Real Estate Appraisal Boards exist in each state of the US in one form or the other. The basic purpose of such boards is to regulate the practice of real estate appraisal in conformity with the federal and state appraisal laws and to ensure that only qualified people are registered, licensed or certified for appraisal practices in the state. The creation of a dedicated state agency for appraisal licensure and certification was made mandatory by the federal government in the year 1989, when the legislature came up with the Financial Institutions Reform and Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) in a response to the Savings and Loan Crisis that had greatly affected the economy of the US and left numerous consumers defrauded. The regulation thus aimed to bring uniformity in licensing laws and appraisal practices across the nation.

Real estate appraisal is the practice of estimating the value of a real property, usually according to the trend of the current market. Besides the market value, a real property has other types of values, such as Value-in-use, Insurable value, Investment value and Liquidation value. Moreover, the approaches employed to ascertain a certain type of value also varies and, at present, there are three most common methodologies in vogue. These are the cost approach, the sales comparison approach and the income approach.

As the process of appraising real property is quite complex and requires a great deal of skill and integrity on part of the real estate appraisers, it is absolutely appropriate and rightly justified for each state in the US to have a separate state agency for appraisal licensure and certification. Real estate appraisal becomes necessary in many situations, such as in home mortgage or in a legal dispute involving a real property.

The act of 1989 led the formation of an Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) to oversee the mortgage and banking system in the US. Among its several functions, It was also to provide federal oversight to a not for profit organization, The Appraisal Foundation (TAF), which was formed in the year 1987 by eight appraisal organizations.

The Appraisal Foundation has two boards, the Appraisal Standards Board (ASB) and the Appraisal Qualifications Board (AQB). While the Appraisal Qualifications Board sets the minimum standards for appraiser certification and licensure, the Appraisal Standards Board establishes generally accepted valuation standard, which is commonly known as the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP).

Each real estate appraisal board has to include the recommendations of The Appraisal Board while designing the educational requirements for appraisal licensure and certification. The applicants are required to complete courses based on the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. There are real estate appraisal schools and institutes that help students and professionals fulfill the educational requirements for appraisal licenses.

As there are variation in licensing procedure and requirements in each state of the US, it is better to get the knowledge of the same separately.