A move is underfoot to change the appraisal regulatory system. The first shot across the bow was fired by the Georgia Board, which is calling for the elimination of the Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC), among other things, and a shift from federal control to the states. Two respected appraisers, Frank Gregoire and George Hatch, take a look at what’s at stake for appraisers.

George Hatch - This is nothing more than a states rights-federal rights conflict.

Frank Gregoire - This is the precise reason the resolution is important to many others besides appraisers.

GH -The creation of the Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) by Congress was a direct response to the S&L bailout of the 1980s. The federal government and the American Taxpayers were forced to protect the assets of depositors of failing lending institutions. The former model of market-driven appraisal regulation, which relied solely on client preferences, was proven to be a spectacular failure.

FG – Long-time appraisal practitioners are aware the appraisal profession was the scapegoat for the excesses of the federally regulated savings and loan and commercial banking industries during the 1980s. Although there is evidence of complicity by appraisers, the primary culprits in the collapse were the financial institutions. My source is the 48-page report by the Committee on Government Operations, September 25, 1986.