Michigan
Appraiser Continuing Education Requirements

Informational summary only, not legal advice — verify current requirements with Michigan LARA, Bureau of Professional Licensing. Full disclaimer at the bottom of this page.

Michigan appraiser licenses expire biennially on July 31. To renew, a licensee must complete 28 hours of continuing education every two calendar years, including the 7-hour National USPAP Continuing Education course and, beginning January 1, 2026, a Valuation Bias and Fair Housing course.

Michigan appraisers are regulated by the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs rather than by a self-administering appraisal board. A Board of Real Estate Appraisers exists under section 2603 of the Occupational Code, but licensing, renewal, and course approval are administered by the department through the Bureau of Professional Licensing. The governing statute is Article 26 of the Occupational Code, 1980 PA 299; MCL 339.2627 makes completion of the minimum continuing education requirements described in the AQB criteria a condition of renewal, and delegates the substance to those criteria rather than fixing hour counts in statute. The operative rule is R 339.23321, in the Real Estate Appraisers — General Rules (rules file). That structure matters here: the rules were rewritten and renumbered effective May 7, 2025, and the department's own continuing education page has not been updated to match.

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Michigan appraiser CE at a glance

• Renewal deadline — July 31, biennially. Check the expiration date on your own license; the department publishes the July 31 date without stating a statewide renewal year.

• Hours required — 28 hours of continuing education every 2 calendar years.

• What the 28 hours include — the 7-hour National USPAP CE course, a Valuation Bias and Fair Housing course, and electives making up the balance.

• Valuation Bias and Fair Housing — required beginning January 1, 2026. Seven hours the first time, then at least four hours every 2 calendar years.

• Multi-state licensees — only one 7-hour National USPAP CE course is required, however many jurisdictions you hold.

• AQB certified USPAP instructors — completing instructor recertification within the licensure cycle satisfies the 7-hour USPAP requirement.

• Carryover — none. Excess hours do not roll into the next cycle, and the same course earns credit only once per cycle.

• Delivery — classroom, synchronous, asynchronous, and hybrid are all permitted. Asynchronous courses carry an added examination or knowledge-verification condition.

• Partial cycles — 185 days or more requires 14 hours; less than 185 days requires none.

• Renewal fee — $350 for state licensed, certified residential, and certified general; $250 for limited real estate appraisers. Online payment only.

• Waivers and deferrals — no waivers. Deferrals only for return from active military duty or a declared disaster.

• Flagged conflict — the department's continuing education page still cites a rescinded rule, still states a 2-hour Michigan law course requirement, and does not mention the Valuation Bias and Fair Housing requirement. All three are addressed below.

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How does the Michigan continuing education cycle work?

Michigan runs a two-year licence term measured against a fixed July 31 expiration date. LARA's Renewing A License page states that the limited real estate appraiser licence and the state licensed, certified residential, and certified general licences all expire biennially on July 31, and that a renewal notification is mailed to the home address on file approximately 60 days before renewal.

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The department does not publish a statewide renewal year. LARA's published guidance says "biennially on July 31st" and refers to "each renewal year" without identifying whether that year is odd-numbered or even-numbered, and no departmental source located states one. Appraisers should read the expiration date on their own licence or in MiPLUS rather than assuming a common statewide date. The department also states that it will not notify licensees before renewal about the status of their continuing education credits

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Partial cycles are prorated. LARA's Real Estate Appraiser Continuing Education page applies the AQB criteria to partial years: a continuing education cycle period of 185 days or more requires 14 hours, and a period of less than 185 days requires no continuing education. The same page states that educational offerings taken to satisfy the class-hour requirement of a different classification may be simultaneously counted toward the continuing education requirement of the licensee's current classification, a provision that also appears in the current rule at R 339.23322(d).

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The rule set was rewritten effective May 7, 2025. The 2025 amendments, published at 2025 MR 11, split the combined education rules into a prelicensure part and a separate continuing education part, rescinded several rules, and renumbered the rest. The continuing education requirement now sits at R 339.23321. Before May 7, 2025 that number denoted the course approval application rule, and the continuing education requirement sat at R 339.23326, which is now rescinded. Any source citing Rule 326 for continuing education requirements is describing superseded law.

