qualifying education individually. This would allow students in an AQB approved degree program apply to become an Trainee Real Property Appraiser while still in school, which will allow the student to begin working in the industry and obtaining appraisal experience before their degree is finished. The Board received excellent ratings from the Appraisal Subcommittee for both its Appraiser Program and its AMC Program. The excellent rating is the Boards first for its Appraiser Program under the current rating system. At the time, Nebraska was the only state to receive an excellent rating for its AMC Program. The Board and staff quickly coordinated the development of the Appraiser Online Renewal Application with Electronic Funds Transfer project and secured funding.Critical funding was obtained for the 2019-2021 Biennium as requested, which includes additional funding for the above mentioned database project. The Board completed an overhaul of its Compliance Program and personnel, which has resulted in a more efficient investigative process. The Compliance Executive Officer position was reclassified to an administrative assistant position, and the Director assumed the lead investigator duties. Staff completed all tasks assigned during the 2018 strategic planning meeting.Major progress was made in the transfer of physical files to electronic files. The office relocation was completed in a seamless manner with no effect on the public. FY 2019-20The Investigation Interface in the NRPAB Database was completed and now is in use. This interface allows staff to carryout all record keeping functions of an investigation in one place in the database, which increases the Boards efficiency and effectiveness. The Education Submission Portal went into use. This portal allows all Nebraska real property appraisers to submit continuing education activities at any time during the year. This portal also feeds into the Education Interface in the NRPAB Database, which is used by staff to review and approve continuing education submissions. The Education Submission Portal greatly reduces the staffs workload during heavy renewal season volume, and increases the efficiency and accuracy of the continuing education record keeping process.The Board developed procedures to allow approval of online continuing education completed by Nebraska credentialed appraisers that reside out of state for education courses not directly approved by the Board. The Board implemented the following changes for FY 20 to address the challenges of the Covid-19 Pandemic:The Board implemented an essential staffing operating procedure. Staffing levels were maintained in the NRPAB office as needed to carry out essential business only, and to maintain public availability. All of the Board's files and programs could be accessed remotely, so there was no drop off of service to the public or savings andor additional costs due to this operational change.The Board held meetings every other month, and utilized telecommunication as authorized by Governor Ricketts's Executive Order 20-03 and 20-24. This was implemented to provide safety to the Board's more at-risk members because of age or travel distance. Real property appraiser, appraisal management company, and education applications typically approved by the Board, in which no board member judgment or expertise was required (approval granted based on minimum standards being met), were approved by the Director. This operational change was implemented to maintain progress for those applying for credentialing or registration, and to continue growing the appraiser profession at a time when the availability of additional real property appraisers is needed due to market demand. This change also allowed the Board to focus on the most important issues during its meetings, including its Covid-19 response, and credentialing and registration applications that required review with board member expertise. There were no cost savings andor additional costs.The APA completed an audit of the Board's finances in March and April of 2020, for the period July 1, 2018, through December 31, 2019. The Board receives direct feedback from the APA regarding the performance of the Board's accounting practices and procedures. The APA listed no material issues or deficiencies in the April 15, 2020 Attestation Report.The Federal Bureau of Investigation completed a review of the Boards Criminal History Record Check program in conjunction with its audit of the Nebraska State Patrol. The FBI found no issues with the Boards program. FY 2020-21The Board continued to stay on top of federal and industry changes, addressed issues faced by the Board, and opened the door a bit more for new appraisers through relevant law making and rule writing by easing renewal requirements and reciprocal license requirements.The Board updated rules to reflect statutory and industry changes.The Board implemented COVID-19 operating procedures that were mindful of staff and Board safety with no disruption in services to the public. The online appraiser renewal application went live creating an easy-to-use electronic method of renewing a real property appraiser credential.Major progress made in the project to transfer of physical files to the electronic database.Procedures were developed and implemented to accept online continuing education completed in another jurisdiction.FY 2021-22The appraiser online renewal application has been up and running for one entire renewal cycle. The review system built into the application significantly increased application processing times. The Board has stayed on top of federal and industry changes with law making and rulemaking. All goals related to Laws, Rules, and Guidance Documents were accomplished.The agency underwent a successful Appraisal Subcommittee State Off-site Assessment (SOA) in February 2022. There was no official rating, and staff incorporate all changes recommended by the ASC Policy Managers.The transfer of all appraiser paper files to electronic format was completed. Significant progress was made on multiple technology projects, including database enhancements and virtual conferencing capabilities.FY 2022-23Multiple database and technology projects were completed, including the online AMC registration renewal application and database AMC Interface upgrade, the website disciplinary action search, the restructured website real property appraiser search, the addition of the message screen on the website, and many general website updates.Real property appraiser renewals were completed short staffed with little disruption to the public or the real property appraiser community.The Title 298 changes adopted by the Board on November 17, 2022 were approved by Governor Pillen.The Board is required to comply with federal requirements set forth by the Appraisal Subcommittee, Title XI of FIRREA, and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The Board was audited by the Appraisal Subcommittee on March 14-16 of 2023 and received a rating of Excellent for both the Appraiser Program and the AMC Program. The Appraisal Subcommittee found no weaknesses in the state's regulatory programs. This was the State of Nebraska's third rating of excellent in a row for the Appraiser Program, and the second rating of excellent in a row for the AMC Program (only two compliance review cycles for AMC Programs).PSL funding was secured for an additional teammate.FY 2023-24LB992 was passed by the Legislature, which updates the Real Property Appraiser Act to address USPAP changes, Real Property Appraiser Qualifications Criteria changes, ASC SOA recommendations, the Board's PAVE Dashboard statute review, removal of the Real Property Appraiser Renewal Random CHRC Program, and other administrative issues. LB989 was passed by the Legislature, which updates the AMC Registration Act to address the ASC SOA recommendations, inclusion of criminal and civil immunity language, changes to the CHRC requirements for owners of more than 10% of an AMC, and other administrative issues.The Business Program Manager position was established and hired for to alleviate staff strain.The overall cash fund balance decline for FY2023-24 was less than the forecasted for the fiscal year because of the Boards conservative and thoughtful use of its funds.