The 2023 Florida Statutes
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The Board's interpretation of section 475.629 is clearly erroneous. The statute requires an appraiser only to retain the data and records that are actually present in the work file for the requisite five-year period; it does not address the adequacy of the information present in the file. The statute cannot be logically interpreted to require an appraiser to retain records that were never part of the work file and may not even be in existence, but that is clearly the effect of the interpretation advocated by the Division and adopted by the Board. Although, as in this case, an incomplete or inadequate work file may constitute a violation of the USPAP Ethics Record-keeping Rule, it does not also constitute a violation of section 475.629. Accordingly, the Board erred in rejecting the ALJ's more reasonable interpretation of the statute, and because there was no evidence that Appellants failed to retain all of the records that were present in their work files for the requisite period, the Board erred in finding Appellants guilty of violating section 475.629, as alleged in count II of the administrative complaint.. . . failure to retain appraisal reports and supporting data for at least five years in violation of section 475.629 . . . Count II of the administrative complaint charged Appellants with violating section 475.629, Florida Statutes . . . The Board’s interpretation of section 475.629 is clearly erroneous. . . . violation of the USPAP Ethics Recordkeep-ing Rule, it does not also constitute a violation of section 475.629 . . . work files for the requisite period, the Board erred in finding Appellants guilty of violating section 475.629 . . .