This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: South Dakota’s professional appraisal organization is closely following the developments.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — With the status of their profession drawing criticism from Gov. Kristi Noem, South Dakota’s professional appraisal organization is closely following the developments from the Legislature’s Government Operations and Audit Committee.
On Monday, lawmakers on the committee voted 8-2 in favor of issuing a subpoena to the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation to turnover a plan and any documents related to Noem’s daughter, Kassidy Peters, receiving her real-estate appraisal certification.
Sandra Gresh, the current president of Professional Appraisers Association of South Dakota, told KELOLAND News in an email, “PAASD is following these developments and supports any process that will allow all the facts to be known to the legislature and the public, whatever those facts might be.”
The Legislature’s Executive Board will have to ratify the Government Operations and Audit Committee’s subpoena request.
Gresh, who previously testified in front of lawmakers, said it’s important for members of the public to understand appraisers are not regulated like many other professions. In South Dakota, appraisers are regulated by the federal government in the Appraisal Subcommittee and the South Dakota Appraiser Certification Program, which is part of the SDLR.
“If the actions of the SD ACP are found to be out of compliance with federal requirements, all the appraiser credentials in SD could be declared by the Appraisal Subcommittee to be invalid for federally related transactions with the stroke of a pen,” Gresh said. “Essentially, this would put all SD appraisers out of business in the state and shut down any federally related lending in SD – be it residential, commercial, or agricultural.”
The federal requirements to become an appraiser are also going under review.
In a video response to the Associated Press story that details Peters’ application to become a certified real estate appraiser, Noem said she never “asked for special treatment for Kassidy” and added she’s “heard for years about how difficult it is to become an appraiser in South Dakota.”
Both appraisers in South Dakota and members of the federal ASC have admitted the system to license new appraisers can be tough at times and appraisers have been looking to find solutions and find ways to encourage more people to join the profession.
Gresh said if rules weren’t followed, all stakeholders need to know and if the rules were followed, “all the better that the public know that, too.”
“PAASD looks forward to understanding all the facts in this matter as they become available to the citizens of SD,” Gresh said. “PAASD will work with the SD ACP and the federal government to put in place any necessary policies to ensure that the citizens in SD will continue to be able to obtain timely financing for their homes, businesses, farms, and ranches in the future.”