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How many CE hours do Michigan appraisers need?

Twenty-eight hours every two calendar years. R 339.23321(1) provides that to renew a licence, a licensee shall successfully complete 28 hours of continuing education every 2 calendar years, and specifies what those hours must include.

Several mechanics in the rules determine whether a course will actually count:

• Two-hour minimum. A continuing education course must be equivalent to at least two classroom hours (R 339.23322c(3)).

• Ten-hour daily cap. A course must not be credited for more than 10 classroom hours of instruction in one day, and the calculation of classroom hours excludes meals, breaks, registration, required reading, and outside assignments (R 339.23322b(1)(f)).

• No repeating a course within the cycle. R 339.23321(2) provides that a licensee shall not receive credit for attending the same course more than one time during the same licensure cycle.

• No carryover. LARA states on its continuing education page that excess hours will not carry over to the next renewal cycle.

• Teaching and authorship credit. Up to one-half of the continuing education requirement may be granted for participation other than as a student in appraisal educational processes and programs, including teaching or program development of an approved course, authorship of textbooks, or similar activity. Credit for instructing a course or seminar may be awarded only once during the licensure cycle (R 339.23322(b)).

• Prelicensure courses can count twice. Prelicensure education must be simultaneously counted toward continuing education, subject to conditions: the examination taken in a prelicensure course may not be used toward continuing education hours, and the course must be equivalent to at least two classroom hours (R 339.23322(a)).

• Content is keyed to licence level. LARA states that continuing education for a state licensed or certified residential appraiser shall focus primarily on residential real property appraisals, and that continuing education for a certified general appraiser shall cover both residential and non-residential real property.

• No waivers, and narrow deferrals. R 339.23321(4) bars the department from granting waivers to a licensee who has failed to meet the requirements. R 339.23321(5) permits deferrals only for a licensee returning from active military duty, or a licensee impacted by a state or federally declared disaster occurring within 90 days before the end of the cycle, each for up to 90 days.

• Everything must be pre-approved. LARA states that all continuing education sponsors and courses must be pre-approved. Michigan does not operate a general reciprocity or equivalent-approval route for individual appraisers comparable to those in several neighbouring states.

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What is the Michigan USPAP requirement?

R 339.23321(1)(a) requires the 7-hour national USPAP continuing education course, or its AQB-approved equivalent, not less than every 2 calendar years. Equivalency is determined through the AQB course approval program or by an alternate method established by the AQB. LARA's continuing education page states the same requirement in the form that the 7-hour National USPAP course must be completed every renewal period.

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Two allowances sit inside the rule and are easy to miss. R 339.23321(1)(a)(i) provides that licensees credentialed in more than one state do not have to take more than one 7-hour national USPAP continuing education course. R 339.23321(1)(a)(ii) provides that AQB certified USPAP instructors who successfully complete an instructor recertification course and examination, where an examination is required, within the current licensure cycle have satisfied the 7-hour requirement.

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Instructor qualification. R 339.23322c(5) requires instructors of USPAP to comply with the AQB instructor certification program as required by the Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria. The parallel prelicensure rule, R 339.23320(2), additionally conditions USPAP qualifying education credit on the class being instructed by at least one AQB certified instructor who is also a certified residential or certified general real estate appraiser.

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The current rule does not name a USPAP edition or set an edition-specific deadline. Confirm that a course covers the edition in force for your cycle before registering.

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What is the Valuation Bias and Fair Housing requirement?

R 339.23321(1)(b) requires, beginning January 1, 2026, a course pertaining to valuation bias and fair housing law and regulations that meets the content requirements of the AQB. The rule sets the length as follows: the first time a licensee completes the continuing education requirement for this course, the course length must be 7 hours; every 2 calendar years after completing it for the first time, the course length must be at least 4 hours.

