House Bill 1797 permits appraisers to perform evaluations of real estate for financial institutions

Legislation passed the Washington State House of Representatives yesterday that would make it easier for licensed or registered real estate appraisers to do evaluations for financial institutions.

House Bill 1797 permits appraisers to perform evaluations of real estate for financial institutions as long as a disclaimer is provided stating the appraiser is not engaged in appraisal activity at the time of the evaluation.

“This is a way to expand the services that appraisers can offer their clients and make it easier for the industry to get high-quality evaluations,” said Rep. Greg Cheney, R-Battle Ground and prime sponsor of the bill.

Determining market value for some transactions does not always require a complete appraisal. An evaluation can be done by a number of different individuals, but not appraisers.

“Technically speaking, an appraiser is significantly overqualified to offer real estate evaluations, but existing state law forbids them from doing so. My bill corrects this oversight,” said Cheney. “This is a win-win for appraisers, lenders, and buyers.”

House Bill 1797 is Cheney’s first bill to pass the state House of Representatives. His bill now moves to the Senate for further consideration.

Information provided by Washington State House Republicans, houserepublicans.wa.gov