How to Become a Real Estate Appraiser in Maryland

Becoming a real estate appraiser in Maryland means earning a credential from the Maryland Commission of Real Estate Appraisers, Appraisal Management Companies and Home Inspectors, and the entry point is the Appraiser Trainee license: 83 hours of qualifying education for applications filed on or after January 1, 2026, a $150 fee for a 3-year license, and a fingerprint-based background check. You then log experience under a supervising certified appraiser or complete a PAREA program, pass the $100 national examination through PSI, and upgrade through the Licensed, Certified Residential, and Certified General credentials. Maryland follows the national framework the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) sets, but it adds its own rules: a 3-year renewal cycle with 42 hours of continuing education, a state-required course on racial discrimination and implicit bias, and a $250,000 transaction-value cap on complex and commercial assignments for lower-level credentials.

How the Maryland path works

Maryland uses the same five-step path every state uses: qualifying education, supervised experience, the national examination, a state application, and periodic renewal. The national guide "How to Become a Real Estate Appraiser: Licensing Steps and Requirements" explains those shared steps in full, so this page covers what Maryland adds to them.

The regulator is the Commission, which sits inside the Maryland Department of Labor's Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing and credentials appraisers under Title 16 of the Business Occupations and Professions Article and COMAR 09.19. A February 2026 compliance review by the federal Appraisal Subcommittee^[1] rated the Maryland program "Good" and counted 2,103 state-credentialed appraisers on the National Registry. The program stays on the Appraisal Subcommittee's two-year review cycle.

Maryland's four appraiser credentials and what each one allows

Maryland issues four appraiser credentials, each with its own education, experience, and scope-of-practice rules: Appraiser Trainee, Licensed Real Estate Appraiser, Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, and Certified General Real Estate Appraiser, according to the Commission's license requirements page^[2].

The Licensed credential's scope is where Maryland departs most from the national minimum. AQB criteria let State Licensed appraisers take complex 1-4 unit residential assignments below $400,000, but Maryland caps complex residential and commercial work at $250,000, a stricter limit the Appraisal Subcommittee confirms states may impose (ASC FAQ^[3]).

The education figures reflect the AQB 2026 Qualification Criteria^[4] effective January 1, 2026, which added an 8-hour Valuation Bias and Fair Housing course at every level. Under Maryland statute §16-302^[5], an applicant must be at least 18 years old and of good character and reputation, and the Commission may not require a bachelor's degree for the Licensed credential. Only Certified General requires a degree, and trainees are not federally recognized, so they do not appear on the National Registry.

Get your appraiser trainee license

You earn the trainee license by completing 83 hours of qualifying education, filing an online application with a $150 fee, and clearing a fingerprint-based criminal records check. All coursework must be finished within the 5 years before you apply.

The 83 hours break down as 30 hours of basic appraisal principles, 30 hours of basic appraisal procedures, the 15-hour National Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) course, and the 8-hour Valuation Bias and Fair Housing Laws and Regulations course, per the Commission's application page^[6] and its education notice^[7] adopting the AQB 2026 Criteria. Maryland adds one state-specific requirement on top of the core hours: a Commission-approved course oriented toward trainee expectations and responsibilities, which you must complete before the trainee credential issues. For applications filed before January 1, 2026, the core requirement was 75 hours without the Valuation Bias course.

You file the application online through Maryland OneStop, which the Commission says gives the shortest processing time; a paper application remains available only for the trainee license. The package includes course completion certificates, the Trainee and Supervising Appraiser Verification Form naming your supervisor, and evidence that you finished the supervisor/trainee course. Under COMAR 36.03.02.02, you must also submit fingerprints for a criminal records check: through a Commission-approved electronic fingerprinting service if you live in Maryland, or one FBI and one State fingerprint card taken within the previous 45 days if you live elsewhere. A conviction is not an automatic bar; the PSI candidate handbook^[8] says you submit a written account and certified court dockets for case-by-case review. The 2026 Appraisal Subcommittee review directed the Commission to verify the supervisor/trainee course before issuing any trainee credential, so expect that check.

