A Trainee Real Property Appraiser’s scope of practice is as defined in Minnesota Statute §82B.093.
A Licensed Real Property Appraiser licensee may perform appraisals for federally related transactions.
A Certified Residential Real Property Appraiser licensee may perform appraisals for federally related transactions.
Under Minnesota law, an individual applying for an initial resident real estate appraiser license must consent to a criminal history record check and submit a fingerprint card.
There are two options for having your fingerprints taken:
You may go to any local police station or similar facility with manual fingerprinting capability to have your fingerprints taken manually. The facility will charge a processing fee. After your fingerprints are taken, the fingerprint card will be given back to you in a sealed envelope. Do not fold it. Put it into another envelope along with a fully completed “Resident Insurance Producer/Insurance Adjuster/Real Estate Appraiser License Background Check Consent Form” and a check for $33.25 made out to “Minnesota Department of Commerce” and mail it to:
Administration Division
Attn: Licensing
Minnesota Department of Commerce
85 – 7th Place East, Suite 280
St. Paul, MN 55101
Who is required to submit fingerprints?
Any individual applying for an initial resident real estate appraiser license.
What will my fingerprints be used for?
The Minnesota Department of Commerce (“Commerce Department”) will have the criminal history record check performed by requesting searches of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s Computerized Criminal History system and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Criminal Justice Information Services system. The purpose of the criminal history record check is to assist the Commerce Department in determining your qualifications and eligibility for the license that you are applying for.
If you refuse to consent to a criminal history record check, your license application will not be processed.
I will be applying for a resident real estate appraiser license. What should I do to meet the requirement to submit fingerprints?
There are two options for having your fingerprints taken: you can schedule a time to be fingerprinted electronically at one of the Pearson VUE test centers that provides fingerprinting services, or you may go to any local police station or similar facility with manual fingerprinting capability to have your fingerprints taken manually.
What is the cost for the electronic fingerprinting performed at the test center?
The total cost is $67.25. This includes charges for background checks conducted by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI as well as vendor processing fees.
The fee may be paid by credit card, debit card, or electronic check.
Do I need to wait to submit my license application until the results of my background check have been received?
No. You can submit your application as soon as you have passed the examination and submitted your fingerprints.
Will the background check process delay the issuance of my license?
Yes. The FBI background check can take several weeks. Based on federal requirements governing real estate appraiser licensing, the Commerce Department will not issue a real estate appraiser license before receiving the background check results.
How long will my background check authorization and fingerprints remain valid?
Before your fingerprints are taken, you will need to sign a background check authorization form that expires one year after it is signed. Accordingly, if more than a year passes between the day your fingerprints are taken and the day you apply for your license, you will need to be fingerprinted again and pay another fee. Once you have become licensed, your fingerprints will remain valid as long as you hold an active appraiser license.
What happens if my fingerprints are not sufficiently legible or are rejected for some other reason and need to be retaken?
If the FBI rejects a set of fingerprints, the Commerce Department will be notified that the fingerprints are illegible, erroneous, or incomplete. The Commerce Department will then notify you that you must be reprinted.
What happens if I am physically unable to have my fingerprints taken electronically at the test center (for example, if my hand is in a cast)?
If the technician at the test center determines that a cast or other physical feature prevents your fingerprints from being taken electronically, you will not be charged the vendor processing fee. (In this case, you will pay $33.25 at the test center—for the BCA and FBI background checks—and an additional processing fee later at the manual fingerprinting site.)
You will receive an FBI fingerprint card, the “Resident Real Estate Appraiser License Background Check Consent Form,” and instructions to go to the nearest police station or similar facility with manual fingerprinting capability to have your fingerprints taken manually.
After your fingerprints are taken, the fingerprint card will be given back to you in a sealed envelope. Do not fold it. Put it into another envelope along with a fully completed “Resident Real Estate Appraiser License Background Check Consent Form” (see the last page of this document) and mail it to:
Administration Division
Attn: Licensing
Minnesota Department of Commerce
85 – 7th Place East, Suite 600
St. Paul, MN 55101
I am going to reactivate my license. Do I need to get fingerprinted?
Yes.
I am applying to upgrade my license. Do I need to get fingerprinted?
You do not need to get fingerprinted as part of the license upgrade process; however, if you have not previously submitted your fingerprints to the Commerce Department as part of an appraiser license application process, you will be required to get fingerprinted when you apply to renew your upgraded license.
My company has in-house fingerprinting services. Will you accept electronic fingerprinting directly from my firm?
No. Due to security requirements and data privacy concerns, fingerprints taken for Minnesota real estate appraiser licensing purposes may only be submitted electronically via the single transmission network authorized for the Commerce Department by the FBI.
Is my fingerprint data kept on file?
Under the law, your fingerprints and any criminal history record information obtained as a part of this licensing process must be treated and maintained as confidential, and security measures that are consistent with the standards specified by the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division for the electronic storage of fingerprints and necessary identifying information must be applied.
The data obtained from the criminal history record check will be confidential and, therefore, accessible only to the following: personnel who determine your eligibility for the license you are applying for; any appropriate person(s) or agency, if the Commissioner of Commerce determines that failure to make the data accessible is likely to create a clear and present danger to public health or safety; person(s) authorized by a court order; or any other person authorized by state or federal law.