Written by Acorn Sales Company, manufacturing stamps and seals since 1964 · Reviewed by Holly R, VP of Sales and Marketing at Acorn Sales, against Virgin Islands Board of Real Estate Appraisers, Office of Boards and Commissions, Virgin Islands Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs on 22 September 2026 · Updated 22 September 2026
No Virgin Islands appraiser seal was found, and the territory does have a report marking rule that is easy to miss: 27 V.I.C. 439(f) tells a licensed real estate appraiser, when signing an appraisal report, to place the license number adjacent to or immediately below the name and the title Licensed Real Estate Appraiser. That sentence sits in a section headed for residency and license requirements rather than in anything about reports, which is why it is often overlooked.
Two qualifications belong on this page before anyone orders anything. The sentence is written for a licensed appraiser and there is no parallel sentence for a Certified Residential or Certified General appraiser. And the Virgin Islands publishes no free official text of its code, so everything quoted here comes from a republication rather than from a government source. Confirm the current wording with the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs before you buy a device.
U.S. Virgin Islands real estate appraiser seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | U.S. Virgin Islands rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | None located. Every section of 27 V.I.C. ch. 16 that was read is free of the words seal and stamp, but no official full text is published, so this could not be confirmed from a government source. | 27 V.I.C. ch. 16 (republisher text) |
| Required elements | For a licensed real estate appraiser: the license number adjacent to or immediately below the name and the title Licensed Real Estate Appraiser, when signing an appraisal report. No parallel sentence was found for a Certified Residential or Certified General appraiser. | 27 V.I.C. 439(f) |
| Size and shape | None located in any Virgin Islands source. | 27 V.I.C. ch. 16 (republisher text) |
| Device allowed | No instrument is named. The sentence governs where the number sits relative to the name and title, not how the text reaches the page. | 27 V.I.C. 439(f) |
| Signature and date | The duty attaches on signing an appraisal report. The license itself bears a number assigned by the Board and the date of issuance, which is a fact about the license rather than about the report. | 27 V.I.C. 439(e) and (f) |
| What must be sealed | Nothing was found to be sealed. The marking duty attaches to a signed appraisal report. | 27 V.I.C. 439(f) |
| Electronic seal | Not addressed in any source located. | 27 V.I.C. ch. 16 (republisher text) |
| Renewal and lapse | No expiry date appears in the marking sentence. The license is to be conspicuously displayed in the appraiser’s place of business. | 27 V.I.C. 439(e) |
| Firm requirements | The Certified Real Estate Appraiser designation is restricted in its use with firm names and signatures. A licensed appraiser’s report must, whenever appropriate, include a statement that it may not be eligible for use in a federally related loan transaction. | 27 V.I.C. 445(b) and (c) |
| Regulator | Virgin Islands Board of Real Estate Appraisers, Office of Boards and Commissions, Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs | 27 V.I.C. ch. 16, Secs. 432 to 450; Board established at 27 V.I.C. 434 |
The sentence most Virgin Islands appraisers have not read
27 V.I.C. 439(f) provides that a license or certification issued under the chapter shall bear a number assigned by the Board and the date of issuance, and that when signing an appraisal report, a licensed real estate appraiser shall place his or her license number adjacent to or immediately below his or her name and the title Licensed Real Estate Appraiser. It is a short sentence in a long section about residency and license requirements, and nothing in the section’s heading suggests a report rule lives there. Subsection (e) of the same section adds that the Board prescribes the form of a license to denote that an individual is a licensed or certified real estate appraiser, and that the license shall be conspicuously displayed in the appraiser’s place of business.
Who the sentence covers, and who it does not
Read the words. The duty in 439(f) runs to a licensed real estate appraiser and the title it names is Licensed Real Estate Appraiser. Chapter 16 also recognizes certified credentials, and no parallel sentence was found anywhere in the chapter putting a number below a Certified Residential or Certified General title. So the accurate statement is narrow: a licensed appraiser has a located marking duty, and a certified appraiser does not have one that this research could find. That is not the same as saying a certified appraiser has nothing to do. It means the Virgin Islands text located here does not say so, and the safe route for a certified appraiser is to ask the Department before ordering a device.
Why this page carries a sourcing warning
The Virgin Islands does not publish a free official full text of its code. The authoritative annotated code is a paywalled commercial product, and neither the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs nor the Legislature posts the operative text of chapter 16. Every quotation on this page therefore comes from a republication of the code rather than from a government source, and is not primary confirmed. The chapter’s section inventory was checked, and the republished index itself omits several sections that do exist, which is a fair measure of how much care this jurisdiction needs. Treat the wording here as a guide to what to ask the Department, not as a specification to manufacture from.
What was read, and what was found
Sections 433 on definitions, 435 on credential categories, 436, 437, 439 on residency and license requirements, 440, 445 on use of title, 447 and 449 on prohibited conduct were each read in full, and each is free of the words seal and stamp. The remaining sections of the chapter carry titles with no seal or stamp subject matter. Beyond the code, the Appraisal Subcommittee’s November 2024 compliance review of the territory’s appraiser program, with its July 2025 follow up, discusses the program in detail and never mentions a seal, a stamp or a credential number on reports. Nothing in either place describes a Virgin Islands appraiser device.
