Written by Acorn Sales Company, manufacturing stamps and seals since 1964 · Reviewed by Holly R, VP of Sales and Marketing at Acorn Sales, against Delaware Council on Real Estate Appraisers, Division of Professional Regulation, Department of State on 22 September 2026 · Updated 22 September 2026
Delaware asks a real estate appraiser for no seal at all, but it is unusually prescriptive about the words next to your signature, down to a four-way abbreviation table with a letter-and-number prefix. The words “seal” and “stamp” do not appear anywhere in 24 Del. Admin. Code 2930 or in 24 Del. C. ch. 40. What Sec. 4.1.7.1 of the regulation says instead is that appraisal reports prepared by or under the direction of one or more State licensed or State certified appraisers shall bear the signature of those appraisers, their license or certificate numbers, and the appropriate titles or approved abbreviations as specified in Sec. 4.1.1.
That last clause is where Delaware gets specific. Sec. 4.1.1 gives four credential titles and four abbreviations that go with them, each carrying its own X-prefix on the number: DE Cert Gen X1, DE Cert Res X2, DE Lic Appr X3 and DE Appr Trainee X4. Get the prefix wrong and the block is wrong. That is the detail worth checking twice on a proof, and it is the reason most Delaware appraisers want the text cut into a device rather than retyped by hand.
Delaware real estate appraiser seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Delaware rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | No. Neither “seal” nor “stamp” appears in 24 Del. C. ch. 40 or anywhere in 24 Del. Admin. Code 2930. | 24 Del. Admin. Code 2930 (searched); 24 Del. C. ch. 40 |
| Required elements | Signature, license or certificate number, and the appropriate credential title or its approved abbreviation, for each State licensed or State certified appraiser preparing or directing the report. | 24 Del. Admin. Code 2930, Sec. 4.1.7.1 |
| Size and shape | Not prescribed. Delaware fixes no diameter, border or shape, because it prescribes no device. | 24 Del. Admin. Code 2930 (searched); 24 Del. C. ch. 40 |
| Device allowed | Not prescribed, and not restricted. The regulation says the report shall bear the signature, number and title, and is silent on how the title and number get there. | 24 Del. Admin. Code 2930, Sec. 4.1.7.1 |
| Signature and date | Each State licensed or State certified appraiser signs. A report signed by a State licensed appraiser trainee is co-signed by a supervising State certified appraiser. No report date is prescribed by the rule. | 24 Del. Admin. Code 2930, Secs. 4.1.7.1.1 and 4.1.7.2 |
| What must be sealed | Nothing. The duty attaches to appraisal reports prepared by or under the direction of a State licensed or State certified appraiser, and it is a signature and identification duty. | 24 Del. Admin. Code 2930, Sec. 4.1.7.1 |
| Electronic seal | Not addressed for appraisal reports. The regulation prescribes no medium for the signature and says nothing about electronic seals or digital signatures. | 24 Del. Admin. Code 2930 (searched) |
| Renewal and lapse | No expiry date is required on the report, so a device carrying the title and number stays current through renewals. It stops being right when your credential level changes. | 24 Del. Admin. Code 2930, Secs. 4.1.1 and 4.1.1.1 to 4.1.1.4 |
| Firm requirements | None bearing on the face of the report. The Council has no seal of its own written into the statute, so Delaware does not present the board-seal confusion that Florida and Georgia do. | 24 Del. C. ch. 40, subch. I, Secs. 4000 to 4006 |
| Regulator | Delaware Council on Real Estate Appraisers, Division of Professional Regulation, Department of State | 24 Del. C. ch. 40, Secs. 4000 to 4029; 24 Del. Admin. Code 2930 |
Is a seal required in Delaware?
No. The search was run on both halves of Delaware’s appraiser law and came back empty in both. On the statute side, 24 Del. C. ch. 40 was read by subchapter on the state’s own code site: subchapter I, which creates the Council at Secs. 4000 to 4006; subchapter II, which covers the certificate or license and includes the title-use provision at Sec. 4007 and trainee identification at Sec. 4009; and subchapter III at Secs. 4019 to 4021. Neither “seal” nor “stamp” appears in any of them. On the regulation side, 24 Del. Admin. Code 2930 Sec. 4.0 was read in full through subsections 4.1.1 to 4.1.8, together with Sec. 7.0, the standards section, and Sec. 10.0, which covers assessors. Same result. Delaware also has no repealed seal rule in the versions located, and no Council seal of its own, so there is nothing here to be misread as an appraiser duty.
