3.4. Responsibilities of the Review Appraiser.Like the appraiser, review appraisers must remain objective in their appraisal review activities. They cannot let agency goals or adversarial pressure influence their opinions of an appraisal report’s appropriateness or of the value opinion(s) it reports, nor can they let their personal opinions regarding an agency’s proposed acquisition enter into the review process. Also, review appraisers should not attempt to substitute their judgment for that of the appraiser unless they are willing and able to develop their own opinions of value and become the appraiser of record. 

Review appraisers must recognize that technical deficiencies can be found in nearly every appraisal report. However, minor technical nonconformance with these Standards or USPAP Standards should not be the reason to not accept an appraisal report, unless the deficiency affects the credibility of the opinion of value, or the opinion of value itself. Minor technical nonconformance with these Standards should never be used as an excuse to not accept a report if the underlying reason for not accepting it is the review appraiser’s differing opinion of the market value of the property appraised. 

In conducting an appraisal review the review appraiser must: 

• Identify the scope of work performed in the review consistent with the seven elements described above under problem identification. 

• Develop an opinion as to the completeness of the appraisal report under review within the scope of work applicable to the appraisal assignment, which shall include these Standards. 

• Develop an opinion as to the adequacy and relevance of the data and the adequacy of market support for any adjustments to the data. 

• Develop an opinion as to the appropriateness of the appraisal methods and techniques used and describe the reasons for any disagreements. 

• Develop an opinion as to whether the analyses, opinions, and conclusions in the appraisal report under review are appropriate, reasonable, and adequately supported by market data and describe the reasons for any disagreement.

Prepare an appraisal review report in compliance with agency policies, rules, and regulations and in accordance with these Standards, which include USPAP.