Written by Acorn Sales Company, manufacturing stamps and seals since 1964 · Reviewed by Holly R, VP of Sales and Marketing at Acorn Sales, against Alabama Real Estate Appraisers Board on 22 September 2026 · Updated 25 September 2026
Alabama asks a real estate appraiser for a number in a position, not for a seal. The word seal does not appear in the appraiser statute, and it does not appear in any of the eighteen chapters of the Board’s rules. What Ala. Admin. Code r. 780-X-10-.02 says instead is that each licensed appraiser shall place his or her license number adjacent to or immediately below the title of his or her classification, in an appraisal report and in a contract or other instrument used in conducting real property appraisal activities. Code of Ala. Sec. 34-27A-17(b) carries the same sentence. That is the entire body of Alabama law on what goes on the face of an appraisal report.
So the device you order here is a convenience rather than a credential. The thing that eats time is typing a classification title and a license number, in the right relationship to each other, on the transmittal letter, the certification page and every instrument you sign. A stamp sets that block once and lands it identically every time. Nothing about buying one, or not buying one, changes your standing with the Board, and no Alabama vendor can sell you a “board approved” appraiser seal, because the Board has never approved, described or even mentioned one.
Alabama real estate appraiser seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Alabama rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | No. Neither Code of Ala. ch. 34-27A nor Ala. Admin. Code ch. 780-X uses the word seal or stamp for an appraiser. Six chapters of the rules were read in full, including the forms chapter, with zero occurrences. | Ala. Admin. Code ch. 780-X; Code of Ala. ch. 34-27A |
| Required elements | License number, placed adjacent to or immediately below the title of your classification. The duty attaches to an appraisal report and to a contract or other instrument used in conducting real property appraisal activities. | Ala. Admin. Code r. 780-X-10-.02; Code of Ala. Sec. 34-27A-17(b) |
| Size and shape | Nothing prescribed. No diameter, dimension, border or shape appears anywhere in ch. 34-27A or ch. 780-X. | Ala. Admin. Code ch. 780-X; Code of Ala. ch. 34-27A |
| Device allowed | Not addressed, which leaves every method open. The number and title may be typed into the form, written by hand, or applied with a rubber stamp, a pre-inked stamp or an embosser. | Ala. Admin. Code ch. 780-X; Code of Ala. ch. 34-27A |
| Signature and date | No Alabama provision prescribes a signature block or a date on the report face. Report content and signing are delegated to USPAP, which Alabama adopts at Code of Ala. Sec. 34-27A-23 and again at Ala. Admin. Code r. 780-X-13-.01(1). | Code of Ala. Sec. 34-27A-23; Ala. Admin. Code r. 780-X-13-.01(1) |
| What must be sealed | Nothing. No Alabama document calls for an appraiser’s seal. The marking duty is the number next to the classification title, and it reaches appraisal reports plus contracts and other instruments used in appraisal activity. | Ala. Admin. Code r. 780-X-10-.02; Code of Ala. Sec. 34-27A-17(b) |
| Electronic seal | Not addressed. No provision in the statute or in the Board’s rules covers an electronic seal or a digital signature on a transmitted report. Signature form is left to USPAP. | Code of Ala. Sec. 34-27A-23 |
| Renewal and lapse | Not addressed as to any device. Because the rule calls for the classification title and the number and says nothing about an expiry date, a die built to it carries no date to go stale. A change of classification does mean new artwork. | Ala. Admin. Code ch. 780-X-10 |
| Firm requirements | None found. The marking duty at r. 780-X-10-.02 runs to the individual license holder. A temporary permit holder carries a separate notation duty instead. | Ala. Admin. Code r. 780-X-11-.02(2) |
| Regulator | Alabama Real Estate Appraisers Board (REAB) | Code of Ala. 1975, Title 34, Chapter 27A, Article 1 (Sec. 34-27A-1 et seq.); Ala. Admin. Code Title 780, Chapter 780-X |
What Alabama actually asks for
Alabama regulates the face of an appraisal report in a single sentence, and that sentence says nothing about a seal. Ala. Admin. Code r. 780-X-10-.02 reads: “Each licensed real propoerty appraiser shall place his or her license number adjacent to or immediately below the title of his or her classification when used in an appraisal report or in a contract or other instrument used by the license holder in conducting real property appraisal activities.” The misspelling of property is the Administrative Code’s own and sits in the official text to this day. Code of Ala. Sec. 34-27A-17(b) carries the identical requirement with the correct spelling and with “real estate appraiser” in place of the rule’s “real propoerty appraiser”. Everything else about the content of an Alabama appraisal report comes from USPAP, which the state adopts wholesale at Code of Ala. Sec. 34-27A-23 and again in the ethics chapter at r. 780-X-13-.01(1).
