Written by Acorn Sales Company, manufacturing stamps and seals since 1964 · Reviewed by Holly R, VP of Sales and Marketing at Acorn Sales, against Missouri Real Estate Appraisers Commission, Division of Professional Registration, Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance on 22 September 2026 · Updated 22 September 2026
Missouri once had a rule literally titled Appraiser’s Seal, and it was rescinded effective 30 July 2007. The rule, 20 CSR 2245-2.040, still appears in the current Code of State Regulations, but it carries no substantive text at all. Under the number and the title there is a single line: rescinded, filed Nov. 21, 2006, effective July 30, 2007. Nothing replaced it. None of the ten chapters of Division 2245 and no section of Mo. Rev. Stat. ch. 339 now requires an appraiser to seal or stamp a report. This is worth saying plainly, because vendors still sell a Missouri required appraiser seal, and the rule they are describing has been off the books for nearly twenty years.
What Missouri asks for instead is a specific block of words with a specific number in a specific position. Mo. Rev. Stat. 339.527.2 says the certificate or license number goes adjacent to or immediately below the Missouri designation when that designation is used in an appraisal report, a contract or another instrument used in an appraisal assignment. The designation is long and it has to be right. That is the case for a stamp in Missouri: not a legal seal duty, but the part of every report that is pure retyping.
Missouri real estate appraiser seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Missouri rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | No. The only appraiser seal rule Missouri ever had, 20 CSR 2245-2.040 titled Appraiser’s Seal, was rescinded effective 30 July 2007 and nothing replaced it | 20 CSR 2245-2.040 (rescinded, filed Nov. 21, 2006, effective July 30, 2007) |
| Required elements | The certificate or license number, placed adjacent to or immediately below the designation Missouri State-certified Residential or General Real Estate Appraiser, or Missouri State-licensed Real Estate Appraiser | Mo. Rev. Stat. 339.527.2 |
| Size and shape | Not prescribed by statute or by any current rule in 20 CSR 2245. The rescinded rule is the only one that ever addressed an appraiser’s seal | 20 CSR 2245 (chapters 1 to 10 indexed); Mo. Rev. Stat. 339.500 to 339.549 |
| Device allowed | Not restricted. Missouri names no instrument, so typed text, an ink stamp, an embosser or a graphic file all satisfy 339.527.2 equally | Mo. Rev. Stat. 339.527.2 |
| Signature and date | Not prescribed by Missouri. Mo. Rev. Stat. 339.535 instead requires compliance with USPAP, which is where the signed certification on the report comes from | Mo. Rev. Stat. 339.535 |
| What must be sealed | Nothing. The 339.527.2 duty attaches to an appraisal report, or to a contract or other instrument used in conducting an appraisal assignment or specialized appraisal services | Mo. Rev. Stat. 339.527.2 |
| Electronic seal | Not addressed. No current Missouri statute or rule speaks to an electronic seal or a digital signature on a transmitted appraisal report | Mo. Rev. Stat. 339.535; 20 CSR 2245 |
| Renewal and lapse | No expiry date is required on the report, so a Missouri die survives a renewal. It retires when the number or the designation on it changes | Mo. Rev. Stat. 339.527.2 |
| Firm requirements | No firm seal. 20 CSR 2245-9.010 does impose a co-signature duty: certain assignments outside an appraiser’s scope of practice must be signed together with a state-certified general or state-certified appraiser | 20 CSR 2245-9.010 |
| Regulator | Missouri Real Estate Appraisers Commission, Division of Professional Registration, Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance | Mo. Rev. Stat. 339.500 to 339.549; rules at 20 CSR Division 2245 |
Missouri had an appraiser seal rule, and rescinded it
This is the state where the old answer and the current answer differ, so start with the history. 20 CSR 2245-2.040 was titled Appraiser’s Seal. It is still printed in the Secretary of State’s current official Code of State Regulations for Division 2245, chapter 2, and on the face of that document the rule number and title are followed by nothing except authority and filing history: rescinded, filed Nov. 21, 2006, effective July 30, 2007. No replacement seal rule has been adopted anywhere in Division 2245. That matters commercially. Older vendor pages and secondary write-ups still describe a Missouri appraiser seal requirement, and every one of them is quoting law that was taken off the books in 2007.
