Colorado § 12-10-606 - Qualifications for licensing and certification of appraisers - continuing education - rules - evaluations - definitions.

§ 12-10-606. Qualifications for licensing and certification of appraisers - continuing education - rules - evaluations - definitions.

(1) (a) The board shall, by rule, prescribe requirements for the initial licensing or certification of persons under this part 6 to meet the requirements of the "Real Estate Appraisal Reform Amendments", Title XI of the federal "Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989", as amended, 12 U.S.C. secs. 3331 to 3351, and shall develop, purchase, or contract for examinations to be passed by applicants. The board shall not establish any requirements for initial licensing or certification that are more stringent than the requirements of any applicable federal law; except that all applicants shall pass an examination offered by the board. If there is no applicable federal law, the board shall consider and may use as guidelines the most recent available criteria published by the Appraiser Qualifications Board of the Appraisal Foundation or its successor organization.

(b) The four levels of appraiser licensure and certification, pursuant to subsection (1)(a) of this section, are defined as follows:

(I) "Certified general appraiser" means an appraiser meeting the requirements set by the board for general certification.

(II) "Certified residential appraiser" means an appraiser meeting the requirements set by the board for residential certification.

(III) "Licensed ad valorem appraiser" means an appraiser meeting the requirements set by the board for ad valorem appraiser certification. Only a county assessor, employee of a county assessor's office, or employee of the division of property taxation in the department of local affairs may obtain or possess an ad valorem appraiser certification.

(IV) "Licensed appraiser" means an appraiser meeting the requirements set by the board for a license.

(c) A county assessor or employee of a county assessor's office who is a licensed ad valorem appraiser may not perform real estate appraisals outside of his or her official duties.

(d) The board shall transfer persons employed in a county assessor's office or in the division of property taxation in the department of local affairs who are registered appraisers as of July 1, 2013, to the category of licensed ad valorem appraiser. The board shall allow these persons, until December 31, 2015, to meet any additional requirements imposed by the board pursuant to section 12-10-604 (1)(a).

(2) (a) The board shall, by rule, prescribe continuing education requirements for persons licensed or certified as certified general appraisers, certified residential appraisers, or licensed appraisers as needed to meet the requirements of the "Real Estate Appraisal Reform Amendments", Title XI of the federal "Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989", as amended, 12 U.S.C. secs. 3331 to 3351. The board shall not establish any continuing education requirements that are more stringent than the requirements of any applicable federal law; except that all persons licensed or certified under this part 6 are subject to continuing education requirements. If there is no applicable federal law, the board shall consider and may use as guidelines the most recent available criteria published by the Appraiser Qualifications Board of the Appraisal Foundation or its successor organization.

(b) The board shall, by rule, prescribe continuing education requirements for licensed ad valorem appraisers.

(3) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, the criteria established by the board for the licensing or certification of appraisers pursuant to this part 6 shall not include membership or lack of membership in any appraisal organization.

(4) (a) Subject to section 12-10-619 (2), all appraiser employees of county assessors shall be licensed or certified as provided in subsections (1) and (2) of this section. Obtaining and maintaining a license or certificate under either subsection (1) or (2) of this section entitles an appraiser employee of a county assessor to perform all real estate appraisals required to fulfill the person's official duties.

(b) Appraiser employees of county assessors who are employed to appraise real property are subject to this part 6; except that appraiser employees of county assessors who are employed to appraise real property are not subject to disciplinary actions by the board on the ground that they have performed appraisals beyond their level of competency when appraising real estate in fulfillment of their official duties. County assessors, if licensed or certified as provided in subsections (1) and (2) of this section, are not subject to disciplinary actions by the board on the ground that they have performed appraisals beyond their level of competency when appraising real estate in fulfillment of their official duties.

(c) The county in which an appraiser employee of a county assessor is employed shall pay all reasonable costs incurred by the appraiser employee of the county assessor to obtain and maintain a license or certificate pursuant to this section.

(5) The board shall not issue an appraiser's license as referenced in subsection (1)(b)(IV) of this section unless the applicant has met the minimum appraisal experience requirement established by the Appraiser Qualifications Board of the Appraisal Foundation or its successor organization.

