Happy May to each of you. Later this month, we celebrate Memorial Day., when we will honor those who have given their lives for our country. As we gather with friends and family to kick off summer, I encourage each of you to take a moment to solemnly consider those who did not return from the battlefield and acknowledge the cost of our freedom.
Complete Your Renewal before Memorial Day
The agency will close early on Friday, May 28, and remain closed through Memorial Day, May 31. Because of this early closure, all license holders who need to renew a license should complete all the requirements for renewal as soon as possible to avoid potential delays. You can complete your renewal on our website and contact our team with any questions you may have. We recently launched an all-new “Contact Us” page to make it easy to send us an email and get your questions answered quickly.
Board Meeting Update
For the first time in over a year, the Board meeting was held in person at TALCB headquarters in Austin. It was a big step in the road back to “normal.” During the meeting, the Board proposed the following rules:
- §153.8 - implements changes adopted by the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) which became effective on January 1, 2021. The change was based on federal law which increased the threshold for residential real estate transactions requiring an appraisal from $250,000 to $400,000. The proposed amendments increase the transaction threshold for licensed residential appraisers from $250,000 to $400,000 to align TALCB rules with AQB requirements and federal law.
- §153.21 - clarifies rules related to qualification requirements for supervisory appraisers as adopted by the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB). To be eligible to supervise an appraiser trainee, a certified appraiser must not have had practice‐ interrupting discipline in the prior three years. The proposed amendments clarify that this only applies to disciplinary actions. Administrative actions do not prohibit an appraiser from acting as a supervisor.
I encourage you to take a look at the proposed rules and provide public comments. Keep in mind, we launched a new online portal earlier this year and it is now easier than ever to give us your thoughts.
Legislative Update
The legislative session is headed into its final weeks. We are watching several bills that could potentially impact the agency. I know many of you might be interested in what is proposed, so I thought I would highlight a few bills of interest:
- HB 1322 (Shaheen) - Relating to a summary of a rule proposed by a state agency. – Passed as amended in the Senate
- SB 713 (Buckingham) - Relating to the sunset review process and certain governmental entities subject to that process. – committee report sent to calendars – 5/7
- HB 2533 (Darby) Relating to the performance of a real property evaluation for use by certain financial institutions
One thing to remember is legislative session is fluid, and none of these bills have yet reached the Governor's desk.
Versa Replacement Project
Recently, our IT team started the process to replace the VERSA database system. VERSA is the system of record we use for managing all of our license holder and registrant data. Our staff interact with the database everyday, in all corners of our operation.
We are working with a vendor to begin the requirements gathering and to establish a scope of work for the new system. They will also help us negotiate final pricing for this new database through a solicitation process this fall. Doing the upfront work to ensure the next database fulfills our needs is a top priority. This database replacement will allow us to advance and improve our services for all of our license holders. We hope to conclude this database project by the end of fiscal year 2023.
As always, please reach out if our agency can assist your work. It is important to me that we strike a healthy balance between supporting the industry we serve and protecting consumers. Have a great month.