The Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) recently released specific questions pertaining to guidance on valuation bias and fair housing laws and regulations, The Appraisal Foundation announced in a release. Additionally, course requirements were brought up.

A question about a CE (continuing education) version of the course counting as QE (qualifying education) was asked.

Q. What happens when individuals who currently have a credential take a course that meets the valuation bias and fair housing laws and regulations outline (VB-FH) for the 7-Hour course for Continuing Education (CE), and then they later upgrade?  Do they then have to take the 8-hour VB-FH course (7 hour plus exam), just the exam, or are they considered grandfathered (with respect to the exam) because they held a credential at the time the new requirement was implemented?  

 A. CE credit hours cannot be used to satisfy QE requirements, with the following exception. If an individual seeking to upgrade their credential took a VB-FH 7-hour course during their most recent CE cycle, a state may recognize the CE course as meeting the QE requirement if the student takes and passes the required 1-hour exam component of the 8-hour VB-FH QE requirement. As a result, the student would not need to repeat the course content. It is important to note that both the CE and QE VB-FH courses must be currently approved by the state to qualify for this exception. 

There was also clarity regarding state-specific course content.

Q. If a course that is intended to meet the Real Property Qualification Criteria’s outline for valuation bias and fair housing laws and regulations also includes relevant state-specific course materials on this topic, is the course eligible for QE or CE approval via the Appraisal Foundation’s Course Approval Program (CAP)?

 A. The outline for a course on valuation bias and fair housing laws and regulations in the 2026 Criteria requires education developers to follow the complete outline when developing this course, which includes the federal fair housing and antidiscrimination laws and regulations topic. As stated, the requirement for the sections of the course that cover laws and regulations is that the course addresses federal fair housing and antidiscrimination laws and regulations.

“The AQB understands there might be instances where some minor content in the course may refer to or be an example of a state-specific law or regulation. Since CAP approves courses for all states and territories, it cannot approve a course with material applicable only to an individual state,” the release stated. “Therefore, a valuation bias and fair housing laws and regulations course submitted for CAP approval must strictly adhere to the outlined criteria and cover only the specified content. Minor references to state-specific issues may be acceptable as examples, but the primary focus must remain on federal fair housing and antidiscrimination laws and regulations.”