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The qualifying education version satisfies the first-time requirement. R 339.23321(1)(b)(i) provides that if the licensee successfully completed a 7-hour course plus a 1-hour examination as part of qualifying education, the licensee has met this requirement. Michigan states this more clearly than most jurisdictions, and it resolves a question several neighbouring states leave open.

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The department's continuing education page does not mention this requirement at all. The requirement appears in the rule, effective for courses from January 1, 2026, but LARA's Real Estate Appraiser Continuing Education page, which is the page an appraiser reaches from the licensing menu, still lists only the 7-hour USPAP course and a 2-hour Michigan law course. The rule is the enforceable requirement and it is in force; do not read the omission from the guidance page as an exemption. The rule also does not state a cut-off date before which an earlier bias or fair housing course fails to qualify, and no departmental guidance located addresses whether a course completed before January 1, 2026 counts. Confirm with the department before relying on an earlier course.

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Is the 2-hour Michigan law course still required?

This is the sharpest unresolved point in Michigan, and the page presents both sources rather than choosing between them.

What the guidance says. LARA's Real Estate Appraiser Continuing Education page states that a 2-hour course on Michigan appraiser licensing law and rules must be completed every 2 years beginning with the 2011 renewal year. The same paragraph directs licensees to "Real Estate Appraiser Administrative Rule 326" for specific continuing education requirements.

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What the rule says. R 339.23326 was rescinded effective May 7, 2025. Its subrule (3) had provided that every 2 years a licensed appraiser shall successfully complete not less than 2 hours of continuing education devoted to this state's appraiser license law and rules. That provision was not carried forward. The current continuing education rule, R 339.23321, lists only the 7-hour USPAP course, the valuation bias and fair housing course, and remaining hours consistent with the AQB criteria. There is no 2-hour Michigan law requirement in the operative rule text.

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How to handle it. The guidance is what is applied at the renewal desk, and it remains published. The conservative course is to complete a 2-hour Michigan appraiser law and rules course as though it were still required, because doing so costs two elective hours you have to take anyway, while omitting it exposes you to a renewal or audit dispute. Appraisers whose renewal turns on the point should ask the department to confirm in writing. Note also that the guidance page's citation is itself to a rescinded rule, which is the clearest indication that the paragraph predates the 2025 rewrite.

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Can Michigan continuing education be taken online?

Yes. R 339.23322c(2) provides that appraiser education programs may be offered using distance education delivered in synchronous, asynchronous, and hybrid formats, and requires sponsors to ensure that all forms of distance education comply with the AQB criteria. The rule defines synchronous distance education as instruction where the instructor and licensee interact simultaneously online, including video chat, live webinars, or web-based meetings. Live virtual instruction with simultaneous interaction therefore sits squarely inside the permitted formats.

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Asynchronous courses carry an extra condition. R 339.23322a(3)(h) requires the sponsor of an asynchronous distance education course to use one of two evaluations: a written examination proctored by an official approved by a college or university or by the sponsoring organisation, with remote proctoring consistent with the AQB criteria acceptable and oral examinations not acceptable; or successful completion of a prescribed course mechanism required to demonstrate knowledge of the subject matter. The rule also requires that credit for a distance learning course depends on completion of the entire course, and that a licensee attend the entire course to obtain credit.

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R 339.23322d(a) separately bars the department from approving courses offered using distance education platforms that do not meet the distance education course requirements of the AQB criteria.

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Important Michigan deadlines

• July 31, biennially — licence expiration and the continuing education deadline. Read the expiration date on your own licence; the department publishes the date without a statewide renewal year.

• Approximately 60 days before expiration — LARA mails the renewal notification to the home address on file. Keeping the address current is the licensee's responsibility, and the department states that failure to renew by the expiration date means the licensee cannot legally practise.

• January 1, 2026 — the valuation bias and fair housing continuing education requirement took effect under R 339.23321(1)(b). Seven hours the first time; at least four hours every two calendar years after that.

• May 7, 2025 — the current rule text took effect. Guidance, checklists, and third-party summaries written before this date cite rule numbers that no longer mean what they did.

• 60 days before a course date — a sponsor's application for continuing education course approval must reach the department not less than 60 days before the course is conducted (R 339.23322a(2)).

