Thread: Do you need a license to do BPO evaluations?

Greetings,
I am in need of some information on BPO’s (Broker Price Options). My main question is: does the person doing the review/report have to have any type of license? Specifically in Pennsylvania if that matters.

The reason I am asking is that I was made aware of a shady situation. In 2006 someone I know met a guy who owned a real estate company and was offered work doing BPO’s in the surrounding area.

The following is what the company owner said should be done:

The job was to print out the sheet, which was usually generated by the bank or mortgage company, then go to the house, take pictures of the outside, take pictures from all directions from in front of the house (getting views of everything), sometimes get pictures of the back of the house (while occupied and not asking, yikes!) and drive around the neighborhood looking for similar houses and take pictures of them.

Later, back at the office, the BPO was completed by logging into the MLS to find similar houses selling/sold price. He targeted houses sold in the last 2-6 months but would go back as far as a year. These “matching” houses would be printed and added to the report and submitted to the lending institution.

After completion of 12-20 houses the worker was told some pay was being withheld from some houses due to “undervaluation” or because some tiny detail was omitted. The valuation was as close as it could get and included market inflation between MLS valuations. The "company" appraisal was always much higher. It was later found that this company would compare a house 15-70 miles away (depending upon if it was a very unique house), often in MUCH more expensive counties (3-5x more pricey real estate) and change my appraisal price because the bank “wanted the numbers to work”.
When it was found out that the numbers were being messaged for the bank, no more BPO’s were done by this individual.

Now, the business is offering work cleaning out foreclosures and doing renovation/cleanout/secure appraisals. (I need the work, the job market is tough now) I figure there isn’t much that can go wrong here, but want to knowif there any cert’s needed for appraisals? As I don’t know about the legalities of the BPO’s and am suspicious about “making the numbers work”, I am a little hesitant about working before making sure everything checks out. Is there some “agency” or trade association with which I could check?

Also, is it legal for an unlicensed person, located out of state, to do BPO’s. This is done by a local person taking pictures, emailing them across the country and BPO work is done there.

Sorry for such a long story but I figured the history would help make the decision a little easier. Any suggestions here are greatly appreciated.