California Real Estate Appraiser Bus. & Prof. Code § 11319 Attorney Fee Petition Mechanics: Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers License Verification at brea.ca.gov as Primary Welch Anchor (THE ONLY § 11319 Appraiser Page — DISTINCT FROM RE Broker § 10131, RE Salesperson § 10132, and Escrow Agent Fin. Code § 17412; Appraisal Institute Code of Professional Ethics Advisory [PURE KETCHUM]; ASA Principles of Appraisal Practice and Code of Ethics Advisory [PURE KETCHUM]; TWO PRIVATE STANDARDS ON ONE PAGE), CCP § 1021.5 Private Attorney General Mandatory Attorney Fees

Statutory Framework: Bus. & Prof. Code § 11319 and BREA Appraisal License — Scope of Regulated Practice, Unlicensed Appraisal Prohibition, Appraisal Institute Code Advisory [PURE KETCHUM], ASA Principles Advisory [PURE KETCHUM], and CCP § 1021.5 Mandatory Attorney Fees

California Bus. & Prof. Code § 11319 — within the Real Estate Appraisers’ Licensing and Certification Law (§§ 11300 et seq.) — prohibits any person from performing, offering to perform, or holding themselves out as qualified to perform real property appraisals for a fee or other valuable consideration in California without a valid BREA appraisal license or certificate. The California BREA was established pursuant to the federal Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA, 12 U.S.C. §§ 3331 et seq.), which requires each state to establish an appraiser certification program as a condition of federally related real estate loan transactions. BREA issues four license categories: Trainee Appraiser License, Licensed Residential Appraiser, Certified Residential Appraiser, and Certified General Appraiser; each category carries specific education, examination, and experience requirements. An unlicensed person performing real estate appraisals — producing USPAP-formatted valuation reports, providing opinions of market value for mortgage origination, or performing appraisal reviews — without a valid BREA license or certificate is engaged in unlicensed appraisal practice under § 11319, cognizable under CCP § 1021.5 when the litigation enforces an important public right of licensed appraiser practice protecting Californians and financial institutions from inflated valuations, appraisal fraud, and incompetent real property analysis.

APPRAISAL INSTITUTE CODE OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICS ADVISORY — THE ONLY PAGE IN THE FEE-PETITION-MECHANICS SERIES WITH AN APPRAISAL INSTITUTE CODE OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICS ADVISORY — PURE KETCHUM: The Appraisal Institute (AI, founded 1991, Chicago IL) is the leading professional association for real estate appraisers worldwide, formed through the merger of the Society of Real Estate Appraisers (SREA, founded 1935) and the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers (AIREA, founded 1932); AI designations include the MAI (Member Appraisal Institute) for commercial appraisers and the SRA (Senior Residential Appraiser) for residential appraisers. Key Appraisal Institute Code of Professional Ethics provisions relevant to California appraiser fee petition practice include: (1) Code Section 1 — Competency: AI members may only accept appraisal assignments that are within their competency based on education, experience, and geographic familiarity; an unlicensed person performing residential or commercial appraisals without the BREA-required education, examination, and supervised experience has no documented competency in market analysis, comparable selection, valuation methodology, or USPAP compliance; (2) Code Section 2 — Independence, Objectivity, and Impartiality: AI members must not perform appraisals where their independence is impaired by any undisclosed financial interest, undisclosed relationship with a party to the transaction, or contingent fee arrangement dependent on the opinion of value; an unlicensed appraiser operating outside the BREA licensing framework and the AI professional ethics framework has no accountability mechanism to prevent biased valuations that serve the commissioning party rather than the intended users; (3) Code Section 3 — License Maintenance: AI members performing real property appraisals in jurisdictions requiring state licensure must maintain active licensure and must not represent themselves as qualified to perform state-licensed appraisals while their BREA certificate is expired, suspended, or revoked. The Appraisal Institute Code creates no statutory fee-shifting; it is a PURE KETCHUM advisory.