Position is the whole of the rule
Two placements satisfy r. 780-X-10-.02 and nothing else is described: the number adjacent to the classification title, or the number immediately below it. That is unusually specific for a state with no seal rule, and it is the reason a stamp earns its keep here. A die that sets the title on one line and the number directly beneath it satisfies the second option by construction, every time, without anyone having to think about it. A die that runs the title and number on one line satisfies the first. What the rule does not contemplate is a number floating somewhere else on the page, in a footer or a header, detached from the title it belongs to. Keep the two together in the artwork and the placement question answers itself.
Use the classification title your license carries
The rule ties the number to “the title of his or her classification”, so the words above or beside the number are not a matter of preference. Alabama sets its classifications in Ala. Admin. Code ch. 780-X-9, Classification of Real Estate Appraisers, and a full-text read of that chapter turns up no seal language and no abbreviation list. Since the rules nowhere permit a short form, engrave the classification exactly as it is written on your license. A certified general appraiser in Alabama holds the title Certified General Real Property Appraiser, and that is what belongs on the die. Resist the urge to shorten it to fit a smaller stamp; order a stamp that fits the title instead.
The statute heading that misleads people
Code of Ala. Sec. 34-27A-17 is captioned “Signatures on license; display of license number”, and that heading sends a lot of appraisers looking for a signature requirement that is not there. Subsection (a) is about the physical license document, not about your report: a license issued under the article bears the signature or facsimile signature of the executive director of the Board and a license number assigned by the Board. The signature in question is the executive director’s. Subsection (b) is the appraiser-facing half, and it is the number rule quoted above. The section has only those two subsections. There is no third subsection in which a seal rule could be hiding, and the section’s history, Acts 1990, No. 90-639 as amended by Acts 1994, No. 94-117, shows none has ever been added.
Alabama does not even give its own Board a seal
Most states put an authenticating seal somewhere, on a board’s certified copies of its own records or on a sister profession under the same agency. Alabama does neither in this Title. Ala. Admin. Code ch. 780-X-1, Organization, Administration and Procedure, is where a board’s own seal would normally sit, and a full-text read of it returns zero occurrences of seal and zero of stamp. The same is true of ch. 780-X-9, ch. 780-X-10, ch. 780-X-11, ch. 780-X-13 and ch. 780-X-16, the forms chapter, which was checked precisely because a device specification sometimes hides among the forms. Nothing in the whole of Title 34, Chapter 27A, Article 1, across Secs. 34-27A-1 through 34-27A-29, carries a section heading about seals, stamps or report authentication. Any vendor page offering an “official” or “board approved” Alabama appraiser seal is describing something that does not exist in Alabama law.
Temporary permit holders carry an extra line
If you are practicing in Alabama on a temporary permit rather than an Alabama license, there is a second marking duty and it is worded very deliberately. Ala. Admin. Code r. 780-X-11-.02(2) says a temporary permit holder will affix to all appraisals and documents for use and execution in this state the added notation: “Practicing in the State of Alabama under Temporary Permit No.....” The rule calls it a notation, and it is not a seal. It is, however, a fixed string of words with a number at the end, which is exactly the shape of thing a small rubber stamp handles well. Order it as a separate line stamp rather than combining it with your home-state credential block, so that the notation reads as the rule writes it.
What to put on the die
Build the block from the rule outward. The two elements the rule names are your classification title and your license number, with the number adjacent to or immediately below the title. Most Alabama appraisers then add their name as it appears on the license, because a report is signed by a person and the name saves a second line of typing. Some add the state name for clarity when they work across borders. None of that is prescribed, so it is your call. What to leave off is easier to state: no expiry or renewal date, because nothing in ch. 780-X calls for one and a printed date only creates a reason to reorder; no Board name, since the Board neither issues nor authorizes a device; and no wording such as Official Seal or Board Approved, which claims an endorsement Alabama has never given.
