DEPARTMENT OF REGULATORY AGENCIES
DIVISION OF REAL ESTATE
BOARD OF REAL ESTATE APPRAISERS
4 CCR 725-2

NOTICE OF PROPOSED PERMANENT RULEMAKING HEARING
November 3, 2016

CHAPTER 3:	STANDARDS FOR REAL ESTATE APPRAISAL QUALIFYING EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Pursuant to and in compliance with Title 12, Article 61 and Title 24, Article 4, C.R.S. as amended, notice of proposed rulemaking is hereby given, including notice to the Attorney General of the State of Colorado and to all persons who have requested to be advised of the intention of the Colorado Board of Real Estate Appraisers (the “Board”) to promulgate rules, or to amend, repeal or repeal and re-enact the present rules of the Board.

STATEMENT OF BASIS

The statutory basis for the rules titled the Board of Real Estate Appraisers is Chapter 7 of Title 12, Article 61, Colorado Revised Statutes, as amended.  

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The purpose of this rule is to effectuate the legislative directive to promulgate necessary and appropriate rules in conformity with the statute and the provisions of the federal Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 as amended.

SPECIFIC PURPOSE OF THIS RULEMAKING

The purpose of this rule is to modify or add the standards necessary for real estate appraisal qualifying education programs.

Proposed New, Amended and Repealed Rules

Deleted material is showed by struck through; new material is indicated by Small Caps or underline. Rules, or portions of rules, which are unaffected are reproduced.  Readers are advised to obtain a copy of the complete rules of the Board at www.dora.colorado.gov/dre.

CHAPTER 3:	STANDARDS FOR REAL ESTATE APPRAISAL QUALIFYING EDUCATION PROGRAMS

3.2	Qualifying appraisal education shall must be taken from providers approved by the Board. In order to be approved, qualifying education courses and the providers shall must meet the following standards at the time it is offered:

A.	Course content was developed by persons qualified in the subject matter and instructional design;

B.	Course content is current and corresponds with the current common body of knowledge;

C.	The instructor is qualified with respect to content and teaching methods, and the body of knowledge;

D.	The number of participants and the physical facilities are consistent with the teaching method;

E.	An examination is included for measuring the information learned; and

F.	The educational offering shall will be developed and communicated in a manner as to promote and maintain a high level of public trust in appraisal practice.

3.3	The following may be approved as providers of qualifying appraisal education provided that the standards set forth in Board Rule 3.2 are maintained and the education providers have complied with all other requirements of the State state of Colorado:

A.	Accredited colleges, junior colleges, community colleges or universities Universities, colleges, junior colleges or community colleges accredited by a regional accrediting body accredited by the council on post secondary accreditation as defined in Board Rule 1.30;

B.	Professional appraisal and real estate related organizations;

C.	State or federal government agencies;

D.	Proprietary schools holding valid certificates of approval from the Colorado Division of Private Occupational Schools, Department of Higher Education;

E.	Providers approved by other jurisdictions, provided the jurisdiction’s appraiser regulation program has been determined to be in compliance with Title XI, FIRREA;

F.	Providers approved under the Course Approval Program of The Appraisal Foundation CAP as defined in Board Rule 1.39; and

G.	Such other providers as the Board may approve upon petition of the provider or the applicant in a form acceptable to the Board.
 
3.4	On or after January 1, 1991, in order to be approved by the Board, each education provider shall must maintain for a period of five (5) years from the last course offering, and provide to the Board upon request, information regarding the qualifying education course offerings including, but not limited to the following:

A.	Outline or syllabus;

B.	All texts, workbooks, hand outs handouts or other course materials;

C.	Instructors and their qualifications, including selection, training and evaluation criteria;

D.	Course examinations;

E.	Dates and locations of course offerings; and

F.	Student attendance records.

3.5	The number of hours credited shall must be equivalent to the actual number of contact hours of in-class instruction and testing. An hour of education is defined as at least fifty (50) minutes of instruction out of each 60-minute segment. For distance education, the number of hours credited shall must be that number of hours allowed by the Course Approval Program of The Appraisal Foundation CAP as defined in Board Rule 1.39.

3.6	Each qualifying education course offering must be at least fifteen (15) hours in duration, include an examination pertinent to the material covered, and be comprised of segments of not less than one (1) classroom hour.

3.7	Qualifying education courses and corresponding examinations must be successfully completed by the applicant. Successful completion means the applicant has attended the offering, participated in course activities, and achieved a passing score on the course examination.

3.9	It is the applicant’s responsibility to verify that a qualifying educational course offering has been approved by the board Board, if the applicant wishes to claim credit for the course.

3.10	Each applicant shall will provide a signed statement, under penalty of perjury, attesting to the successful completion of the required hours of qualifying appraisal education on a form prescribed by the Board. The Board reserves the right to require an applicant or licensee to provide satisfactory documentary evidence of completion of appropriate qualifying education course work.