ASA PRINCIPLES OF APPRAISAL PRACTICE AND CODE OF ETHICS ADVISORY — THE ONLY PAGE IN THE FEE-PETITION-MECHANICS SERIES WITH AN ASA PRINCIPLES OF APPRAISAL PRACTICE AND CODE OF ETHICS ADVISORY — PURE KETCHUM: The American Society of Appraisers (ASA, founded 1936, Herndon VA) is the oldest and only major multi-discipline appraisal membership organization in the United States, offering designations across real property (ASA-RP), business valuation (ASA-BV), personal property (ASA-PP), and machinery and equipment (ASA-ME) disciplines; the ASA publishes the Principles of Appraisal Practice and Code of Ethics as the professional standards document governing the conduct of all ASA members. Key ASA Principles provisions relevant to California appraiser fee petition practice include: (1) Section I — Competency Standard: ASA Principles require that appraisers only undertake appraisal assignments within their specific field of competency and within their geographic area of familiarity; an unlicensed person performing residential or commercial appraisals in California without a BREA license or certificate, without USPAP education, and without supervised experience has no documented competency basis for any appraisal conclusion; (2) Section II — Independence and Objectivity: ASA Principles prohibit appraisers from accepting assignments where their independence or objectivity is compromised by contingent fees, undisclosed relationships, or client pressure on the conclusion of value; (3) Section VI — License Maintenance: ASA Principles require that members performing appraisals subject to state licensing requirements maintain active licensure or certification; ASA membership and designation rights are contingent on maintaining the applicable BREA license or certificate for California real property appraisers. The ASA Principles create no statutory fee-shifting; they are a PURE KETCHUM advisory.

Three-Track Harm: LA County Unlicensed Residential Appraisals Inflated Valuations Lender Losses BREA Criminal Referral ($285K), Orange County BREA Certificate Expired 20 Months FHA/VA Appraisals HUD Debarment ($195K), and San Diego County BREA Expired 14 Months SBA Loan Collateral ($95K)

• LOS ANGELES COUNTY UNLICENSED PERSON PERFORMING RESIDENTIAL APPRAISALS FOR MULTIPLE MORTGAGE LENDERS — BREA VERIFICATION AT BREA.CA.GOV CONFIRMED NO APPRAISAL LICENSE IN ANY CATEGORY — AI CODE SECTION 1 COMPETENCY VIOLATED — ASA SECTION I COMPETENCY VIOLATED — INFLATED VALUATIONS CAUSED LENDER LOAN LOSSES ON MORTGAGE DEFAULTS — BREA CRIMINAL REFERRAL — $285,000. A Los Angeles County mortgage brokerage employed an individual who represented themselves as a BREA Certified Residential Appraiser with an AI SRA designation to perform residential appraisals for conventional and FHA mortgage origination on single-family properties in Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties; a BREA license verification search at brea.ca.gov confirmed that the individual held no appraisal license or certificate in any category (Trainee, Licensed Residential, Certified Residential, or Certified General), had never passed the national uniform appraisal examination, and had never been issued any appraisal credential by BREA; a search of the AI SRA registry confirmed no SRA designation held by the individual; a search of the ASC National Registry at asc.gov confirmed no state-licensed appraiser record in any state. The unlicensed individual had produced USPAP-formatted appraisal reports on approximately 47 residential properties used to support mortgage originations, with appraised values that federal investigators found were systematically inflated by 15–22% above actual market value through selective comparable selection and failure to apply required market condition adjustments; when six of the properties entered foreclosure following borrower default, lender losses attributable to inflated valuations exceeded the damage amounts recoverable from the properties at market sale. BREA criminal referral was filed; combined lender losses and civil settlement totaled $285,000.
• ORANGE COUNTY BREA CERTIFIED RESIDENTIAL APPRAISER CERTIFICATE EXPIRED 20 CONTINUOUS MONTHS CONTINUED PERFORMING FHA AND VA APPRAISALS FOR HUD-APPROVED LENDERS — BREA CONFIRMED CERTIFICATE EXPIRED — AI CODE SECTION 3 LICENSE MAINTENANCE VIOLATED — ASA SECTION VI LICENSE MAINTENANCE VIOLATED — HUD DEBARMENT PROCEEDINGS INITIATED — $195,000. An Orange County appraisal firm continued assigning FHA and VA residential appraisal work to an appraiser whose BREA Certified Residential Appraiser certificate had lapsed into expired status 20 continuous months before a HUD Mortgagee Review Board audit triggered by an FHA lender quality control review; the appraiser continued performing FHA appraisals (required for all FHA-insured mortgage originations under HUD guidelines at 24 C.F.R. § 200.145) and VA appraisals during the 20-month lapse period despite both AI Code Section 3 and ASA Section VI professional obligations requiring active BREA certificate maintenance as a prerequisite for appraisal practice; BREA confirmed the certificate’s expired status through the brea.ca.gov database. HUD found that FHA appraisals prepared by an unlicensed appraiser violated the FHA Roster Appraiser requirements requiring an active state appraisal certification as a condition of FHA Roster eligibility; HUD initiated debarment proceedings that would remove the appraisal firm from FHA Roster status; civil penalty and settlement to avoid debarment totaled $195,000.
• SAN DIEGO COUNTY BREA APPRAISAL LICENSE EXPIRED 14 MONTHS CONTINUED PERFORMING COMMERCIAL PROPERTY APPRAISALS FOR SBA 7(A) LOAN COLLATERAL VALUATION — SBA OIG REFERRAL — BREA ADMINISTRATIVE CITATION — CIVIL PENALTY — $95,000. A San Diego County commercial appraisal firm continued assigning commercial property appraisal work to an appraiser whose BREA Certified General Appraiser certificate had lapsed into expired status 14 months before an SBA Office of Inspector General audit triggered by a loan default on an SBA 7(a) loan where the collateral appraisal had been used to support the loan amount; the SBA OIG confirmed through the brea.ca.gov database that the appraiser’s BREA certificate was expired at the time the commercial appraisal was completed; SBA regulations (13 C.F.R. § 120.160) require that appraisals for SBA loans meeting the appraisal threshold be performed by state-licensed or state-certified appraisers, and that federal regulatory agencies do not accept appraisals performed by appraisers without an active state certificate; BREA issued an administrative citation requiring immediate cessation of appraisal practice pending certificate reinstatement and assessed $95,000 in civil penalties.

