Why Certified

What is a Pennsylvania State Certified Appraiser & Why do I need one?

There are four kinds of appraisers in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Certified General -- These appraisers have met their education and experience prerequisites and passed the general certification exam. They can now appraise virtually all types of property: residential, commercial, both federally related and non-federally related. Pennsylvania Certified General Appraisers work primarily on commercial appraisals which include rental units of 5 or more in a building.

Pennsylvania Certified Residential -- These appraisers have also met their education and experience requirements, passed their exam and can appraise all categories of residential property, federally and non-federally related. Pennsylvania Certified Residential Appraisers work primarily on residential appraisals which include single family homes and rental units of 4 or less in a building.

Pennsylvania Broker-Appraiser -- Available ONLY before Sept. 3, 1998, and now reserved ONLY for those who held their broker's license before 9/3/96 and who formally registered. Although not permitted to do federally related appraisals, broker-appraisers may complete fee appraisals for estates, divorces, private owners, third party companies and other non-federally related assignments. Pennsylvania Broker-Appraisers can work on residential and commercial appraisals. However, they do not have the training of Certified Appraisers and due to this lending institutions will only hire their Certified counterparts for more complex and federally related transactions. Also, for tax appeals, County assessment boards want appraisals performed by Certified Appraisers.

Pennsylvania Certified Evaluator -- Relating to ad valorem tax appraisals by Pennsylvania tax assessors. Pennsylvania Certified Evaluators work primarily with their respective Counties to assess properties for tax purposes.

Pennsylvania Certified Residential Appraisers have to complete the following for certification:

Education: An applicant shall submit evidence to the Board of having completed 120 classroom hours of courses in subjects related to real estate appraisal, including the 15-hour National Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice Course.

Experience: In addition to meeting the education requirements, an applicant shall submit evidence to the Board of having completed 2,500 hours of acceptable appraisal experience obtained during no fewer than 24 months. Fifty percent of the experience obtained by an applicant shall be in the actual preparation of real estate appraisal reports which include a physical inspection of the interior and exterior of the subject property.

Pass Pennsylvania State issued Examination

Pennsylvania State certified residential real estate appraiser.
An applicant who has passed an examination and who is certified under this section will be deemed to have met the minimum criteria for the certified residential real property appraiser classification adopted by the Appraiser Qualifications Board of the Appraisal Foundation, and shall be qualified to perform residential real property appraisals in Federally-related and non-Federally related transactions without regard to value.

WARNING!

(ARM) Adjustable Rate Mortgage Holders!

New credit reporting criteria!

A new credit-scoring system that rates borrowers based on the type of mortgage they have could cause people with adjustable mortgages to pay higher interest rates on everything from credit cards to car loans.

Some financial experts, however, say this system bears a close resemblance to so-called universal default, which allows a credit card company to raise a customer's interest rate if he makes a late payment with another creditor.

"This is pretty much going to be all that credit card companies, student loan companies, auto lenders and other banks need to charge customers higher rates solely based on the kind of mortgages they have," said Lynnette Khalfani, a former reporter for t e Wall Street Journal and CNBC, and author of "Zero Debt." "Folks who were teased and seduced to sign up for ARMs just two years ago are paying for that decision in ways they never imagined," Mrs. Khalfani said. "You could never fathom it would cause higher rates on credit cards and higher payments too. That smacks of unfairness to the consumer." Not everyone with ARMs is struggling to make ends meet.