The Commission counts only coursework approved through the AQB Course Approval Program.

Find a supervising appraiser

A Maryland trainee works only under a supervising appraiser who has held a Certified Residential or Certified General license for at least 3 years, is in good standing, and has had no disciplinary action in the preceding 3 years. The Trainee and Supervising Appraiser Registration form^[9] publishes those eligibility rules.

A supervisor may take a maximum of 3 trainees at once and must have completed the Commission-approved supervisor course. The supervisor's duties are concrete: approve, sign, and accept responsibility for each report the trainee prepares; sign the trainee's experience log at least once a month; personally inspect the interior and exterior of each appraised property with the trainee until satisfied the trainee meets the USPAP Competency Rule; and give the trainee copies of final reports the trainee worked on. Both the supervisor and the trainee must notify the Commission within 10 days of the start or end of the supervisory relationship, and effective dates cannot be retroactive.

Meet the experience requirement: supervised hours or PAREA

Maryland lets you satisfy the experience requirement either by supervised trainee hours or, at the Licensed and Certified Residential levels, by completing a PAREA program. Under Maryland statute §16-302^[5], the Licensed credential accepts either at least 1,000 hours of trainee service under a certified appraiser or completion of the Practical Applications of Real Estate Appraisal (PAREA) program under AQB criteria, and the Commission's home page^[10] confirms the choice extends to Certified Residential.

PAREA is a virtual training alternative delivered by independent providers rather than by the state, and you must finish all qualifying education before starting a program, according to The Appraisal Foundation^[11]. Maryland's statute does not extend PAREA to Certified General, which requires supervised non-residential hours.

Maryland's experience-credit rules come from the PSI candidate handbook^[8]. Hours count only for appraisals performed under a valid trainee license for Maryland property after October 2001, and a trainee licensed on or after April 1, 2004 must wait at least 6 months before becoming eligible for the Licensed exam. The Commission may credit up to 250 hours of compliant appraisal reviews, but it gives no credit for comparative market analyses or broker price opinions, employment affidavits, or experience older than 6 years. A majority of credited experience must come from interior-inspected appraisals, and when your exam application arrives the Commission selects at least 2 sample appraisal reports from your work experience log for review.

Pass the Maryland appraiser exam

PSI Examination Services administers Maryland's appraiser exams, the National Uniform Licensing and Certification Examinations, at computerized test centers for a $100 fee per sitting. The Commission's exam page^[12] and the PSI candidate handbook^[8] carry the scheduling details, and PSI can be reached at 1-800-733-9267.

You submit the exam application to PSI online only; since March 31, 2025, PSI has returned applications sent by mail, fax, or email. Allow up to 2 weeks for processing after PSI receives your documentation, longer when the Commission pulls sample reports from your experience log. Each exam has 110 scored questions plus 15 non-scored questions, with a passing scaled score of 75 on a 0-110 scale. The Licensed and Certified Residential exams allow 4 hours, and the Certified General exam allows 6 hours. Test centers operate in Baltimore, College Park, Crofton, Hagerstown, Laurel, and Salisbury. Registration covers one exam only, is nonrefundable, and you must schedule and sit before the last business day of the 90-day registration window or forfeit the fee.

After you pass, the Maryland Department of Labor generally mails licensure instructions within 5-7 business days of the examination. Test results stay valid for 2 years, and you may not perform licensed or certified appraiser work until the license is issued.

What Maryland appraiser licensing costs and how long it takes

The full fee stack runs from $150 for the trainee license to $370 for an appraiser-level credential, which combines the $250 application fee with the $120 National Registry charge. The Commission's forms and fees page^[13] publishes the schedule, and fees are set by law and subject to change with public notice.

Maryland OneStop^[14] lists a 1-3 day approval time for the online appraiser license application and an estimated cost of $370, matching the fee plus the registry charge. The National Registry fee is $40 for each year of the license term, which states transmit to the Appraisal Subcommittee under federal law, per the Federal Register notice^[15] that set the amount. An appraiser licensed in more than one jurisdiction pays $25 annually to each jurisdiction. Processing is staged rather than a single number: PSI's exam-eligibility review comes first, the online license application approval follows, and the post-exam licensure notice closes the sequence.

