Written by Acorn Sales Company, manufacturing stamps and seals since 1964 · Reviewed by Holly R, VP of Sales and Marketing at Acorn Sales, against West Virginia Real Estate Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board on 22 September 2026 · Updated 22 September 2026
West Virginia prescribes no appraiser seal, and what it asks for instead reaches further than any report rule: your classification and your license or certificate number go on all appraisals, statements of qualification, contracts and other instruments, including advertising media. That is W. Va. Code 30-38-4(f), and the Board’s own rule at 190-2-13.1 repeats it. The words seal and stamp appear nowhere in article 38 or in 190CSR2.
The breadth is what makes a West Virginia device worth having. A seal state gives an appraiser one die used on one kind of document. West Virginia gives you a credential line that belongs on a report, on an engagement contract, on a statement of qualifications and on the advertising you send out. The same two elements, over and over, in as it appears on an issued license form. That is a stamp, not a seal.
West Virginia real estate appraiser seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | West Virginia rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | No. W. Va. Code ch. 30 art. 38 and 190CSR2 were each searched for the words seal and stamp with no hits. | W. Va. Code ch. 30 art. 38; 190CSR2 |
| Required elements | Classification and the license or certificate number, as it appears on an issued license. The three classifications are state licensed residential, state certified residential and state certified general real estate appraiser. | W. Va. Code 30-38-4(a) and (f) |
| Size and shape | None prescribed. West Virginia describes no appraiser seal, so there is nothing to dimension. | W. Va. Code ch. 30 art. 38; 190CSR2 |
| Device allowed | No instrument is named. The duty is to indicate the classification and the number, by whatever means puts them on the document. | W. Va. Code 30-38-4(f) |
| Signature and date | No signature or dating rule sits in the marking provision. Report standards come from USPAP by adoption at W. Va. Code 30-38-17. | W. Va. Code 30-38-17 |
| What must be sealed | Nothing is sealed. The classification and number go on all appraisals, statements of qualification, contracts and other instruments, including advertising media. | W. Va. Code 30-38-4(f) |
| Electronic seal | Not addressed. Neither article 38 nor 190CSR2 contains any provision on an electronic seal or a digital signature on a transmitted report. | W. Va. Code ch. 30 art. 38; 190CSR2 |
| Renewal and lapse | No expiry date belongs on the line. The statute asks for the classification and the number as they appear on an issued license, and nothing more. | W. Va. Code 30-38-4(f) |
| Firm requirements | No firm device. 190CSR1 Sec. 4 has the Board issue a document stating that the license or certification has been issued, plus a pocket card that remains Board property. No seal is issued or described. | W. Va. C.S.R. 190-1-4 |
| Regulator | West Virginia Real Estate Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board | W. Va. Code 30-38-6; legislative rules at W. Va. C.S.R. tit. 190 |
What the statute says, in full
W. Va. Code 30-38-4 runs from subsection (a) to subsection (h), and the marking duty is at (f): an appraiser shall indicate his or her classification and license or certificate number, as it appears on an issued license, on all appraisals, statements of qualification, contracts, and other instruments, including advertising media. The whole section was read to the end, because a marking rule is exactly the place a seal sentence hides. Nothing beyond (f) touches report marking. The Board’s legislative rule then says the same thing in its own words at 190-2-13.1: an appraiser subject to the rule shall place his or her title and license or certification number on all statements of qualifications, contracts or other instruments, including advertising media. Two texts, one duty, no seal.
Your classification is one of three
W. Va. Code 30-38-4(a) sets out the classifications the Board issues: state licensed residential real estate appraiser, state certified residential real estate appraiser and state certified general real estate appraiser. That is the word the statute uses, classification, and the phrase that governs how you write it is as it appears on an issued license. So the string on your die is not the one you use in conversation and not the one a national organization uses. It is the one printed on the credential the Board issued you. Read the credential, copy the wording exactly, and set that. The statute gives no abbreviation, so do not invent one.
The reach of including advertising media
Most states confine a credential line to appraisal reports. West Virginia does not. The statutory list is appraisals, statements of qualification, contracts and other instruments, and then it adds including advertising media, which pulls the duty out of the file and into your marketing. A statement of qualifications, an engagement letter, a fee proposal and an advertisement all sit inside that list. Practically, that means the West Virginia device gets used far more often than a seal would, and it means the classification and number should exist in two forms: a physical stamp for paper and a clean digital image for anything laid out on a screen.
What to engrave and where it goes
Two elements carry the duty, and a third makes the block usable. Your name as it appears on the license, your classification in the exact words on the credential, and your license or certificate number. Nothing in article 38 or in 190CSR2 prescribes a position for the block, a border, the word West Virginia, the Board’s name or a date, so the layout is yours to choose. Put the number on its own line so a heavy impression in the classification line never reaches it. Leave clear space for a signature, because the statute makes no provision for reproducing one.
