Happy spring to all of you! I hope this message finds you and your families enjoying the beautiful spring weather and wildflowers. Texas truly seems to show off during this time of year.

Legislative Update  

We are well beyond the midway point of the 87th Texas legislative session and we are tracking a surprising amount of bills that affect the Commission and the Board. The bills we are tracking and the session itself change constantly. I have been working closely with agency staff and Board leadership to ensure no changes will be a surprise to us. TALCB staff are prepared to implement the decisions made by the Legislature when the time comes.  

Some bills of note that, if passed, may affect appraisers include:

• HB 2533 (and its Senate companion SB 996) The bill specifies that a licensed or certified appraiser is not required to comply with USPAP when performing an evaluation so long as the first page of the evaluation includes a notice stating that the evaluation is not an appraisal performed in compliance with USPAP.
• HB 1939 (and its Senate companion SB 1368) This bill provides a statute of limitations regarding a suit filed because of an appraisal or appraisal review conducted by an appraiser or appraisal firm (except for a suit based on fraud or breach of contract) to the earlier of two years after the day the person knew or should have known the facts on which the action is based or five years after the day the appraisal or appraisal review was completed. This bill as filed does not impact TALCB’s authority.

May Board Meeting

I am happy to announce that we will meet in person at TALCB headquarters for the May Board Meeting. We are working on final details, but we plan to offer both a remote and in-person option for this meeting. This is a huge step and I look forward to seeing the Board members in Austin next month.

I hope we are getting close to the end of this pandemic. I thank you all for your hard work in continued professionalism in these unusual times. I am honored to work with such talented staff and know we are heading into a bright future.