What the rule actually says
Sec. 4.1.7.1 is short and it is the whole of the report-face duty: appraisal reports prepared by or under the direction of one or more State licensed or State certified real property appraisers shall bear the signature of those appraisers at 4.1.7.1.1, the license or certificate numbers of those appraisers at 4.1.7.1.2, and the appropriate titles or approved abbreviations, as specified in subsection 4.1.1, at 4.1.7.1.3. Sec. 4.1.7.2 then adds the supervision rule: any appraisal report signed by a State licensed appraiser trainee shall be co-signed by a supervising State certified appraiser. Notice the reach of “or under the direction of”. The duty is not limited to reports you personally typed.
The four titles and the four abbreviations
Sec. 4.1.1 requires a State licensed real property appraiser to use the term “State licensed real property appraiser”, a State certified residential real property appraiser to use “State certified residential real property appraiser”, and a State certified general real property appraiser to use “State certified general real property appraiser”, when performing and signing appraisals. Sec. 4.1.1.1 to 4.1.1.4 then set out the approved short forms and tie each to a numbered prefix: State Certified General Real Property Appraiser abbreviates to DE Cert Gen X1 followed by the certification number; State Certified Residential Real Property Appraiser to DE Cert Res X2 followed by the certification number; State Licensed Residential Real Property Appraiser to DE Lic Appr X3 followed by the license number; and State Licensed Appraisal Trainee to DE Appr Trainee X4 followed by the license number. Those are the approved forms. A short form you invent yourself is not one of them.
What to engrave, line by line
A Delaware block has three moving parts and one of them is a choice. Your name as you sign it. Then either the full credential title spelled exactly as Sec. 4.1.1 spells it, or the approved abbreviation from the table. Then the license or certificate number, carried on the prefix that belongs to your credential level. Most appraisers put the abbreviation and number on one line, because that is the form the regulation built for the purpose, and it fits a die comfortably where the full title does not. If you prefer the full title, use the whole phrase; shortening “State certified general real property appraiser” to something of your own making is the one thing the rule closes off, since it names the abbreviations it approves.
The trap is the X-prefix, not the seal
Delaware does not offer the usual false positive of a board seal, but it offers a quieter one. The X-number is tied to the credential, not to the person. A residential certified appraiser who upgrades to general does not keep an X2 die and change the words around it: the whole block changes, title and prefix and number together. The same applies coming off trainee status, where DE Appr Trainee X4 gives way to a different title and a different prefix. If you are in the year you expect to upgrade, that is an argument for ordering a modest rubber stamp now rather than a heavy desk device, and reordering once the new credential lands.
Do not borrow another profession’s rule
Delaware regulates architects, professional engineers, land surveyors and landscape architects under their own chapters, each with its own seal provision, all administered through the same Division of Professional Regulation. None of those provisions reaches a real estate appraiser, and none of them supplies a diameter or a border legend that applies to appraisal work. If a vendor offers you a Delaware appraiser seal built to a prescribed size, the size is coming from one of those other chapters. Chapter 40 and regulation 2930 contain no such figure, because they contain no seal.
Trainees and supervising appraisers
Sec. 4.1.7.2 requires any appraisal report signed by a State licensed appraiser trainee to be co-signed by a supervising State certified appraiser, in line with subsection 2.1.3.3, and Sec. 4.1.7.1 then makes each signer carry the title and number. In practice that means two blocks on a trainee report: DE Appr Trainee X4 and the trainee’s number for one, and the supervisor’s own title and number for the other. Two devices, not one shared one. Sec. 4009 on the statute side carries the trainee identification duty and is worth reading alongside the regulation if you supervise.
Embosser, ink stamp or the eSeal image
With no prescribed instrument, the decision is about how your reports travel. An embosser leaves a raised impression that is hard to read once a page has been scanned or flattened into a PDF, which is most appraisal delivery, so it suits a wet-signed original better than daily use. An ink stamp reproduces cleanly in a scan. A digital image sits next to a digital signature in the file itself. Acorn cuts all three for appraisers: the Real Estate Appraiser Self Inking Rubber Stamp of Seal at $39.95, the Real Estate Appraiser Desk Seal Embosser at $44.95 and the Real Estate Appraiser eSeal Electronic Image Stamp of Seal at $20.00.