What the Board issues, and what it does not
190CSR1 Sec. 4 was read in full and it is a short answer to a common question. The Board issues a document stating that the license or certification has been issued, and a pocket card that remains Board property. It does not issue, prescribe, approve or describe a seal. There is also no seal on the Board’s procedural side: 190CSR4, the rule on investigative and hearing procedures, has no seal provision at all, which is worth saying because a procedural rule is the usual home of a board’s own seal for subpoenas and certified records. West Virginia’s does not even have that.
Where the record stops
Two of the Board’s legislative rules were identified by section heading rather than read word for word: 190CSR3 on renewal of licensure or certification, and 190CSR5 on registration and renewal of appraisal management companies. Neither is a report content rule and neither is the kind of rule that creates a marking duty, but the honest position is that the word level search was not run against them. The conclusion that West Virginia prescribes no appraiser seal rests on the Act itself and on 190CSR2, both of which were read from the Board’s own posted copies rather than from a commercial rulebook.
Embosser, ink stamp or eSeal image
Nothing is prescribed, so choose by where the line has to appear. An embosser raises the paper and adds no ink; it reads well on an original and badly in a scan, and it cannot serve the advertising side of the duty at all. An ink stamp prints the classification and number so they survive copying and scanning, which suits the contracts and statements of qualification the statute names. A digital image is the one that reaches advertising and any report delivered as a file. The eSeal electronic image at $20.00 pairs naturally with a physical stamp in this state.
Sizing and layout
State certified general real estate appraiser is a long classification, and it has to stay readable on a faxed contract and on a photocopied statement of qualifications. Give it a line of its own. Put your name above it and the number below it, and keep the number the same size as the name rather than shrinking it to fit. Nothing in the West Virginia statute or rules sets a dimension, so legibility after a generation of copying is the only test that matters. If you will use the block on an advertisement as well, ask for the artwork file alongside the physical device so the two match.
Ordering a West Virginia appraiser stamp
Send your name as licensed, your classification copied from the credential and your license or certificate number. Ink devices start with the regular rubber stamp at $34.95 and the self inking stamp at $39.95, which suits the volume this state’s duty creates. The Xstamper pre inked stamp at $64.95 holds a crisp edge over long runs. For a desk embosser, the desk seal embosser is $44.95. Browse the appraiser range or send wording through contact us.
Care and replacement
A self inking stamp gives its cleanest line when pressed straight down once and allowed to lift on its own, and when it is re inked before the impression grays rather than after. A pre inked die lasts longer capped and stored flat. An embosser wants the sheet pushed fully into the throat and one firm squeeze. Because West Virginia puts no date on the credential line, a renewal does not retire the die. What does retire it is a change in what it says: moving from state licensed residential to state certified residential, a new number, or a legal name change. Order the replacement from the new credential, not from the old stamp.
What to check before you order
Read W. Va. Code 30-38-4 all the way to subsection (h) rather than stopping at (f), and read 190CSR2 Sec. 13 in the Board’s own posted copy. Then take the classification wording and the number off the credential the Board issued you, because the statute ties the wording to what appears on an issued license. If anyone offers a West Virginia appraiser seal, ask for the section number; there is none to give. This page is a research summary and not legal advice. Send your wording through contact us and we will set the artwork from it.
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Frequently asked questions
Does West Virginia require a real estate appraiser to use a seal?
No. W. Va. Code ch. 30 art. 38 and the Board’s legislative rule 190CSR2 were each searched for the words seal and stamp with no hits. W. Va. Code 30-38-4(f) asks instead for your classification and license or certificate number.
What counts as my classification?
One of the three the statute names at 30-38-4(a): state licensed residential real estate appraiser, state certified residential real estate appraiser or state certified general real estate appraiser, written as it appears on the license the Board issued you.
Does the number really have to go on advertising?
That is what the text says. W. Va. Code 30-38-4(f) lists all appraisals, statements of qualification, contracts, and other instruments, including advertising media, and 190-2-13.1 repeats the advertising media language.
Is there a size for a West Virginia appraiser stamp?
No size, diameter or shape is prescribed anywhere in article 38 or 190CSR2, because no seal is prescribed at all. Size the die so the classification and the number stay readable after copying.
Does the Board issue a seal with my license?
No. 190CSR1 Sec. 4 has the Board issue a document stating that the license or certification has been issued, and a pocket card that remains Board property. No seal is issued or described.
Does my stamp go stale when I renew?
No. The credential line is a classification and a number, with no expiry date in it, so a renewal leaves the wording correct. Replace the die when the classification, the number or your name changes.
Where do the report standards come from, if not from a seal rule?
From USPAP. W. Va. Code 30-38-17 is the standards of professional appraisal practice section and it adopts USPAP, which is why article 38 carries no report format rules of its own beyond the marking duty at 30-38-4(f).