3.12	The following factors shall must be used to convert accredited college, junior college, community college or university university, college, junior college and community college course credits into qualifying education hours:

A.	Semester Credits x 15.00 = Hours

B.	Quarter Credits x 10.00 = Hours

3.13	Applicants shall must successfully complete qualifying appraisal education which builds upon and augments previous courses. Qualifying education courses which substantially repeat or duplicate other course work in terms of content and level of instruction will not be accepted. The Board will give appropriate consideration to courses where substantive changes in content have occurred.

3.14	To be acceptable for qualifying appraisal education, distance education offerings must incorporate methods and activities that promote active student engagement and participation in the learning process. Among those methods and activities acceptable are written exercises which are graded and returned to the student, required responses to computer based presentations, provision for students to submit questions during teleconferences, and examinations proctored by an independent third party, who is an official approved by the college or university, or by the sponsoring organization. Simple reading, viewing or listening to materials without active student engagement and participation in the learning process is not sufficient to satisfy the requirements of this Board rule Rule 3.14.

3.16	To be acceptable for qualifying real estate appraisal education, distance education courses shall must meet the other requirements of this Chapter 3 of these Rules, and shall must include a written, closed book final examination proctored by an independent third party, or other final examination testing procedure acceptable to the Board. Examples of acceptable examination proctors include public officials who do not supervise the student, secondary and higher education school officials, and public librarians. Failure to observe this requirement may result in rejection of the course and/or course provider by the Board for that applicant, and may result in the Board refusing or withdrawing approval of any courses offered by the provider.

3.17	All qualifying education courses in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice USPAP begun on and after January 1, 2003 shall must be in the form of a course approved under the course approval program of the Appraiser Qualifications Board of The Appraisal Foundation CAP as defined in Board Rule 1.39, and taught by an instructor certified by the Appraiser Qualifications Board AQB of The Appraisal Foundation and who is a state certified appraiser.

3.18	Course providers shall must provide each student who successfully completes a qualifying real estate appraisal education course in the manner prescribed in Board Rule 3.7 a course completion certificate. The Board will not mandate the exact form of course completion certificates, ; however, the following information shall must be included:

A.	Name of course provider;

B.	Course title, which shall must describe topical content, or 2008 the Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria Core Curriculum module title; 

C.	Course number, if any;

D.	Course dates;

E.	Number of approved education hours;

F.	Statement that the required examination was successfully completed;

G.	Course location, which for distance education modalities shall must be the principal place of business of the course provider;
 
H.	Name of student; and

I.	For all Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice USPAP courses begun on and after January 1, 2003, the name(s) and Appraiser Qualifications Board AQB Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice USPAP instructor certification number(s) of the instructor(s).

Licensees are required to provide copies of course certificates to the Board upon request.

3.19	The provisions of Board Rule 3.3 notwithstanding, qualifying education courses begun on and after January 1, 2004 and offered through distance education modalities must be approved through the Course Approval Program of The Appraisal Foundation  CAP as defined in Board Rule 1.39. The Board will not accept distance education courses begun on and after January 1, 2004 that have not been approved through the Course Approval Program of The Appraisal Foundation CAP.

3.20	All qualifying education courses in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) shall must be presented using the most recent edition of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice and the most recent version of the National USPAP Course (real property) or equivalent as approved by the Course Approval Program of The Appraisal Foundation CAP, with the exception that courses begun in the three (3) months preceding the effective date of a new edition may be presented using the next succeeding USPAP edition and course version, if available from The Appraisal Foundation TAF.

3.21	All qualifying education courses begun on or after January 1, 2008 must be approved through the Course Approval Program of the Appraisal Foundation CAP, except as otherwise may be approved in advance and in writing by the Director of the Colorado Division of Real Estate (the “Director”) on a limited case by case basis where the Director determines that the public would not be served if course approval were required through the Course Approval Program of the Appraiser Qualifications Board of the Appraisal Foundation CAP for a particular course. Course providers seeking approval of qualifying education courses that have not been approved through the Course Approval Program of the Appraiser Qualifications Board of the Appraisal Foundation CAP shall must provide the Director with all requested information the Director deems necessary.

3.22	By offering real estate appraiser qualifying education in the state of Colorado, each provider agrees to comply with the relevant statutes and board Board rules Rules and to permit the Board to audit said courses at any time and at no cost.

3.23	Introduction to Ad Valorem mass Mass appraisal Appraisal courses that have been approved by the Board as qualifying education can be used for credit as appraisal subject matter electives for applicants seeking licensure as a Certified Residential Appraiser or Certified General Appraiser.

3.24	Applicants or licensees are required to provide copies of course certificates to the Board upon request.

A hearing on the above subject matter will be held on Thursday, November 3, 2016, at the Colorado Division of Real Estate, 1560 Broadway, Suite 1250-C, Denver, Colorado 80202 beginning at 9:00 a.m. 

Any interested person may participate in the rule making through submission of written data, views and arguments to the Division of Real Estate.  Persons are requested to submit data, views and arguments to the Division of Real Estate in writing no less than ten (10) days prior to the hearing date and time set forth above. However, all data, views and arguments submitted prior to or at the rulemaking hearing or prior to the closure of the rulemaking record (if different from the date and time of hearing), shall be considered.

Please be advised that the rule being considered is subject to further changes and modifications after public comment and formal hearing.