Embosser, ink stamp or eSeal image
Because Alabama prescribes no device, the choice turns on how your reports travel. An embosser leaves a raised impression in paper and reads beautifully in the hand, but it scans as a faint ghost and often disappears in a PDF, which is a real problem when the rule is about a number being legible. Our Real Estate Appraiser Handheld Seal Embosser is $46.95 and the Desk Seal Embosser is $44.95 if a physical impression is what your clients expect. For work that ends up scanned or emailed, ink is the better instrument: the Self Inking Rubber Stamp of Seal is $39.95 and gives thousands of clean impressions. If your deliverable is a PDF and never touches paper, the eSeal Electronic Image Stamp of Seal at $20.00 is a graphic file of the same artwork that drops into the document. Many Alabama appraisers keep an ink stamp for paper and the eSeal image for digital delivery.
Sizing and layout
With no prescribed dimension, size follows the words. A Certified General Real Property Appraiser title plus a license number needs more room than a short credential line, and the rule’s concern is that the number reads where it sits. Set the classification title on its own line and the number directly beneath it, in the same type family, with the number large enough that a third-generation photocopy still resolves the digits. If you prefer the adjacent placement, run the title and number on one line and keep them close, with no other text between. Round embosser dies force the text to curve, which costs legibility in a long title; a rectangular ink stamp sets long wording in straight lines and is usually the easier fit for Alabama’s classification names. The MaxLight Pre Inked Rubber Stamp of Seal at $46.95 lays down a dense, sharp impression that holds up well when a long title is set small.
Ordering
Send the classification title exactly as your license states it, your license number, and your name if you want it on the die. Tell us whether you want the number below the title or beside it, and whether the artwork is going onto an ink stamp, an embosser, an eSeal image or more than one of those, so the same block can be set to each. Proof the artwork against your own license rather than against a sample: the number is the part nobody double-checks and the part that matters most. Browse the real estate appraiser stamps and seals collection, or contact us with your wording and we will set a proof.
Care, and when to reorder
An embosser needs little beyond keeping paper dust off the plates. The event that ends the life of an Alabama die is a change of classification or of license number, because the face would then misdescribe the license behind it. Renewal and a new address touch nothing, since Alabama puts neither on the report. This page is a research summary and not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
Does Alabama require a real estate appraiser to have a seal?
No. The word seal appears nowhere in Code of Ala. ch. 34-27A or in Ala. Admin. Code ch. 780-X. What Alabama asks for is your license number placed adjacent to or immediately below the title of your classification, under r. 780-X-10-.02 and Code of Ala. Sec. 34-27A-17(b).
Then why do vendors sell an Alabama appraiser seal?
Because appraisers ask for one, and because several neighboring professions regulated elsewhere in Alabama law do use seals. No Board rule approves, describes or authorizes an appraiser device, so a listing that calls one official or board approved is describing something that has no basis in the Board’s rules. A stamp is still useful here; it just carries no state authority.
Where exactly does the license number go?
Adjacent to the title of your classification, or immediately below it. Those are the only two placements r. 780-X-10-.02 describes, and the duty runs to an appraisal report and to a contract or other instrument used in conducting real property appraisal activities.
Can I abbreviate my classification title on the stamp?
The rules do not address abbreviations at all, so none is permitted and none is banned. The safe course is the full title as your license states it, since the rule ties the number to the title of the classification. Size the die to the words rather than the words to the die.
Sec. 34-27A-17 is headed Signatures on license. Does that mean I sign the report?
That heading is about the license document, not your report. Subsection (a) provides that a license bears the signature or facsimile signature of the executive director of the Board and a license number assigned by the Board. Your own signing obligations on an appraisal report come from USPAP, which Alabama adopts at Code of Ala. Sec. 34-27A-23.
I am working in Alabama on a temporary permit. What do I put on reports?
The notation r. 780-X-11-.02(2) sets out: “Practicing in the State of Alabama under Temporary Permit No.....” affixed to all appraisals and documents for use and execution in this state. The rule calls it a notation rather than a seal, and it sits alongside whatever your home state asks of you.
Does Alabama address electronic seals or digital signatures?
No provision in the statute or in the Board’s rules covers either one. Signature form is left to USPAP under Code of Ala. Sec. 34-27A-23, so an image of your title and number block in a PDF is governed by USPAP and your own practice rather than by an Alabama device rule.
Will my stamp go out of date at renewal?
Not from renewal alone. The rule names the classification title and the number and says nothing about an expiry date, so there is no date on the die to expire. New artwork is needed if your classification changes or your license number changes.
