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Example of Land Appraisal Issues and Contacts

Tuesday April 4, 3:22 pm Eastern Time

SOURCE: Appraisal Institute

Appraisal Institute Members Offer Their Views in Congressional Testimony For New Appraisal Process on Public Land

CHICAGO, April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Carl Schultz, MAI, SRA, is interested in preserving uniform professional appraisal standards that give valuation experts guidelines on appraising everything from simple homes, complex mixed use commercial and residential complexes to the Forest Service land where cabins are leased. Richard Betts, MAI, SRA, ASA, is an expert theoretician testifying on behalf of a coalition of cabin owners. Joseph Corlett, MAI, SRA, actually has performed appraisals to value the land for several cabin owners who lease property from the Forest Service.

The three real estate property appraisers have three things in common. They are all members of the Appraisal Institute; they are gravely concerned about legislation that would more clearly define the standards that valuation experts should use; and they recently testified before U.S. Congressional Subcommittees concerning legislation that would determine the cabin lease fee for Forest Service land. Betts also is a member of the American Society of Appraisers and holds the ASA designation.

It is a complex issue where the interests of the Forest Service, owners of cabins on leased land and those appraising the land intersect. Almost 100 years ago, U.S. Congress and the President set up a program that gave American families nationwide an opportunity to use and preserve national forests by leasing land for recreational cabins. Today, 15,000 remote cabins are located on public land leased from the Forest Service. Recently, cabin owners in the Sawtooth National Forest were alarmed when their fees jumped more than 500 percent. In other forest service areas, cabin owners saw their fees go down following new appraisals -- the first in 20 years. `

"My goal here is to set up an appraisal system which guarantees a fair fee for the cabin owners and taxpayers and ensures the long-term viability of the program," said Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Forestry, Conservation and Rural Revitalization Subcommittee. Betts and Corlett testified in a hearing before this Senate Subcommittee.

In his opening remarks, Craig thanked the Appraisal Institute and the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers for the time they spent in providing valuable, professional input on the technical aspects of S.1938. Based on the groups' input, the proposed new procedure would be based on the raw value of the land, adjusted for structures and improvements on the land by cabin owners as well as services provided by the Forest Service.

On the House side, Betts and Schultz testifying on similar legislation, H.R.3327, discussed the problems of contradictory instructions from the Forest Service for appraising their land.

Representing The Appraisal Foundation an independent standards setting body, Schultz wants to separate the valuation of land from instructions of the Forest Service. "How to appraise land is a standards issue, not a public policy issue," Schultz said. Within the next few weeks, all the experts testifying will make specific recommendations for the House and Senate bills.

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Last revision January 17, 2000.