Written by Acorn Sales Company, manufacturing stamps and seals since 1964 · Reviewed by Holly R, VP of Sales and Marketing at Acorn Sales, against Georgia Real Estate Appraisers Board, administered with the Georgia Real Estate Commission on 22 September 2026 · Updated 25 September 2026
Georgia asks a real estate appraiser for no seal, and it is the state most likely to make you think otherwise, because its appraiser statute contains a section headed Seal that uses the phrase “ink stamp seal”. That section, O.C.G.A. Sec. 43-39A-6, belongs to the Board and not to you. The duty that reaches your report is Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 539-1-.17(1): when signing an appraisal report, an appraiser shall, adjacent to his or her signature, print or type his or her name, appraiser classification, and number assigned by the Board.
Georgia then adds something few states write down, and it matters more to a stamp buyer than the seal question does. Rule 539-3-.02(1)(o) makes it a violation to fail to maintain at all times direct control of the appraiser’s signature and of the method by which that signature is affixed to an appraisal report. If you are thinking of putting your signature on a device, that rule is the one to read first, and the section below sets out what it means in practice.
Georgia real estate appraiser seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Georgia rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | No. The words “seal” and “stamp” do not appear anywhere in ch. 539-3. The one seal in Georgia appraiser law is the Board’s own, at O.C.G.A. Sec. 43-39A-6. | Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. ch. 539-3 (searched); O.C.G.A. ch. 43-39A; O.C.G.A. Sec. 43-39A-6 |
| Required elements | Name, appraiser classification and the number assigned by the Board, printed or typed adjacent to the signature. | Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 539-1-.17(1) |
| Size and shape | Not prescribed. Georgia fixes no diameter, border or shape, because it prescribes no device. | Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. ch. 539-3 (searched); O.C.G.A. ch. 43-39A |
| Device allowed | Not prescribed. The rule calls for the information printed or typed adjacent to the signature. The signature itself is subject to the direct-control duty. | Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 539-1-.17(1); Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 539-3-.02(1)(o) |
| Signature and date | The duty triggers on signing an appraisal report. The appraiser must keep direct control of the signature and of the method by which it is affixed, with written, report-specific permission, kept in the work file, before anyone else affixes it. Blanket authority is not allowed. No report date is prescribed by these rules. | Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 539-3-.02(1)(o) |
| What must be sealed | Nothing. The duty attaches to an appraisal report at the point of signing, and it is a disclosure duty. Failing to disclose the classification and number clearly and accurately is itself a listed violation. | Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 539-1-.17(1); r. 539-3-.02(1)(b) |
| Electronic seal | No electronic or digital signature provision appears in ch. 539-3. The nearest rule is the direct-control duty, which expressly reaches “the method by which that signature is affixed to an appraisal report”. | Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 539-3-.02(1)(o) |
| Renewal and lapse | No expiry date is called for on the report, so a block carrying name, classification and number survives renewals. It changes when your classification changes. | Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 539-1-.17(1) |
| Firm requirements | None bearing on the face of a report in the chapters read. O.C.G.A. Sec. 43-39A-10 covers the wall certificate and pocket card and provides that a classification shall bear a number assigned by the board; it does not itself impose the on-report disclosure. | O.C.G.A. Sec. 43-39A-10 |
| Regulator | Georgia Real Estate Appraisers Board, administered with the Georgia Real Estate Commission | O.C.G.A. ch. 43-39A, Secs. 43-39A-1 to 43-39A-27; Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Dept. 539 |
Is a seal required in Georgia?
No. Chapter 539-3, which carries the standards for developing and reporting an appraisal, was read to the end, including r. 539-3-.02 in full through paragraphs (1)(a) to (r) and (2) to (6), and neither the word “seal” nor the word “stamp” appears anywhere in it. The rule titles for chapter 539-1, running from .01 to .24, and for chapter 539-3, running from .01 to .15, were listed in full and none mentions a seal or a stamp. The specific report-marking rule, r. 539-1-.17, was read to the end in all three of its paragraphs and neither word appears there either. Georgia is a print-or-type state, not a seal state.