• 30 days before a course approval expires — renewal forms must be received not less than 30 days before the expiration date. Forms submitted later are not accepted, and the sponsor must instead file an application for original course approval (R 339.23322a(5)).

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Approved courses

Michigan requires pre-approval of both the sponsor and the course. LARA states that all continuing education sponsors and courses must be pre-approved, and R 339.23322b(1)(a) provides that a sponsor shall not represent a course to licensees or to the public as meeting the requirements of the code and the rules until the course is approved by the department, unless the advertising states that the course has been submitted for approval but has not yet been approved.

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Approval runs three years. R 339.23322a(4) sets the approval term at three years from the date the department approved the course. Changes to instructors, speakers, course content, or the number of hours awarded must be submitted on department forms not less than 30 days before the course is offered, with a narrow emergency exception for instructor and speaker changes that the department may review where it determines the applicant could not have met the 30-day deadline (R 339.23322a(6) and (7)).

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Sponsor reporting drives your record. R 339.23323(3) requires a sponsor, within 15 business days after a course ends, to certify to the department the names of licensees who completed an approved course. R 339.23323(2) requires a certificate of completion showing the licensee's name and licence number, the sponsor, the course name, the classroom hours completed, the completion date, and the signature of the course coordinator or instructor. Keep your certificates: LARA states it will not notify licensees before renewal about the status of their continuing education credits, and licensing guidance indicates that licensees who renew on time are not required to submit proof but remain subject to audit.

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Stay on track with your Michigan CE

Dennis Badger & Associates, Inc. delivers live, instructor-led continuing education over Zoom — the synchronous distance education format Michigan expressly permits under R 339.23322c(2)(a). Our course catalogue maps to the three things Michigan asks of a licensed or certified appraiser each cycle:

• 7-Hour National USPAP CE Course — the course R 339.23321(1)(a) requires not less than every two calendar years. Taught by Dennis Badger, an AQB Certified USPAP Instructor and a former member of the Appraisal Standards Board of The Appraisal Foundation, the board that writes the standards.

• Valuation Bias and Fair Housing Laws and Regulations — offered at the seven-hour length Michigan requires the first time an appraiser completes the requirement under R 339.23321(1)(b)(i), and also as the eight-hour qualifying education version with examination.

• Appraiser's Guide to the New URAR — elective credit, and a practical walk-through of the redesigned Uniform Residential Appraisal Report and the UAD dataset.

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Michigan approval status. Michigan approves sponsors and courses individually, and this page makes no claim that these courses currently carry Michigan department approval. Michigan appraisers should contact us before registering so we can confirm current status for the course and date you need, and should verify approval with the department. Current session dates are posted on our Education Calendar.

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Appraiser CE requirements in nearby states

Ohio · Indiana · Kentucky · All state CE requirements

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Legal Authority / Compliance References

Statute. Article 26 of the Occupational Code, 1980 PA 299, MCL 339.2601 to 339.2637, licenses and regulates real estate appraisers in Michigan. MCL 339.2627 makes completion of the minimum continuing education requirements described in the AQB criteria a condition of renewal for a certified general, certified residential, or state licensed real estate appraiser. MCL 339.2629(2) provides that the continuing education requirements of section 2627 do not apply to an individual renewing in the year in which the original license is issued, and MCL 339.2629(1) requires an applicant whose license has lapsed for three or more continuous years to complete the licensing examination for the type of license sought. MCL 339.2603 creates the board of real estate appraisers; MCL 339.2617 governs who may offer appraiser education. Michigan statute sections are cited here without hyperlinks because the Michigan Legislature's website disallows automated retrieval; search the section number at the Legislature's site to read the text.

