Last week, I had the privilege of attending a USPAP Reaccreditation course especially for Machine & Technical Specialty appraisers taught by Roger Durkin, J.D., M.S., ASA, just over in San Francisco. The class was sponsored by the NorCal Chapter of the American Society of Appraisers, serving appraisers all over Northern California, including such hot spots as San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, Redding and San Joaquin County. The seminar was open to equipment appraisers everywhere and we had some nice folks from Arizona and Nevada there as well.
Roger Durkin is not only a dynamic & highly entertaining appraisal education speaker—he knows whereof he speaks, as the saying goes. Mr. Durkin holds designations in five appraisal disciplines along with a Juris Doctorate and a Master’s degree in valuation. He currently operates Durkin Valuation Consultants at Lewis Wharf in Boston, an appraisal practice that values a wide range of property for clients including attorneys, the FBI, USSS, U.S. Cutoms, IRS, Postal Inspection Service, and the Federal Marshals’ Service. In addition, he operates Durkin Law, PC, with two other attorneys, a practice dealing mostly with appraisal issues.
Roger is currently working on valuing the manifest of the famous shipwrecked pirate ship the Wydah. His textbooks include Narrative Appraisal Report Writing, Marketing Appraisal Services, Personal Property Theory and Practice, and The Appraiser as Expert Witness, and the almost-completed Appraisal Report Review—How to Conduct a Professional Appraisal Review of Real Property, Business Valuation or Personal Property.
I appreciated the way he brought his education and experience and into the USPAP reaccreditation course, including antidotes about the real-life logic behind the Uniform Standards as well as informational digressions that educated us above and beyond the basic knowledge needed for USPAP requirements.
This USPAP course was one of the most interesting appraisal education courses I’ve taken–although I may be repeating myself after ME207, Advanced Cost Approach with Les Miles in June!
I also appreciated ASA-NorCal Chapter organizing this event to meet the USPAP-accreditation needs of California, Nevada and Arizona equipment appraisers, as well as other appraisers of all disciplines. Turns out that the Admissions Committee of the Appraisal Foundation has recently approved ASA’s request to allow its appraisers in the areas of Business Valuation, Gems and Jewelry, Machine and Technical Specialties, and Personal Property the following 3 options for meeting USPAP continuing education requirements:
- Successful completion of the 15-Hour National USPAP Course and pass the associated 15-Hour National USPAP Course Examination every five calendar years, or
- Successful completion of the 7-Hour National USPAP Update Course every two calendar years, or
- Successful completion of a 7-Hour National USPAP Update Course specific to Business Valuation, Gems and Jewelry, Machine and Technical Specialties, or Personal Property every two calendar years.
This approval is effective immediately and will remain in effect until the AQB adopts new Personal Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria or The Appraisal Foundation Board of Trustees adopts new Criteria for Appraisal Sponsorship.
When it’s this convenient and entertaining to acquire USPAP accreditation, there’s no reason for any equipment appraiser not to keep accreditation current. And there’s no reason a bank, law firm, insurance company or business owner would ever need to use an equipment appraiser who’s not USPAP compliant! We can’t all be Roger Durkin, but we can benefit from his leadership and experience and share that benefit with our clients.
Jack Young, ASA, CPA
NorCal Valuation
