An Appraisal Report and a Restricted Appraisal Report are the two written report options under USPAP, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. The analysis behind them must meet the same development standard; what differs is how much of the reasoning appears on the page and who the report may serve. A Claremont assignment that will be read by anyone beyond the client, such as a lender, a court, an appeals board, a CPA or the other side of a divorce, generally calls for an Appraisal Report; the restricted option exists for narrower situations, and the choice is settled in the scope of work before the inspection.
What USPAP is, and why it decides the format
USPAP is the set of appraisal standards published by The Appraisal Foundation. California makes it binding: Business and Professions Code section 11319 says the standards "constitute the minimum standard of conduct and performance for a licensee in any work or service performed that is addressed by those standards." The standard defines both report options and sets the minimum content of each. Its full text is sold by The Appraisal Foundation, so this article describes the two options in general terms rather than quoting the current definitions.
The Appraisal Report: the reasoning on the page
An Appraisal Report summarizes the data, the analysis and the reasoning, so a reader who was not at the house can follow how the opinion was reached. California's appraiser regulator, the Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers, quoted the requirement in its Fall/Winter 2023 newsletter: the content of an Appraisal Report "must be appropriate for the intended use of the appraisal and, at a minimum provide sufficient information to indicate that the appraiser complied with the requirements of Standards 1 by summarizing the information analyzed and the reasoning that supports the analyses, opinions, and conclusions, including reconciliation of the data and approaches."
In practice that means the report itself shows:
- The client, the intended use, what the report will be used for, and the intended users, the people entitled to rely on it.
- The effective date, the date the opinion of value applies to.
- The scope of work, the type and extent of research and analysis performed.
- The comparable sales, the adjustments made to each and the reason for each, as in adjustments in a Claremont home appraisal.
- Any extraordinary assumption, an assumption about uncertain facts that, if false, could change the result, and any hypothetical condition, a condition assumed for the analysis that is known to be contrary to fact.
- The reconciliation that explains which evidence carried the most weight, and the signed certification.
The Restricted Appraisal Report: less on the page, fewer readers
A Restricted Appraisal Report states the conclusions with much less of the supporting reasoning written out. The rest sits in the appraiser's workfile, the file of data and analysis that supports the report, rather than in the document the reader holds. Because a reader cannot follow the reasoning from the report alone, the standard limits who a restricted report may be written for and requires it to say so plainly. That restriction on intended users is the defining feature of the format; the exact conditions are set out in the current edition of USPAP.
California's own statute shows how seriously that limit is taken. Section 11319(b) once carried a temporary exception: "Until January 1, 2020," a licensee did not have to follow the USPAP provisions "that provide a limitation on restricted appraisal reports to intended users other than or in addition to the client," but only if the client consented in advance, the report was not related to a federally related transaction or "the purchase or refinance of a residential dwelling of one to four units," and the report warned that its conclusions "may not be understood properly without additional information that is in the appraiser's workfile." That exception ended on its own stated date. Even while it ran, it never reached a home purchase or refinance.
Which format a Claremont assignment needs
The format follows from the intended use and the intended users, so it is decided at engagement, not after the report is written. These are the kinds of assignments that come in, and how the question usually resolves:
- A purchase or refinance with a lender. The lender is the client and sets the reporting requirements. On loans sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, Freddie Mac's UAD 3.6 FAQ says the redesigned Uniform Residential Appraisal Report is mandatory for new appraisal reports submitted on or after November 2, 2026, replacing the legacy forms such as the 1004, 1073, 1025, 1004C and 1007. The homeowner does not choose the format. The article on the redesigned URAR covers what changed.
- An estate or trust. A date-of-death appraisal of a long-held house near the Colleges is usually read by the executor or trustee, the estate's CPA and often the heirs. A report several people will rely on needs its reasoning on the page.
- A divorce. Two sides, their attorneys and possibly a mediator read the same report on a house in Claraboya or in a postwar tract. The reasoning has to be visible to all of them. Admissibility is always the court's decision.
- A property tax appeal. The Los Angeles County Assessment Appeals Board, or across the Mills Avenue county line the San Bernardino County board, reads the report to decide the appeal. It needs the comparables and adjustments in front of it.
- A decision the client makes alone. An owner weighing whether to list a Village bungalow, with no one else relying on the report, is the narrow kind of situation where a restricted format is sometimes discussed. Whether it fits depends on the intended use and on whether anyone else will ever need to read the reasoning; a report that later has to be shown to a buyer, a lender or a court is better written as an Appraisal Report from the start.
One caution about vocabulary: lenders also use the word "restricted" for narrower products of their own, such as an appraisal update. Freddie Mac's FAQ notes that under UAD 3.6, restricted appraisal update reports and completion reports "are no longer one report." Those are lender deliverables on a loan already in process, not a choice a homeowner makes between the two USPAP options.
What does not change between the two
The format changes what is written down, not the standard of the work. Either option is an independent opinion of market value as of a stated date, developed under the same development requirements, signed by the appraiser, and the fee is set by the scope of the assignment and quoted before work begins; it does not depend on the value. Neither option is an automated estimate, not an appraisal, or an agent's CMA, not an appraisal, both of which are explained in property appraisal vs. property valuation.
The pillar on what a Claremont appraisal measures walks through the report section by section, and the Home Appraisal in Claremont hub collects the series. The appraisal services page lists assignment types, and the Claremont area page describes the pockets. To scope an assignment and its report format before anything is scheduled, request an appraisal or call (909) 324-6122.
Sources
- California Business and Professions Code section 11319 (california.public.law copy), accessed November 6, 2026
- Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers, The California Appraiser, Fall/Winter 2023, accessed November 6, 2026
- Freddie Mac, Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) 3.6 FAQ, accessed November 6, 2026
- California Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers, license lookup for Gordon Hall, accessed November 6, 2026
Gordon Hall, California Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, BREA No. AR003877 (lookup: https://www2.brea.ca.gov/breasearch/faces/party/view.xhtml?id=23601). Reports are prepared in conformity with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). Nothing here is legal or tax advice; admissibility is always the court's decision.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an Appraisal Report and a Restricted Appraisal Report?
Both are written report options under USPAP and rest on the same development standard. An Appraisal Report summarizes the information analyzed and the reasoning on the page, so other readers can follow it. A Restricted Appraisal Report states conclusions with much less reasoning written out, keeps the rest in the appraiser's workfile, and is limited in who it may be written for.
Can a restricted report be used for a home purchase or refinance in California?
On a loan, the lender sets the reporting requirements. On loans sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the redesigned Uniform Residential Appraisal Report is mandatory for new reports submitted on or after November 2, 2026, according to Freddie Mac's UAD 3.6 FAQ. California's past temporary exception for restricted reports, in Business and Professions Code section 11319(b), excluded one-to-four unit purchases and refinances and ended on January 1, 2020.
Which format does an estate, divorce or tax appeal appraisal use?
Assignments read by people other than the client, such as a CPA and heirs, two sides and their attorneys, or an assessment appeals board, generally need the reasoning on the page, which is what an Appraisal Report provides. The format is part of the scope of work agreed before the inspection. Admissibility is always the court's decision.
Is a restricted report a lower-quality appraisal?
It is less detailed on the page, not held to a lower development standard. The analysis must still be credible; what differs is how much of it appears in the report and who may rely on it. Because readers cannot follow the reasoning from the report alone, the format suits only narrow situations.
