Policies Established by the Minnesota State Board of Assessors Disclaimer: This document is intended to provide basic guidance related to board policies. It is not intended to cover every nuance. If this policy document unintentionally conflicts with any law or rule, the law takes precedence, followed by rule and then policy. Licensing 1. Experience: The board will act on requests for a license where all requirements other than experience have been met, if the applicant will meet their experience requirement within 30 days of the meeting. 2. Late Renewal Applications and Warning Letter: All assessors who send in a late renewal application will be sent a warning letter and the city/county assessors will be copied on the letter. 3. Designations: Education equivalent to assessor education requirements. MAI: A current MAI from the Appraisal Institute is equal to Residential Appraisal Principles, Residential Appraisal Procedures, two income courses, the elective, the Residential Form Appraisal report and both the Residential and Income narratives. SRA: A current SRA from the Appraisal Institute is equal to Residential Appraisal Principles, Residential Appraisal Procedures, the elective and a Residential narrative. CAE: A current CAE from IAAO is equal to Residential Appraisal Principles, Residential Appraisal Procedures, two income courses, the elective, the Residential Form Appraisal report and both the Residential and Income narratives. RES: A current RES from IAAO is equal to Residential Appraisal Principles, Residential Appraisal Procedures, Mass Appraisal Basics, one income course, the elective and the Residential narrative. 4. Minnesota Fee Appraiser License: Education equivalent to assessor education requirements. Minnesota Trainee Real Property Appraiser: is equal to Residential Appraisal Principles, Residential Appraisal Procedures and 15-hour USPAP course. Minnesota Licensed Residential Real Property Appraiser: is equal to Residential Appraisal Principles, Residential Appraisal Procedures, the elective and 15-hour USPAP course.
Minnesota Certified Residential Real Property Appraiser: is equal to Residential Appraisal Principles, Residential Appraisal Procedures, the elective and 15-hour USPAP course. Minnesota Certified General Real Property Appraiser: is equal to Residential Appraisal Principles, Residential Appraisal Procedures, the elective, two Income courses and 15-hour USPAP course. 5. Real Estate Degree: A 4-year Real Estate degree is the equivalent of Residential Appraisal Principles and Residential Appraisal Procedures courses, the elective and the Residential Demonstration Narrative. 6. Refunds: Generally, Minnesota State Board of Assessor fees are non-refundable. Refunds will not be made when applications and fees are submitted and the applicant does not qualify. Applicants should ensure that they meet all qualifications before paying their fee. If anything is questionable, such as experience, the applicant can submit their application (with no fee) and request the board review their experience at the next meeting. If their experience is approved, the board will act on their license application and approve it contingent upon submission of their license fee. 7. Renewal: Effective July 1, 2015: Licenses issued for renewal based on the receipt of applications/fees postmarked by August 31 st have an effective date of July 1 st. Licenses issued for renewal based on the receipt of applications/fees postmarked September 1 st or after are effective as of the postmark date. 8. Senior Accredited Minnesota Assessor: Effective July 1, 2011, successful completion of Mass Appraisal Basics and two income courses is required in order to obtain SAMA licensure. 9. Timeline: License applications and fees, requests for licensure course approvals, etc. must be received no later than three business days prior to a board meeting. Licensure Education 1. Assessment Laws and Procedures: MN Assessment Laws and Procedures must have been taken within the last five years to obtain an initial Minnesota assessor s license. 2. Assessment Administration: Minnesota Assessment Administration is required for AMA. IAAO Course 400 is considered a board approved alternate if taken prior to July 1, 2014. 3. Assessment Administration: If both Minnesota Assessment Administration and IAAO Course 400 are taken, IAAO Course 400 can be used as the elective required for AMA licensure. 4. College Courses: Individual college courses will not be considered for the elective unless the course is an appraisal or assessment course.
