The Economic Consequences of Homelessness in The US

specializes in property valuation). Property valuation in the UK is regulated by the Royal
Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), a professional body encompassing all of the
building and property-related professions. The RICS professional guidelines for valuers
are published in what is commonly known as the Red Book. The 2011 version was the
RICS Valuation Standards 7th Edition (2 May 2011), superseding an edition published
in 2007 with later amendments. The RICS Valuation Standards contains mandatory
rules, best practice guidance and related commentary. Changes to the standards are
approved by the RICS Valuation Professional Group Board, and the Red Book is
updated accordingly on a regular basis. While based in the UK, RICS is a global
organization and has become very active in the United States in recent years through its
affiliation with the Counselors of Real Estate, a division of the National Association of
Realtors.
United States
Appraisal practice in the United States
is regulated by state. The Appraisal
Foundation (TAF) is the primary
standards body; its Appraisal Standards
Board (ASB) promulgates and updates
best practices as codified in the Uniform
Standards of Professional Appraisal
Practice (USPAP), while its Appraisal
Qualifications Board (AQB) promulgates
minimum standards for appraiser
certification and licensing.
The federal government regulates appraisers indirectly because if the Appraisal
Subcommittee (ASC) of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC)
finds that a particular state's appraiser regulation and certification program is
inadequate, then under federal regulations all appraisers in that state would no longer
be eligible to conduct appraisals for federally chartered banks. The ASC oversees the
TAF. Banks make widespread use of mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities,
and would be unable to do so without appraisals.
The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA)
demanded all the states to develop systems for licensing and certifying real estate
appraisers. To accomplish this, the Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) was formed within
the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), with representatives
from the various Federal mortgage regulatory agencies. Thus, currently all the real
estate appraisers must be state-licensed and certified. But prior to the 1990s, there
were no commonly accepted standards either for appraisal quality or for appraiser
licensure. In the 1980s, an ad-hoc committee representing various appraisal
professional organizations in the United States and Canada met to codify the best
practices into what became known as the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal
Practice (USPAP). The U.S. Savings and Loan Crisis resulted in increased federal
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