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Administrative rules. Real Estate Appraisers — General Rules, R 339.23101 to R 339.23405 (rules file), published through the LARA Administrative Rules Service, is the operative compilation. Part 3B, Continuing Education, contains the current requirements: R 339.23321 sets the 28-hour requirement and its USPAP and valuation bias components; R 339.23322 governs activities counting simultaneously toward prelicensure and continuing education; R 339.23322a governs course approval; R 339.23322b governs the conduct of courses; R 339.23322c governs sponsor and instructor duties; R 339.23322d lists unacceptable courses and activities; R 339.23322e bars misleading information; and R 339.23323 governs records and completion certificates. The current text reflects 2025 MR 11, effective May 7, 2025. R 339.23325 and R 339.23326 were rescinded on that date. Authority is conferred on the board by section 308 of the code and on the director by sections 202, 205, 210, 2601, 2605, and 2617.

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Instructor qualification. R 339.23322c(4) requires a sponsor to select only instructors who can demonstrate mastery of the material and who possess one of three qualifications: experience as a faculty member of an institution of higher education approved to grant degrees; status as a state licensed, certified residential, or certified general appraiser with three years of appraisal experience; or other experience acceptable to the sponsor. The third limb places significant discretion with the sponsor, and is broader than the equivalent prelicensure rule at R 339.23309(4), which offers only the first two. R 339.23322c(5) requires instructors of USPAP to comply with the AQB instructor certification program.

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Provider obligations. Course approval applications must reach the department not less than 60 days before the course is conducted, and approval runs three years (R 339.23322a(2), (4)). Renewal forms must be received not less than 30 days before expiration or the sponsor must file an original application (R 339.23322a(5)). Changes to instructors, speakers, content, or hours require submission not less than 30 days ahead (R 339.23322a(6)). A sponsor must appoint a course coordinator, who need not be a licensee, and must provide each licensee with a written syllabus stating the course title, times and dates, the coordinator's contact details and the instructor's name, and a detailed outline of subject matter with estimated time per subject (R 339.23322b(1)(c), (e)). Courses must reflect the most current version of state and federal law and the AQB criteria, and the department may review a course or inspect sponsor records at any time during normal business hours (R 339.23322b(1)(g), (h)). Sponsors must permanently maintain a record for each licensee, issue a certificate of completion, and certify completions to the department within 15 business days after a course ends (R 339.23323). The department may revoke approval at any time the course fails to comply (R 339.23322a(8)).

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Unconformed text. R 339.23322b(1)(b), inside the continuing education conduct rule, bars solicitation "during qualifying course classroom hours." The phrase is carried over verbatim from the prelicensure rule at R 339.23307(1)(b) and was not conformed to the continuing education context when the rules were split in 2025. Read in context the prohibition is plainly intended to apply to continuing education classroom hours, but the text as adopted refers to qualifying courses.

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Pending rulemaking — nothing identified. The most recent completed rulemaking is the 2025 MR 11 filing, effective May 7, 2025, processed through the LARA Administrative Rules Service and published in the Michigan Register issue of July 1, 2025. No proposed amendment to the appraiser continuing education rules was located as of the review date. Because rulemaking can move quickly, confirm with the department if you are relying on a specific provision.

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Regulator guidance. Published guidance appears on LARA's Appraisers, Real Estate page, its Real Estate Appraiser Continuing Education page, and its Renewing A License page. As set out above, the continuing education page cites a rescinded rule, states a 2-hour Michigan law requirement absent from the current rule, and omits the valuation bias and fair housing requirement. Legacy copies of the same guidance page remain reachable at older michigan.gov addresses and do not carry identical text; use the current addresses linked here.

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State Appraisers Board Contact Information

Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs
Bureau of Professional Licensing
Appraiser program page: Appraisers, Real Estate
Licensing questions: BPLHelp@michigan.gov
Mailing address: PO Box 30670, Lansing, MI 48909
Online licensing system: MiPLUS

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No appraiser-unit direct telephone number is published on the department's appraiser pages, and none is listed here rather than publish an unverified one. General departmental contact routes are on LARA's Contact Us page.

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How to Renew

Michigan appraiser licences renew biennially, expiring July 31. All required continuing education must be complete by the expiration date.

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Online only. LARA states that the licence must be renewed online using a debit or credit card carrying a MasterCard, Visa, or Discover logo, or by electronic check, and that payments received by mail or in person will not be accepted and the renewal will not be processed. Renewals are filed through MiPLUS.