(6) (a) The board shall not issue a license or certification until the applicant demonstrates that the applicant meets the fitness standards established by board rule and submits a set of fingerprints to the Colorado bureau of investigation for the purpose of conducting a state and national fingerprint-based criminal history record check utilizing records of the Colorado bureau of investigation and the federal bureau of investigation. Each person submitting a set of fingerprints shall pay the fee established by the Colorado bureau of investigation for conducting the fingerprint-based criminal history record check to the bureau. Upon completion of the fingerprint-based criminal history record check, the bureau shall forward the results to the board. The board shall require a name-based judicial record check, as defined in section 22-2-119.3 (6)(d), for an applicant who has a record of arrest without a disposition. The applicant shall pay the costs associated with a name-based judicial record check. The board may deny an application for licensure or certification based on the outcome of the record check and may establish criminal history requirements more stringent than those established by any applicable federal law. At a minimum, the board shall adopt the criminal history requirements established by any applicable federal law.

(b) An applicant for certification as a licensed ad valorem appraiser is not subject to the fingerprinting and background check requirements of subsection (6)(a) of this section.

(7) (a) The board shall, by rule, authorize an exemption from compliance with the uniform standards of professional appraisal practice for a licensed appraiser performing an evaluation; except that the board's rules must not exempt a licensed appraiser performing an evaluation from complying with the ethics, record-keeping, competency, and scope-of-work standards of the uniform standards of professional appraisal practice.

(b) A licensed appraiser may perform an evaluation if conducted in accordance with board rules promulgated under subsection (7)(a) of this section.

Source: L. 2019: Entire title R&RE with relocations, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 669, § 1, effective October 1; (6)(a) amended, (HB 19-1166), ch. 125, p. 565, § 69, effective October 1. L. 2022: (6) amended, (HB 22-1270), ch. 114, p. 515, § 10, effective April 21; (5) amended and (7) added, (HB 22-1261), ch. 315, p. 2248, § 5, effective August 10.

Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 12-61-706 as it existed prior to 2019.

(2) Before its relocation in 2019, this section was amended in HB 19-1166. Those amendments were superseded by the repeal and reenactment of this title 12, effective October 1, 2019. For those amendments to the former section in effect from April 18, 2019, to October 1, 2019, see HB 19-1166, chapter 125, Session Laws of Colorado 2019.

ANNOTATION

Annotator's note. The following annotations include cases decided under former provisions similar to this section.

This section is unconstitutional as applied to county assessors. The qualifications for county officers that are specified in article XIV, § 10 of the Colorado Constitution are exclusive. Thus, the general assembly does not have authority to require additional qualifications, including licensure. Reale v. Bd. of Real Estate Appraisers, 880 P.2d 1205 (Colo. 1994).

Based on the comprehensive legislative structure regulating them, real estate appraisers practice a profession involving knowledge or skill, and their conduct should be judged according to the tenets of their field. Therefore, a buyer's negligence claim against real estate appraisers for inaccurate appraisals involved professional negligence. Hice v. Lott, 223 P.3d 139 (Colo. App. 2009).

Establishing a standard of care in a professional negligence case normally requires an expert to explain it because ordinary persons are not conversant with it. The issue of whether a dwelling was a "mobile home" or a "modular home", and the effect of that determination on the dwelling's appraised value, were beyond the experience of ordinary jurors, even when assisted by generally accepted standards of professional appraisal practice. Thus, expert testimony was necessary to establish the standard of care an appraiser must employ when appraising a structure that may be a "mobile home". Hice v. Lott, 223 P.3d 139 (Colo. App. 2009).

Common insurance policy appraisal provision instructing parties to select an impartial appraiser requires appraisers to be unbiased, disinterested, and unswayed by personal interest based on the plain meaning of the word "impartial." Impartial appraisers must not favor one side more than another, so they may not advocate for either party. Owners Ins. Co. v. Dakota Station II Condo. Ass'n, 2019 CO 65, 443 P.3d 47.

Contingent-cap fee agreements that tie appraisers' compensation to the ultimate appraisal award do not necessarily render appraisers partial as a matter of law. Appraiser was found to be impartial in situation where the appraiser did not believe the cap was in effect, the award did not reach the stated cap, and there was seemingly no relationship between the fees billed by the appraiser and the estimates the appraiser put forth. Owners Ins. Co. v. Dakota Station II Condo. Ass'n, 2019 CO 65, 443 P.3d 47.