Renew your license: Maryland's continuing education rules

A Maryland appraiser license runs 3 years from issuance, renews by the third anniversary and every 3 years after, and requires 42 hours of continuing education completed in full before you file the renewal. The Commission emails renewal materials about 60 days before expiration, and the licensee is responsible for keeping an address on file, per the renewal page^[16].

The 42 hours per 3-year cycle work out to 14 hours per year, a heavier load than the national baseline of 28 hours every two years. Three required courses sit inside the total, per the continuing education page^[17]:

• The 7-Hour National USPAP Update Course at least once during each of its publications.
• Maryland's own 3-hour course on racial discrimination and implicit bias, required each cycle since November 1, 2023.
• The Valuation Bias and Fair Housing Laws and Regulations course: a 7-hour version the first time you meet the requirement, a 4-hour version each cycle after, and an 8-hour version (7 hours of instruction plus a 1-hour exam) for anyone obtaining or upgrading a credential with an application submitted on or after January 1, 2026.

The rules cap how fast you can knock the hours out. You may not complete more than 8 hours of continuing education in the same calendar day, approved courses must run at least 2 hours, and you get no credit for repeating a course within the cycle, with the USPAP Update excepted. Up to half of your credit can be earned through teaching, program development, or authorship rather than seat time.

If your Maryland appraiser license lapses

An expired license can be reinstated by paying a $75 reinstatement fee on top of the renewal fee and completing 14 additional education hours for each year or part of a year the license was expired. The reinstated license keeps its original expiration cycle rather than starting a fresh 3-year term, and the Commission may not reinstate at all if you fail to apply within 9 years after expiration.

Reciprocity and temporary permits for out-of-state appraisers

An out-of-state appraiser can work in Maryland through a reciprocal license, which waives the exam and carries a $250 fee for a 3-year term, or through a $75 temporary permit for a specific assignment that runs 6 months. For appraisers with several Maryland assignments coming up, the Commission recommends the reciprocal license, which it says usually processes in a few business days.

Reciprocal eligibility, per the reciprocity page^[18], requires a valid credential from another state, an active listing on the federal National Registry showing you conform to AQB criteria, no disciplinary action that limits appraisal practice, and no license lost by revocation, suspension, or voluntary surrender. The Commission may also require a letter of good standing or license history from the other state, and nonresident applicants must file an irrevocable consent to service of process with the Maryland Secretary of State.

The temporary permit, per the temporary permit page^[19], is issued for a particular appraisal assignment and may cover multiple properties, but it cannot be renewed. You may hold more than one permit at a time, and the Commission can extend a permit on written explanation with a new projected completion date. The permit ends automatically if your home-state license expires or is suspended or revoked.

Start today: your Maryland appraiser checklist

Start at the Commission's license requirements page^[2] and enroll in AQB-approved coursework, because the education clock, not the paperwork, is the long pole. The sequence:

1. Complete the 83 hours of core qualifying education plus Maryland's supervisor/trainee course.
2. Line up a supervising appraiser who meets the 3-year certification and discipline-free requirements, or plan a PAREA program if you target the Licensed or Certified Residential credential.
3. File the trainee application online through Maryland OneStop with your certificates, the verification form, and your fingerprints.
4. Register the supervisory relationship with the Commission within 10 days of its start, and keep the monthly-signed experience log.
5. Apply to PSI online when your education and experience qualify, and sit within the 90-day registration window.
6. File the appraiser-level application online after passing, following the licensure instructions the Department of Labor mails you.

The Commission can be reached at 410-230-6165 or 410-230-6363 for PAREA questions. Once you hold a Certified Residential or Certified General credential, you can also apply to the FHA Appraiser Roster^[20], which requires state certification and an AQB-compliant record on the National Registry.