Appraiser license claims a non-issue

We checked with Mike Gowrylow, spokesperson for the Washington Department of Revenue, to find out if these allegations were legitimate.

Here's what we found regarding Mr. Vandenberg: "The Assessor doesn't have to have any accreditation," Gowrylow explained. "It's an elected office. You don't need anything in terms of eligibility."

As for McBride, who works as an appraiser, he too is in compliance with the relevant requirements.

"The state licenses people who do fee appraisals," Gowrylow said. "I checked to see that his accreditation is in line with what he does for his job, and it is. McBride does have the necessary accreditation. The license referred to (in the e-mails) is not a factor in being an appraiser."

Gowrylow explained that there are separate qualifications for licenses, depending on specific categories of appraisals an appraiser handles. If someone is doing appraisals for other purposes -- for example, doing an appraisal for a bank to determine whether to make a loan based on the value of a certain property -- a different license might be needed.

"If you're an appraiser in the Assessor's Office, that extra level of qualification is not necessary," Gowrylow said.