Biography and Qualifications

A four-year college degree, followed by the Appraisal course work and five years' full-time experience performing appraisals are required before applying for senior level membership. ASA has mandatory continuing education requirements, which must be met every five years.

In 1987 the federal government established a detailed list of minimum standards for appraisers, known as The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice or USPAP. All appraisal reports must include a signed and dated certification that these USPAP requirements have been fulfilled. The USPAP exam must be successfully re-taken every five years to ensure familiarity with recent USPAP updates and to maintain ASA certification. Among the many stipulations, USPAP requires that the appraiser act as a neutral, disinterested third party who reports the facts in an unbiased manner. These requirements comprise the "standard of care" to which all appraisers must adhere.

Professionally, Nancy was president of the Los Angeles chapter of ASA and on the L.A. chapter board of directors for nine years. Also for ASA, she co-authored both the Antiques and Decorative Arts and the Residential Contents professional designation exams and founded the Los Angeles Personal Property Round Table. Nancy co-founded the Los Angeles chapter of the International Society of Appraisers (ISA), and was given a special award by ISA "For Promoting the Growth of Education and Professionalism Among Appraisers." She has spoken to the Antiquarian Society of California on "Avoiding Fake Furniture," to the L.A. Chapter of Certified Public Accountants on "The Valuation of Unique Assets," and to the art law class at Pepperdine University Law School. Since 2002, Nancy has authored and taught classes such as "Appraisers, Insurance & the Law" and "Appraising Antiques and Decorative Arts," part of the Appraisal Studies Program at the University of California, Irvine. In addition, she has co-authored and co-instructed the ASA's Personal Property Appraisal Studies core courses, also at UCI.

In the community, she has been on the Board of Directors for the Decorative Arts Council at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, was a docent at the Huntington Library Art Gallery for ten years, and has sat on several boards of advisors, including the Huntington Collection (a large high-end consignment and thrift store in Pasadena, California). She has been featured in numerous magazine articles and has been interviewed on Financial News Network and CNN.

Nancy has been in the appraisal field since 1979, with her own firm since 1983. She has extensive training and experience in the fields of American and European furniture, silver, ceramics, and glass. Her practice in Arcadia, California, specializes in Insurance, Charitable Contribution, Dissolution, Estates, and Loss Claims, with special emphasis on "Controversial Issues."