The Board’s seal says “ink stamp seal”, and it is not yours
O.C.G.A. Sec. 43-39A-6 is headed Seal; records, and it is the highest-risk false positive in the country for an appraiser seal search, because that one section contains both search words including the phrase “ink stamp seal”. Subsection (a) provides that the board shall adopt a seal, which may be either an engraved or an ink stamp seal, bearing the words Real Estate Appraisers Board, State of Georgia, used to authenticate the board’s acts, and that certified copies of board records signed by the real estate commissioner or a designee and bearing that seal are receivable in evidence equally with originals. Read what it does. It binds the board. It describes the board’s own device. It says nothing about appraisal reports and imposes nothing on a licensee. Any keyword scan of Georgia appraiser law will surface it, and it is the reason Georgia appraisers get sold seals they do not need.
What the rule actually says
Rule 539-1-.17 is headed Disclosure of Appraiser Classification and Number, and its first paragraph is the whole of the report-marking duty: when signing an appraisal report, an appraiser shall, adjacent to his or her signature, print or type his or her name, appraiser classification, and number assigned by the Board. Three items, one position, one trigger. The classification is the one the state granted you, such as State Certified General, State Certified Residential, State Licensed, State Registered or State Trainee. The number is the Board’s number. Rule 539-3-.02(1)(b) then backs it up from the disciplinary side, by making it a violation to fail to disclose clearly and accurately the appraiser classification and number granted to the appraiser by the state. Clearly and accurately is a legibility standard, which is an argument for a device rather than against one.
The signature control rule, and what it means for a stamp
Rule 539-3-.02(1)(o) makes it a violation to fail to maintain at all times direct control of the appraiser’s signature and the method by which that signature is affixed to an appraisal report. Before anyone else affixes your signature, the rule calls for written permission specific to that report, retained in the work file; blanket authority is not allowed. Take that seriously if you are considering a signature stamp. A die carrying your actual signature is a method by which your signature is affixed, and direct control of it becomes your duty: it does not live in a shared drawer, it does not go home with an assistant, and it does not get used on a report you have not reviewed. The safer Georgia build is a device carrying the name, classification and number, and a signature you make by hand. That satisfies r. 539-1-.17(1), which asks for those three items printed or typed, and leaves the signature where the rule wants it, under your direct control.
What to engrave, line by line
Three items and nothing else is called for. Your name as you use it professionally. Your appraiser classification, spelled the way the Board spells it rather than a private short form, because r. 539-3-.02(1)(b) asks for it clearly and accurately. Your Board number. Lay them out so the block sits adjacent to where you sign, which is what r. 539-1-.17(1) asks for. A firm name is fine to add and is not required. An expiry date is not called for and only creates a reason to reorder. A circular border reading State of Georgia around the whole thing makes an identification block look like a credential the state does not issue in that form, and it puts you next to the Board’s own seal legend, which is the last thing you want.
Pre-printed forms and the State Registered line
Rule 539-1-.17 has a third paragraph that is unusually practical, and it tells you how the Board thinks about this. It addresses what a State Registered appraiser does with a pre-printed form whose classification and number line names a different classification: draw a line through the classification that does not apply and enter Registered together with the Board number. That is a pen-and-ink instruction. It is exactly where a seal requirement would sit if Georgia had one, and instead of a seal the Board gave an instruction about striking through a printed line. If you work on pre-printed forms, that paragraph is worth reading in full alongside your own classification.
Do not borrow another profession’s rule
Georgia prescribes seals for architects, professional engineers, land surveyors and landscape architects, under their own chapters administered by the Secretary of State, and several of those provisions fix a size. None of them reaches a real estate appraiser, and none supplies a dimension that applies to an appraisal report. If a listing offers a Georgia appraiser seal at a prescribed diameter, ask which provision the diameter comes from. Chapter 43-39A and Department 539 contain no such figure, and the only device either of them describes is the board’s.
Embosser, ink stamp or the eSeal image
The rule asks for information printed or typed, so the constraint is legibility rather than instrument. An embosser leaves a raised impression that is hard to read once a report is scanned or delivered as a PDF, which makes it a poor fit for a rule that asks for the classification and number clearly and accurately. It works as a ceremonial device on a wet-signed original. An ink stamp reproduces cleanly in a scan and is the sensible Georgia default. A digital image drops into a PDF. Acorn cuts all three for appraisers: the Real Estate Appraiser Slim Pre Inked Rubber Stamp of Seal at $46.95, the Real Estate Appraiser Hybrid Seal Embosser at $42.95, and the Real Estate Appraiser eSeal Electronic Image Stamp of Seal at $20.00.