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Fees:

• State licensed, certified residential, and certified general real estate appraiser renewal — $350.00.

• Limited real estate appraiser renewal — $250.00.

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Michigan collects the federal National Registry fee, but no departmental fee schedule confirming the amount charged to appraisers at renewal was located, and no figure is published here rather than publish an unverified one. Confirm the total due in MiPLUS before paying.

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If the licence lapses. LARA states that a licensee who fails to renew online, or fails to meet all renewal requirements by the expiration date, cannot legally practise and may be subject to disciplinary action if the individual continues to practise. Departmental relicensure guidance indicates that a lapsed licensee must submit proof of 14 hours of approved continuing education for each year and partial year missed, including the most recent edition of the 7-hour National USPAP course and a valuation bias and fair housing course completed within the two years immediately preceding the date of application, with other courses completed from the day after the last renewal. Note that the relicensure guidance describes the valuation bias course at the four-hour length while R 339.23321(1)(b)(i) requires seven hours on first completion; confirm which length the department will accept before registering. By statute, a licence lapsed for three or more continuous years requires the applicant to complete the licensing examination for the type of licence sought.

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Pro-Tips for 2026

• Take the 2-hour Michigan law course even though the rule no longer names it. The department's continuing education page still requires it and still cites the rescinded rule that once contained it. Two hours you would spend on electives anyway is a cheap hedge against a renewal dispute.

• Do not rely on any Michigan rule citation written before May 7, 2025. The rules were renumbered. "Rule 321" now means the continuing education requirement; it used to mean course approval. "Rule 326" is rescinded. Checklists, provider summaries, and even the department's own page still use the old numbers.

• Ignore Justia and Cornell for Michigan appraiser rules. Both still serve the pre-2025 rules as current, including rules that have been rescinded. The LARA Administrative Rules Service file is the only current text located.

• The valuation bias requirement is live even though the guidance page omits it. R 339.23321(1)(b) took effect January 1, 2026. Seven hours the first time. Do not read the department's silence as an exemption.

• If you are an AQB certified USPAP instructor, check the recertification allowance. R 339.23321(1)(a)(ii) treats instructor recertification completed within the licensure cycle as satisfying the 7-hour USPAP requirement.

• If you hold licences in more than one state, you need only one 7-hour USPAP course. The rule says so expressly at R 339.23321(1)(a)(i). Do not let a multi-state renewal calendar talk you into two.

• Read the expiration date on your own licence. Michigan publishes a July 31 biennial date without stating a statewide renewal year. Do not assume your cycle matches a colleague's.

• Finish and get reported well before July 31. Sponsors have 15 business days to certify completions to the department, and the department will not tell you where your credits stand before renewal. A course finished in late July can leave the record incomplete at the deadline.

• Keep your certificates and your address current. On-time renewals generally do not require submitting proof, but remain subject to audit, and the renewal notice goes to the home address on file about 60 days out.

• Check that an asynchronous course carries a compliant evaluation. Michigan requires either a proctored written examination or a prescribed knowledge-verification mechanism for asynchronous delivery. Live synchronous instruction does not carry that condition.

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Important Disclaimer

This page is provided for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Continuing education and renewal requirements change. Michigan's published guidance and its codified rule text do not currently agree on several points addressed above — among them whether a 2-hour Michigan appraiser law and rules course remains required, which rule governs continuing education following the May 7, 2025 renumbering, whether the valuation bias and fair housing requirement applies notwithstanding its omission from the department's continuing education page, and whether the valuation bias course must be four hours or seven hours on relicensure. Where the department's published guidance and the codified rule text differ, this page presents both and does not resolve the conflict. Appraisers should verify current requirements directly with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Bureau of Professional Licensing before relying on any statement here.

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Dennis Badger & Associates does not guarantee this summary reflects every requirement applicable to every appraiser, credential type, or individual circumstance. Nothing on this page represents that any course is currently approved for continuing education credit in Michigan.

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Last reviewed by Dennis Badger: August 10, 2026.