5. Courses: All courses must be Board approved. 6. Course B: The old Course B substitutes for Residential Appraisal Procedures for a new licensee. The applicant is required to successfully complete Residential Appraisal Principles. 7. Elective: Two - fifteen (15) hour courses, including an exam, may be eligible as the equivalent to the elective required for AMA licensure. The courses must be approved by the board. 8. Form Report/Narrative: If a narrative or form report fails a formal grading twice on the same subject property, a new subject must be selected and a new narrative or form report written, as well as the narrative report writing seminar attended. If a tax court narrative fails twice, it must be rewritten and submitted as a demonstration narrative. 9. Mass Appraisal Basics: Mass Appraisal Basics is not required for obtaining AMA licensure for assessors who obtained CMA prior to 7/1/2011. However, assessors who received their CMA prior to 7/1/2011 must successfully complete Mass Appraisal Basics in order to obtain SAMA licensure. 10. Online Courses: On-line courses are acceptable if pre-approved by the board. They need to be 28 hours of instruction and have a proctored exam, with the exception of the USPAP course which needs to be 15 hours and have a proctored exam. 11. Proctoring an Exam: The person proctoring an online exam for licensure must be a disinterested third party with no conflict of interest who verifies a student s identity and processes a board approved affidavit that the student received no outside assistance. 12. Weeklong Courses: Any tested weeklong course or any two 15 hour course tested from MAAO, IAAO or the Appraisal Institute may be used as the elective required for AMA licensure. Continuing Education 1. Breaks: Continuing education is not granted for lunch breaks. The board does allow rest breaks to be included in the hour count for continuing education, but it is limited to one 15-minute break in the morning and one 15-minute break in the afternoon. 2. Challenge: Continuing education is not granted for course challenges. 3. Courses/Seminars: All courses must be Board approved. 4. Exams: Continuing education does not require the passing of any course exams; however if an exam is taken, allotted examination time will be included in the continuing education hours.
5. Hours: One hour of continuing education equals 1 continuing education hour (CEH). CEHs are granted in half-hour increments. 6. License Level: The level of licensure held at the beginning of the four (4) year cycle will determine the amount of CEH s required during that four (4) year cycle. It also determines whether PACE is required during that cycle i.e. if a person holds a CMA license at the beginning of the current year cycle and obtains their AMA license during the current cycle, they do not need to take PACE until the following four year cycle. 7. Online Courses/Seminars: Online training may be used for continuing education. A course/seminar outline that identifies the course/seminar content must be provided to the Board, as well as a statement from the sponsoring agency indicating the approximate time that they estimate is required to complete the course (nothing less than 3 hours will be approved). A completion certificate must also be provided. 8. Request for Continuing Education Hours in the last year of the 4-year cycle: The board will not consider or approve courses for continuing education hours for individuals who have already met their required number of hours. 9. Seminars: Seminars/workshops must be at least 3 hours in length to receive continuing education hours. 10. Week long Courses: Week long courses receive 28 continuing education hours plus 2 additional continuing education hours if the exam is taken. Experience 1. Assessment Experience: One calendar year (twelve calendar months) of assessment experience is the requirement for certification as a Certified Minnesota Assessor. 2. Initial License: Technical/clerical assessment related experience, appraisal experience that exceeds six months, and actual assessment experience may be counted as assessment experience for an initial assessor s license application. Any combination of this experience can be used up to a maximum of three years total. The maximum experience granted for an initial assessor s license is three years. Any reciprocity of assessment experience that was obtained in another state is addressed in a separate policy. 3. Reciprocity: Reciprocity of one year of assessment experience in another state as one year of assessment experience in Minnesota upon receipt of verification of employment within the past ten (10) years. This is not limited to one single year it may be several. This is the only situation where the maximum experience for an initial Minnesota assessor s license may be more than three years. 4. Timeline: All experience used for an initial Minnesota assessor s license must have occurred within 10 years of the date of the application. Reinstatement
1. Assessment Laws and Procedures: Anyone that has not been licensed for a period of five years or more must successfully complete Minnesota Assessment Laws and Procedures. 2. Continuing Education: Continuing education requirements must be met for the previous four (4) year cycle, including ethics. For AMA and SAMA reinstatements, this includes the requirement for PACE as well as the ethics requirement. 3. Course B: For a person who is reinstating their assessor license that was obtained when the old Course B was offered, Course B fulfills the Residential Appraisal course requirements (both Principles and Procedures). 4. Experience: General Any experience that took place in the last 10 years will be used for reinstating an assessor s license. A reinstatement after 10 years is considered an initial assessor s license. 1. Meetings of the MN State Board of Assessors are generally open meetings. Meetings are closed for things such as oral interviews and disciplinary procedures. October 2016