Appraisal Review is a report that comments on the completeness and apparent accuracy of an appraisal report. The principal purpose of some reviews is to ensure compliance with technical rules such as uspap ; other reviews focus on the value estimate. The review may be presented as a narrative or a checklist. The most common types of review appraisals are:

Desk Reviews which are prepared with or without validating the data in the appraisal report.

Field Reviews whereby the review appraiser will examine the property.  This is typically done by way of an exterior inspection but can also be completed as an interior / exterior inspection depending on the scope of work for this product.

Retrospective Appraisal Review is a review of an appraisal from a previous marketing time period.  While a retrospective appraisal can be as recent as the prior day, week or month of the current date, it is typically used for reviewing appraisals from years prior.  Today this is most commonly used to determine if the appraised value of an asset was correct on the effective date of the appraisal.

Forensic Appraisal Review is also typically a "Retrospective Appraisal Review".  However, the "Forensic Review" is typically done specifically for court / legal investigation with intended uses typically pursuant to Lawsuits, Fraud Investigation and / or Regulatory Compliance / Incompetency Complaints.  These types of reviews are for the most part are more in-depth with a higher scope of work typically requested in a standard review of an appraisal.

Retrospective Appraisal is an appraisal that gives the market value at another specific time other than when the appraisal is done. The retrospective appraisal utilizes information only up to the retrospective date. A good example for the need of a retrospective appraisal is fire, or the belief that a home was over appraised at an earlier date.

Loss Mitigation is used to describe a third party helping a homeowner, a division within a bank that mitigates the loss of the bank, or a firm that handles the process of negotiation between a homeowner and the homeowner\'s lender. Loss mitigation works to negotiate mortgageterms for the homeowner that will prevent foreclosure. These new terms are typically obtained through loan modification, short sale negotiation, short refinance negotiation, deed in lieu of foreclosure, cash-for-keys negotiation, or a partial claim loan or other loan work-out. All of the options serve the same purpose, to stabilize the risk of loss the lender (investor) is in danger of realizing.

Attorney / Legal Review Appraisals are typically used for disposition, courtroom and settlement discussions when an accurate market value is needed whether it is for probate, corporate valuations, partnership dissolutions, martial and asset distribution or property buy-out, property tax appeal, bail bonds, bankruptcy, litigation support, property disputes, fighting foreclosure, expert witness or the most common requested appraisal from the legal community, divorce appraisals.