Distinct From Licensed Real Estate Broker (Bus. & Prof. Code § 10131), Licensed Real Estate Salesperson (Bus. & Prof. Code § 10132), and Licensed Escrow Agent (Fin. Code § 17412)

• DISTINCT FROM Licensed Real Estate Broker (Bus. & Prof. Code § 10131 — California Department of Real Estate DRE Broker License — Authorizes Listing, Selling, and Representing Parties in Real Estate Transactions) — A DRE broker license does not authorize performing independent fee appraisals; appraisals for federally related transactions require a separate BREA license: California real estate brokers hold a DRE broker license under Bus. & Prof. Code § 10131 authorizing listing and selling real property, representing buyers and sellers, and managing property; DRE brokers may provide broker price opinions (BPOs) and comparative market analyses (CMAs) for certain purposes, but DRE licensure does not authorize performing FIRREA-compliant fee appraisals for federally related mortgage transactions, estate appraisals, or litigation support valuations; a § 11319 fee petition targets appraisal practice without a BREA license, independent of any DRE broker or salesperson license the respondent may hold.
• DISTINCT FROM Licensed Real Estate Salesperson (Bus. & Prof. Code § 10132 — California Department of Real Estate DRE Salesperson License — Authorizes Assisted Real Estate Transactions Under Supervising Broker) — A DRE salesperson license does not authorize independent fee appraisals under any circumstances: California real estate salespersons hold a DRE salesperson license under Bus. & Prof. Code § 10132 authorizing real estate transactional work under a supervising licensed broker; a DRE salesperson license provides even less appraisal authority than a broker license; an unlicensed person performing fee appraisals and representing themselves as a BREA-licensed appraiser while holding only a DRE salesperson license is engaged in unlicensed appraisal practice under § 11319; a § 11319 fee petition must confirm through brea.ca.gov that the respondent holds no BREA appraisal license, independent of any DRE salesperson or broker license.
• DISTINCT FROM Licensed Escrow Agent (Fin. Code § 17412 — California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation DFPI Escrow License — Authorizes Neutral Third-Party Settlement Services in Real Estate Transactions) — A DFPI escrow license does not authorize performing real property appraisals: California escrow agents hold a DFPI escrow license under Fin. Code § 17412 authorizing neutral third-party settlement services including holding funds, preparing closing documents, and facilitating the transfer of real property title; an escrow license has no relationship to real property valuation or appraisal practice; a § 11319 fee petition targeting unlicensed appraisal practice must confirm through brea.ca.gov that the respondent holds no BREA appraisal license, independent of any escrow, broker, or other real estate transaction license.

Billing Gaps 1–3 Summary (13.25 hrs/yr = $3,975–$6,625/yr)

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