Sizing and layout
Delaware sets no dimension and no shape, so the length of the text is the only real constraint, and it differs a good deal between the two forms the rule allows. The abbreviated form is short enough to sit in a compact rectangular impression: name on one line, DE Cert Gen X1 and the number on the next. The full title runs to six words and wants either a wider rectangle or a second line. A circular die is the awkward option here, because either version of the credential text has to bend around the arc and the X-prefix is exactly the part you least want to make hard to read. If you want the round look, keep the number and prefix flat across the center and put your name in the arc. Send the exact text from your certificate and we will set it rather than guessing at the spacing.
Ordering, and what we need from you
Delaware artwork goes wrong in one place, so we ask for the same four things every time. Send your name as you sign, your credential level, your license or certificate number, and say whether you want the full title or the approved abbreviation. If you are a trainee, say so and tell us whether the supervising appraiser also needs a device. Tell us whether reports go out wet-signed or as PDFs, because that settles the embosser question. A proof comes back for you to check the prefix and number against your certificate before anything is cut. Browse the real estate appraiser stamps and seals collection, or contact us with your block.
Care, and when to reorder
Self-inking stamps run for thousands of impressions before the pad wants recharging, and over-inking is a more common cause of a poor impression than a worn die. Add ink sparingly, let it settle, and test on scrap. Keep an embosser flat in storage so the jaws hold alignment. The reorder trigger in Delaware is a change of credential rather than wear: the day your level changes, the title and the X-prefix both change, and the old die stops describing you. This page is a research summary and not legal advice. The regulation text here was read from the Delaware Register archive copy of the November 2024 final rulemaking that adopted the current Sec. 4.0; confirm the current text with the Council before you rely on it.
- Real Estate Appraiser Stamps and Seals
- Real estate appraiser stamps and seals
- Electronic Seals and eSeal Image Files: What You Get and What You Do Not
Frequently asked questions
Does Delaware require a real estate appraiser to have a seal?
No. The words “seal” and “stamp” do not appear in 24 Del. C. ch. 40 or in 24 Del. Admin. Code 2930. Delaware instead asks that the report bear your signature, your license or certificate number, and the appropriate credential title or approved abbreviation, under Sec. 4.1.7.1.
What are the approved Delaware abbreviations?
Four, each with its own prefix, from Secs. 4.1.1.1 to 4.1.1.4: DE Cert Gen X1 followed by the certification number, DE Cert Res X2 followed by the certification number, DE Lic Appr X3 followed by the license number, and DE Appr Trainee X4 followed by the license number.
Can I use the full credential title instead of an abbreviation?
Yes. Sec. 4.1.7.1.3 asks for the appropriate title or the approved abbreviation, and Sec. 4.1.1 gives the titles in full: State licensed real property appraiser, State certified residential real property appraiser and State certified general real property appraiser. Use the full phrase as written rather than a short form of your own.
Does a trainee report need two signature blocks?
Yes, in effect. Sec. 4.1.7.2 requires a report signed by a State licensed appraiser trainee to be co-signed by a supervising State certified appraiser, and Sec. 4.1.7.1 makes each signing appraiser carry a title and number, so both appear.
Does Delaware require the license expiration date on the report?
No. Nothing in Sec. 4.1.7.1 or Sec. 4.1.1 calls for an expiry date, which is why a Delaware block stays usable across renewals in a way that a Connecticut one does not.
What does Delaware say about electronic signatures on reports?
Nothing, for appraisal reports. The regulation prescribes no medium for the signature. The Council’s own adoption order carries a note about electronic signatures accepted under 6 Del. C. Sec. 12A-107(d), but that note governs the rulemaking order itself, not the reports you sign.
I am upgrading from residential to general certification. Do I reorder?
Yes. The title and the X-prefix both belong to the credential level, so DE Cert Res X2 and its number are replaced by DE Cert Gen X1 and a different number. There is no way to amend the old die into the new one.
Does the Council have a seal that I have to use?
No. 24 Del. C. ch. 40, subchapter I, which creates the Council, contains neither word, so Delaware does not even have a board seal to be mistaken for a licensee duty.
