Written by Acorn Sales Company, manufacturing stamps and seals since 1964 · Reviewed by Holly R, VP of Sales and Marketing at Acorn Sales, against Washington State Department of Licensing, Real Estate Appraiser Program, under the Director of Licensing on 22 September 2026 · Updated 22 September 2026
Washington does not require an appraiser to seal or stamp a report, and the words seal and stamp do not appear anywhere in the Certified Real Estate Appraiser Act or in the Department of Licensing rules that implement it. RCW ch. 18.140 runs to thirty two sections and WAC ch. 308-125 to twenty six, and both were read end to end without a single hit. What Washington does ask for sits in RCW 18.140.140(2): your certificate, license or registration number placed adjacent to or immediately below one of four statutory titles.
The titles are the distinctive part. Washington writes them hyphenated and lower case, as state-certified general real estate appraiser, state-certified residential real estate appraiser, state-licensed real estate appraiser and state-registered appraiser trainee. Those exact strings, plus your number, plus your signature, are what goes on every report you sign. That is a credential line, and a credential line is what a Washington appraiser puts on a stamp.
Washington real estate appraiser seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Washington rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | No. The words seal and stamp appear nowhere in RCW ch. 18.140 or in WAC ch. 308-125. | RCW ch. 18.140; WAC ch. 308-125 |
| Required elements | The statutory credential title, and your certificate, license or registration number adjacent to or immediately below it. | RCW 18.140.140(2) |
| Size and shape | None prescribed. Washington describes no seal, so no diameter, height or shape exists to meet. | RCW ch. 18.140; WAC ch. 308-125 |
| Device allowed | No instrument is named. The statute governs where the number sits relative to the title, not how the text reaches the page. | RCW 18.140.140(2) |
| Signature and date | The duty attaches where the title is used in an appraisal report, a contract or another instrument. The number is not required where the title carries no signature, as on brochures, business cards, forms and letterhead. No date is prescribed. | RCW 18.140.140(2) |
| What must be sealed | Nothing. The credential line goes on an appraisal report, on a contract and on other instruments used in real property appraisal activities. | RCW 18.140.140(2) |
| Electronic seal | Not addressed. Neither chapter mentions an electronic seal or a digital signature on a transmitted report. Standards of practice come from USPAP by adoption. | WAC 308-125-200 |
| Renewal and lapse | No expiry date belongs on the line. The statute names the title and the number only. | RCW 18.140.140(2) |
| Firm requirements | A trainee places the registration number below the trainee title, and the supervisory appraiser places a certificate number below the certified general or certified residential title. | RCW 18.140.140(3) |
| Regulator | Washington State Department of Licensing, Real Estate Appraiser Program | RCW ch. 18.140; WAC ch. 308-125 |
What RCW 18.140.140(2) actually says
The operative sentence is long, and every clause does work. Each state-certified or state-licensed real estate appraiser or state-registered appraiser trainee shall place his or her certificate, license, or registration number adjacent to or immediately below the title state-certified general real estate appraiser, state-certified residential real estate appraiser, state-licensed real estate appraiser, or state-registered appraiser trainee when used in an appraisal report or in a contract or other instrument used in conducting real property appraisal activities. Then comes the carve out: the number is not required to appear when the title is not accompanied by a signature, as is typical on promotional and stationery items such as brochures, business cards, forms and letterhead. So the trigger is the signature, not the paper.
The four titles, spelled the way the statute spells them
Washington does not say certified general appraiser. It says state-certified general real estate appraiser, with the state prefix, the hyphen and the words real estate in the middle. The four strings in the statute are state-certified general real estate appraiser, state-certified residential real estate appraiser, state-licensed real estate appraiser and state-registered appraiser trainee. Nothing in the chapter authorises an abbreviation, which sets Washington apart from states that let an appraiser shorten the credential line. Set the full string on the die. If you hold the certified general credential, the title alone fills a line before your number starts, and the die has to be sized for it.
Where the number sits
Adjacent to or immediately below the title. Those are the only two positions the statute recognizes, and they are positions relative to the title rather than to the page. A block that reads name on the first line, the full statutory title on the second and the number on the third puts the number immediately below the title and satisfies the sentence. So does a single line that runs the title and then the number after it. What fails is a layout that parks the number somewhere else on the certification, away from the title, because the statute ties the two together. Keep them on one die so the relationship cannot drift when a form changes.
The trainee and the supervisor
RCW 18.140.140(3) handles the pairing directly. A state-registered appraiser trainee places the registration number adjacent to or immediately below the title state-registered appraiser trainee, and the supervisory appraiser places a certificate number adjacent to or immediately below the title state-certified general real estate appraiser or state-certified residential real estate appraiser. Two people, two credential lines, two numbers, on the same report. A trainee and a supervisor working together are better served by two separate dies than by one combined plate, because supervisors change and the trainee credential converts.