What Missouri requires now
Mo. Rev. Stat. 339.527.2 is the operative provision and it is about words and a number, not about a device. Each state-certified real estate appraiser or state-licensed real estate appraiser shall place the certificate or license number adjacent to or immediately below the designation Missouri State-certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, Missouri State-certified General Real Estate Appraiser, or Missouri State-licensed Real Estate Appraiser, when that designation is used in an appraisal report or in a contract or other instrument used by the holder in conducting an appraisal assignment or specialized appraisal services. Two details decide the artwork: the word Missouri is part of the designation, and the number has a prescribed position relative to it rather than a free run of the page.
Trainees have their own three titles
The same subsection covers trainees separately and names three titles. A state-licensed real estate appraiser trainee, state-certified residential appraiser trainee and state-certified general appraiser trainee shall place the license number adjacent to or immediately below the title State-licensed Appraiser Trainee, State-certified Residential Appraiser Trainee, or State-certified General Appraiser Trainee. Note what changes: the trainee titles as the statute writes them do not carry the word Missouri in front the way the credentialed designations do, and the wording is shorter. A trainee ordering a die should set the trainee title exactly, and should expect to replace the die on credentialing, because the wording changes completely rather than partly.
The state seal on your certificate is not your seal
This is the trap most likely to mislead someone reading the Missouri rules directly. 20 CSR 2245-4.010, Certificates and Licenses, Form and Contents, says that each certificate, license, or both, shall have imprinted on it the state seal and, in addition, shall contain other matters as shall be prescribed by the commission. That is the State of Missouri’s seal, printed by the commission on the credential document it issues to you. It is not a device you own, it is not something you apply, and it has no bearing on an appraisal report. Reading that sentence as an appraiser seal duty is a straight category error, and it is a common one because the rule sits in the same division as the rescinded seal rule.
What to engrave, and where the block goes
Build the die around the designation, because 339.527.2 anchors the number to it. A three-line layout works: your name, then the designation in full, then the certificate number directly under it. For a certified general appraiser that reads as your name, then Missouri State-certified General Real Estate Appraiser, then Certificate No. followed by the number. Setting the number on the line immediately below the designation satisfies the statute cleanly and leaves no argument about what adjacent means. On the report the block belongs with the certification and signature, where the designation already appears, and on an engagement letter or invoice it belongs wherever you name yourself with the Missouri designation.
The co-signature rule, which is not a seal rule
20 CSR 2245-9.010 sets competency and scope of practice standards, and it was read in full. It contains no reference to a seal or a stamp. What it does impose is a co-signature duty in certain assignments outside an appraiser’s scope of practice, where the appraisal report is to be signed by the qualified appraisers together, along with a narrative disclosure duty in an out-of-competence assignment. That has a practical consequence for stamp buyers working in pairs: each appraiser signs and carries their own designation and number, so each needs their own die. One die cannot carry two credentials, because 339.527.2 ties the number to the designation of the person using it.
Embosser, ink stamp or eSeal image
Missouri names no instrument, so this is decided by how your work travels rather than by the law. An embosser makes a raised impression on a paper original and reproduces poorly once the page is scanned, which is a real cost when most reports are delivered as PDFs. An ink stamp sets the long Missouri designation cleanly and survives scanning at any reasonable setting. A graphic file drops the same block into an electronic report with nothing to print. A common arrangement here is an ink stamp for the paper file and an image cut from the same artwork for the delivered file, so the two never drift apart.
Sizing and layout
Nothing fixes the size, so the wording decides it. Missouri State-certified General Real Estate Appraiser is one of the longer designations in the country, and it sets far better across a rectangular ink stamp than around the curve of a round die, which forces the text smaller to make the bend. If you want a round embosser, keep your name in the center, curve the designation above it and curve the certificate number below, and accept that the designation will run small. Send us the exact lines and we will set them at the largest legible point size the die allows.