The disclosure a licensed appraiser owes on the report
27 V.I.C. 445(b) adds a second thing a licensed appraiser puts on a report, and it is not a credential line. A report by a licensed, as opposed to certified, appraiser must, whenever appropriate, include a statement that the appraisal report may not be eligible for use in a federally related loan transaction. That is a sentence of running text with a condition attached to it, and it belongs in the report body or the certification where a reader will see it. It is not something to letter onto a die, and no stamp should try to carry it.
Two Virgin Islands seals that are not an appraiser’s
The territory legislates a professional seal where it wants one, and it did so under a different chapter: 27 V.I.C. ch. 8 Sec. 286 is headed Licenses; seals and governs architects, engineers and land surveyors. It is not an appraiser provision, it must not be cited on an appraiser page, and its existence is the clearest signal that the omission from chapter 16 was a drafting choice. The second trap is on the Department’s own appraiser paperwork. The temporary permit form carries the line witness my hand and official seal, which is the notary’s seal on an application form. It is not an appraiser’s device and it is not a report requirement.
What to engrave and where it goes
For a licensed appraiser the block is short: your name as licensed, the title Licensed Real Estate Appraiser and your license number, with the number set adjacent to the title or immediately below the name and title. Nothing located prescribes a border, a shape, the words Virgin Islands, the Board’s name or a date. Leave clear space for your signature, because the duty is triggered by signing and nothing in the located text lets a signature be reproduced mechanically. For a certified appraiser, wait until you have confirmed with the Department what it expects before committing wording to a die.
Embosser, ink stamp or eSeal image
Nothing is prescribed, so the choice follows delivery. An embosser presses a raised impression and adds no ink, which reads well on a paper original and effectively disappears once a report is scanned. An ink stamp prints the name, title and number so they survive copying and scanning. A digital image places the same block in a PDF before the file leaves your desk. Island work often travels to mainland lenders as a file, which favours something that reproduces. The eSeal electronic image at $20.00 covers that side, and an ink stamp handles the paper.
Sizing and layout
Licensed Real Estate Appraiser is a title of moderate length, and set under a name with the number beneath it the whole block sits comfortably on three lines. No Virgin Islands source fixes a dimension or a shape, so the only test is whether the number stays readable after a report has been copied and scanned. Keep the number on its own line rather than tucking it into the end of the title line, because 439(f) ties the number to the name and title and a clean separation makes the relationship obvious to a reviewer.
Ordering a Virgin Islands appraiser stamp
Send your name as licensed, your title and your license number, and tell us how you want them arranged. Ink devices begin with the regular rubber stamp at $34.95 and the self inking stamp at $39.95. The slim pre inked stamp at $46.95 travels well. If you want an embosser, the hybrid embosser is $42.95. Browse the appraiser range or send wording through contact us.
Care in a humid climate
Heat and humidity are harder on a stamp than volume is. Keep a self inking stamp out of a hot car and out of direct sun, cap a pre inked die and store it flat, and re ink before the impression starts to gray rather than after. Press once, straight down, without rocking the body. An embosser wants the sheet pushed fully into the throat and one firm squeeze, and it benefits from being kept dry. Replace the die when the wording stops being true: a new license number, a change of credential level or a legal name change.
What to check before you order
Ask the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs for the current text of 27 V.I.C. 439 and confirm two things. First, that subsection (f) still reads as quoted here, since this page works from a republication and not from an official source. Second, if you hold a certified credential, ask what the Department expects on your reports, because the located text names only a licensed appraiser. Take your license number and the spelling of your name from the license itself. If a seller offers a Virgin Islands appraiser seal, ask which section it comes from. This page is a research summary and not legal advice. Send wording through contact us.
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Frequently asked questions
Does the U.S. Virgin Islands require a real estate appraiser to use a seal?
None was located. Every section of 27 V.I.C. ch. 16 that was read is free of the words seal and stamp, and the ASC compliance review of the territory’s program never mentions one. The qualifier matters: the territory publishes no free official code text, so this could not be confirmed from a government source.
What does a licensed appraiser have to put on a signed report?
27 V.I.C. 439(f) provides that when signing an appraisal report a licensed real estate appraiser places the license number adjacent to or immediately below the name and the title Licensed Real Estate Appraiser.
I am a Certified General appraiser here. Does that rule apply to me?
The located sentence does not say so. 439(f) is written for a licensed real estate appraiser and names that title, and no parallel sentence for Certified Residential or Certified General was found in the chapter. Ask the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs before you order a device.
Why is this page hedged when other state pages are not?
Because the source is not official. The Virgin Islands Code Annotated is paywalled and neither the Department nor the Legislature posts chapter 16’s operative text, so the quotations here come from a republication. The republished chapter index even omits sections that do exist.
What is 27 V.I.C. ch. 8 Sec. 286?
A seal provision for architects, engineers and land surveyors, under a different chapter. It is headed Licenses; seals and it does not reach appraisers. Its existence shows the Legislature writes a seal into the law when it wants one, and did not do so for appraisers.
Is there anything else my report has to say?
27 V.I.C. 445(b) provides that a licensed, as opposed to certified, appraiser’s report must, whenever appropriate, include a statement that it may not be eligible for use in a federally related loan transaction. That is running text for the report body, not wording for a die.
The temporary permit form mentions an official seal. Is that mine?
No. The line witness my hand and official seal on the Department’s temporary permit form is the notary’s seal on an application. It is not an appraiser’s device and it says nothing about appraisal reports.