The Department of Licensing seal pages that are not yours
The same agency that runs the appraiser program publishes requirement pages headed Stamps and seals, with rules on what the device carries. Those pages cover architects and landscape architects, which are different professions under different chapters. They do not reach a real estate appraiser, and an appraiser who lands on one while searching the Department of Licensing site can easily conclude that Washington prescribes a seal. It does not. The absence of any comparable appraiser page is a fair signal in the same direction: the Department has nothing to describe because the appraiser chapter describes nothing. The conclusion rests on the chapter text, not on the missing page.
One more signature that is not yours
RCW 18.140.140(1) does use the word signature, and it is worth reading carefully before anyone quotes it as an appraiser duty. A certificate, license, or registration issued under the chapter shall bear the signature or facsimile signature of the director and a certificate, license, or registration number assigned by the director. That is the director signing the credential document the state issues to you. It is not a signature you apply, and the facsimile it permits is the director’s, not an appraiser’s. Nothing in that subsection allows a rubber stamped appraiser signature on a report.
Embosser, ink stamp or eSeal image
No instrument is prescribed, so pick by how your work travels. An embosser presses a raised impression into paper and adds no ink, which looks well on an original and disappears in a scan. An ink stamp prints the credential line so it survives copying, scanning and fax. A digital image sets the same block into a PDF. Washington ties the number to the title on the report the client reads, so reproducibility is the practical test. The eSeal electronic image at $20.00 covers PDF delivery, and many Washington appraisers pair it with an ink stamp for paper files and contracts.
Sizing and layout for a long title
Washington asks more of the die than most states because the title strings are long and cannot be shortened. State-certified residential real estate appraiser will not sit comfortably on a narrow stamp at a size anyone can read after two generations of copying. Give the title its own line, give the number its own line directly under it, and put your name above both. Nothing in the statute or the rules fixes a dimension, so the only constraint is that the number stays legible where it sits. If you sign contracts as well as reports, check the signature block on the contract form you use before choosing a width.
Ordering a Washington appraiser stamp
Send your name, the full statutory title for your credential level and the number from the credential itself. 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 suits a long line of text in a tight space. For an embosser, the hybrid embosser is $42.95. See the appraiser range or send wording through contact us.
Care and when to replace the die
Press a self inking stamp straight down once and let it lift by itself; rocking it thickens the edges of the longest line, which on a Washington die is the title. Re ink before the impression starts to fade rather than after. Keep a pre inked stamp capped and flat. An embosser works best with the sheet pushed fully into the throat and one firm squeeze. Replace the die when the text on it stops being true: a move from state-licensed to state-certified residential, a trainee converting to a certified credential, a legal name change or a new number. A renewal on its own changes nothing, because no date appears on the line.
What to check before you order
Read RCW 18.140.140 in full, all three subsections, on the Washington State Legislature site, and read WAC ch. 308-125 as full chapter text rather than as a board handout. Copy the title for your credential level character for character out of subsection (2), and copy your number from the credential the Department issued rather than from an old report. If you find a Department of Licensing page headed Stamps and seals, check which profession it covers before you order from it. This page is a research summary and not legal advice. Send your wording through contact us.
- Real Estate Appraiser Stamps and Seals
- Real estate appraiser stamps and seals
- Wisconsin Appraiser Seal: Title and Number Instead
- Virginia Appraiser Seal: The Design Was Repealed
Frequently asked questions
Does Washington require a real estate appraiser to use a seal?
No. RCW ch. 18.140 and WAC ch. 308-125 were each read as full chapter text and neither contains the word seal or the word stamp. RCW 18.140.140(2) asks instead for your certificate, license or registration number adjacent to or immediately below the statutory title.
What exactly is the title I have to use?
One of four, spelled as the statute spells it: state-certified general real estate appraiser, state-certified residential real estate appraiser, state-licensed real estate appraiser or state-registered appraiser trainee. The chapter authorises no abbreviation.
Do I have to put my number on a business card?
No, and the statute says so. The number is not required to appear where the title is not accompanied by a signature, which is typical of promotional and stationery items such as brochures, business cards, forms and letterhead.
Where does the number go on the report?
Adjacent to the title or immediately below it. Those are the only two positions RCW 18.140.140(2) names, and they are relative to the title itself rather than to a spot on the page.
Why does the Department of Licensing have a stamps and seals page?
Because it regulates architects and landscape architects as well. Those pages sit under different chapters and describe those professions’ devices. The appraiser program has no such page, because RCW ch. 18.140 prescribes no appraiser seal.
Can I use a rubber stamped signature on a Washington report?
The only facsimile signature RCW 18.140.140 mentions is the director’s, on the credential document the state issues. Nothing in the chapter authorises an appraiser to reproduce a signature, so sign by hand and use the die for the credential line.
What does a trainee and supervisor pair need?
Two credential lines. RCW 18.140.140(3) puts the registration number under the state-registered appraiser trainee title and the supervisor’s certificate number under the certified general or certified residential title, on the same report.