Sizing and layout
Georgia sets no dimension, so the text and the position rule decide. Three short lines sit comfortably in a compact rectangular impression, and a rectangle is easier to place adjacent to a signature than a circle is, which is the practical reason most Georgia blocks are rectangular. If your classification is one of the longer ones, give it a line of its own rather than crowding it onto the name line, because r. 539-3-.02(1)(b) puts accuracy and clarity of the classification squarely in the disciplinary rules. Keep the Board number on its own line where a reader and a reviewer can find it. Send us the exact classification wording from your certificate and we will set it rather than abbreviating to make a size work.
Ordering, and what we need from you
Send your name as you use it, your classification exactly as the Board grants it, and your Board number. Tell us whether you want a signature on the device: we will make it, and the section above on r. 539-3-.02(1)(o) is worth reading before you decide, because that rule makes control of the signature and of the method of affixing it your own continuing duty. Say whether reports go out wet-signed or as PDFs, which settles the embosser question. A proof comes back before anything is cut. Browse the real estate appraiser stamps and seals collection, or contact us with your block.
Care, reordering, and one research caveat
A self-inking stamp gives thousands of clean impressions. Store an embosser flat so the jaws stay aligned. Reorder when your classification changes, since the classification and often the number change together. One caveat about this page: the official Georgia rules site truncates the chapter 539-1 listing after r. 539-1-.16 and serves the individual rule pages through a script that returned navigation rather than text, so the wording of r. 539-1-.17 quoted here was read from a republisher whose title matches the official one exactly. Confirm the operative wording with the Board before you rely on it. This page is a research summary and not legal advice.
- 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 Georgia require a real estate appraiser to have a seal?
No. The words “seal” and “stamp” do not appear anywhere in chapter 539-3, and no rule title in chapter 539-1 or 539-3 mentions either. Georgia asks instead that you print or type your name, appraiser classification and Board number adjacent to your signature, under r. 539-1-.17(1).
Georgia law has a section headed Seal that mentions an ink stamp. What is it?
O.C.G.A. Sec. 43-39A-6, Seal; records. It provides that the board shall adopt a seal, which may be either an engraved or an ink stamp seal, bearing the words Real Estate Appraisers Board, State of Georgia, to authenticate the board’s acts, and makes certified copies bearing it receivable in evidence. It binds the board, not a licensee, and it says nothing about appraisal reports.
Can I put my signature on a Georgia stamp?
You can, and r. 539-3-.02(1)(o) then applies to it. That rule makes it a violation to fail to maintain at all times direct control of your signature and of the method by which it is affixed to an appraisal report, and it calls for written, report-specific permission kept in the work file before anyone else affixes it, with blanket authority not allowed. Many Georgia appraisers put only the name, classification and number on the device and sign by hand.
What exactly goes adjacent to my signature?
Three items, under r. 539-1-.17(1): your name, your appraiser classification and the number assigned by the Board, printed or typed. Rule 539-3-.02(1)(b) makes failing to disclose the classification and number clearly and accurately a violation, so legibility matters.
Does Georgia require the license expiry date on the report?
No. Nothing in r. 539-1-.17 or r. 539-3-.02 calls for one, which is why a Georgia block stays usable across renewals and only needs remaking when your classification changes.
What does Georgia say about electronic signatures?
There is no electronic or digital signature provision in chapter 539-3. The nearest rule is the direct-control duty at r. 539-3-.02(1)(o), which expressly reaches the method by which the signature is affixed to an appraisal report, so an electronic method is inside that duty.
I work on pre-printed forms as a State Registered appraiser. What does the rule say?
Rule 539-1-.17 addresses exactly that in its third paragraph: draw a line through the classification on the form that does not apply and enter Registered together with your Board number.
Does O.C.G.A. Sec. 43-39A-10 impose the on-report disclosure?
No. It was read in full and neither search word appears. It prescribes the wall certificate form, provides that an appraiser classification shall bear a number assigned by the board, and requires return of the wall certificate and pocket card on suspension or revocation. The on-report duty lives in the rules.
