Determine USPAP workfile retention requirements under the Record Keeping Rule
domain: real-estate-appraisal-regulatory · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
Sampled — shipped under file-level sampling, not individually fact-checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Steps
Confirm the appraiser must prepare a workfile for every appraisal or appraisal review assignment, per USPAP's Record Keeping Rule.
Confirm the minimum retention period: at least five years after preparation of the workfile, or at least two years after final disposition of any judicial proceeding in which the appraiser provided testimony related to the assignment — whichever period expires last.
Confirm the workfile must contain sufficient documentation (data, analyses, and support) for another appraiser to understand how the value conclusion was reached.
Note that state boards can still act on a complaint after the USPAP minimum retention period has lapsed, and state civil statutes of limitations vary — so retaining longer than the USPAP minimum is common risk-management practice.
Confirm current retention language directly against the live USPAP Record Keeping Rule text before advising a specific year count, since rule language has been refined across editions.
Known gotchas
The five-year and two-years-after-judicial-disposition triggers are separate, and whichever is longer governs — don't default to five years if litigation is involved.
Meeting the USPAP minimum retention period doesn't eliminate civil liability exposure, since state statutes of limitations can run longer than USPAP's minimum.
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