Electronic delivery and USPAP
No current Missouri statute or rule speaks to an electronic seal or to a digital signature on a transmitted report. Mo. Rev. Stat. 339.535 instead requires state-certified appraisers, state-licensed appraisers and appraiser trainees to comply with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice promulgated by the Appraisal Standards Board of the Appraisal Foundation. So the signature on your certification is a USPAP obligation, and the designation and number block is a Missouri one, and neither of them turns on the mechanism used to apply it. The Real Estate Appraiser eSeal Electronic Image Stamp of Seal is $20.00 and comes as an image file you place in the report.
Renewal, and when a Missouri die goes stale
Missouri asks for the number and the designation, not for an expiration date, so a die stays correct through renewals on the same credential. What retires it is a change in either half of the required block. Moving from state-licensed to state-certified residential, or from state-certified residential to state-certified general, changes the designation you must print and usually the number with it. A trainee credentialing out changes both. A legal name change changes the name line. None of these is a renewal event, which is why a Missouri stamp usually outlasts several renewal cycles.
Ordering, and what it costs
Send the lines exactly as you want them read, with the designation spelled out in full and the certificate or license number as it appears on your credential. We set the artwork, send a proof and cut nothing until you approve it. For ink, the Real Estate Appraiser Self Inking Rubber Stamp of Seal is $39.95 and the Real Estate Appraiser Slim Pre Inked Rubber Stamp of Seal is $46.95. For a raised impression the Real Estate Appraiser Desk Seal Embosser is $44.95 and the Real Estate Appraiser Long Reach Desk Seal Embosser is $129.95.
Care, and what this page is
Re-ink a self-inking stamp from the top rather than replacing it, let it rest before the next impression, and wipe the die face if lint collects in the lettering. An embosser needs a dry drawer and a straight downward press. Keep either out of direct sunlight. This page is a research summary of Mo. Rev. Stat. 339.500 to 339.549 and 20 CSR Division 2245 as they read on 22 September 2026, and it is not legal advice. If a client, a lender or an appraisal management company asks you for a sealed report in Missouri, that is a contract term rather than a state duty, and it is worth reading closely before you order a die shaped around it. Browse real estate appraiser stamps and seals, or contact us with your wording.
Frequently asked questions
Does Missouri require a real estate appraiser to have a seal?
No. The only appraiser seal rule Missouri ever had, 20 CSR 2245-2.040 titled Appraiser’s Seal, was rescinded on a filing of 21 November 2006 with an effective date of 30 July 2007, and no replacement has been adopted in any of the ten chapters of Division 2245.
Why do vendors still advertise a Missouri appraiser seal?
Because the rescinded rule was real and is still findable. 20 CSR 2245-2.040 remains printed in the current Code of State Regulations, title and all, with only the rescission line under it. A page written against the old text reads as current unless you look at that line.
What does Missouri require on my appraisal report?
Mo. Rev. Stat. 339.527.2 requires the certificate or license number adjacent to or immediately below the Missouri designation you use, in an appraisal report or in a contract or other instrument used in conducting an appraisal assignment or specialized appraisal services.
The rules mention the state seal. Does that apply to me?
No. 20 CSR 2245-4.010 requires the state seal to be imprinted on the certificate or license the commission issues. That is the seal on your credential document, applied by the state, not a device you own or apply to a report.
What wording do appraiser trainees use?
Mo. Rev. Stat. 339.527.2 names three trainee titles: State-licensed Appraiser Trainee, State-certified Residential Appraiser Trainee and State-certified General Appraiser Trainee, with the license number adjacent to or immediately below the title.
Does Missouri require the expiration date on the report?
No. Neither 339.527.2 nor any current rule in Division 2245 calls for an expiry date on a report, so a Missouri die does not need replacing at each renewal.
Where does the signature requirement come from?
From USPAP. Mo. Rev. Stat. 339.535 requires state-certified appraisers, state-licensed appraisers and appraiser trainees to comply with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, and the signed certification sits there rather than in Missouri law.
We co-sign reports. Do we need two dies?
Yes, in practice. 20 CSR 2245-9.010 imposes a co-signature duty in certain assignments outside an appraiser’s scope of practice, and 339.527.2 ties each number to the designation of the person using it, so each appraiser carries their own block.
