Dear Fellow Appraiser:

It has finally happened! Three years of hard work has finally paid off for those of us in the appraisal industry. After passing through both houses a few months ago, Governor Christie has signed into law Assembly bill 1973 which gives certain rights to the appraisers in New Jersey. This legislation was formulated with your help, and support from those of you that answered the myriad of questions which were proposed by me in the past 3-4 years.    
 
The most important parts of the law to the appraiser, are as follows:
 
Each AMC doing business in New Jersey will be required to register with the state and pay a licensing fee which puts them under the control of the New Jersey Real Estate Appraisal Board. 
 
The AMC will have to adhere to certain rules and regulations as outlined in the law, especially those of paying the appraiser within 60 days and paying a reasonable and customary fee. Currently the definition of "what is a reasonable and customary fee" is under the control of the Department of Banking and Insurance. We are diligently working to bring the control of same under the Appraisal Board so that all of the AMC responsibility for enactment and enforcement lies in one place. 
 
We are also working very hard to redefine exactly what is a reasonable and customary fee, based on a recent survey that we have taken, and one that the VA does every year. This information would be available to the empowered body at absolutely no cost to them, thus it would eliminate any budgetary concerns that they might have.
 
I would imagine the NJ Real Estate Appraisal Board is hard at work creating the methodology for registering the AMC’s so that the process can begin smoothly. Once the law is effective, enforcement of the law will need to be based on input from all of us in the appraisal industry. As it would be up to us to report violations of the law to the Appraisal Board.
 
This legislation was developed from discussions with many appraisers, members of the industry, Assemblyman Vincent Prieto and other members of the legislature, and with the assistance of a very passionate group of leaders that are members of the NAIFA (on both a local and national level). Our hard work and your meaningful support, both verbally and financially, allowed this organization to spend many days in Trenton attempting to bring this legislation to fruition. This is what appraisal organizations do for their members, however, in this case, the NJ-NAIFA did it all by ourselves. Membership and support are important for industry members. If you do not belong, you should. Why not join now?
 
You can join on our national web site at www.naifa.com, or by contacting our State Director, Sherrie Galderisi, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 973-283-2266.
 
  
Yours in good appraising.

Bob Solotist, IFA, SCRREA
Legislative Chair, NJ-NAIFA
National Board of Directors, NAIFA
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  or 973-714-8727