Appraisal Institute Accused of Test-Score Fraud

One of the nation’s top appraiser training organizations is facing allegations of fraud, potentially impacting thousands of professionals across the country.

Alissa Akins, former director of education and publications at the Appraisal Institute, sued the Chicago nonprofit, accusing it of knowingly submitting inaccurate test scores to state regulators for at least five years, Bisnow reported.

The Institute oversees mandatory education and testing for real estate appraisers nationwide. Akins uncovered the alleged scheme last year. She claims the group used a single standardized pass/fail threshold for every U.S. state despite each having its own score requirements.

As a result, some appraisers were marked as having failed when they should have passed, and others were reported as having passed despite falling short of their state’s standards, the lawsuit claims.

Akins was fired in December after raising the alarm internally and refusing to be complicit, she alleged.

The Appraisal Institute, which administers Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice testing, the core certification requirement for appraisers, has not publicly commented on the allegations. Critics have long viewed the requirements as overly burdensome.

The lawsuit paints a picture of leadership more focused on avoiding operational headaches than regulatory accuracy. In one alleged exchange, the nonprofit’s interim CEO ordered Akins not to investigate, and that the matter fell under a “don’t ask, don’t tell” type of policy, the suit said.

The alleged incorrect scores were distributed to state agencies, including Illinois’ Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, and used to grant or deny professional licenses, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit follows other leadership turmoil at the Appraisal Institute.

Last fall, its board ousted CEO Cindy Chance, who said she was also pushing for reform. She later said Akins’ claims aligned with her own experience at the organization, where she was hired to address deep-rooted problems in testing and education oversight.

The Appraisal Institute is one of the country’s most influential providers of continuing education for appraisers, along with McKissock Learning in California. However, it faced a $1.2 million budget deficit last year.

— Judah Duke