The first members of the AQB were appointed by the Board of Trustees of The Appraisal Foundation in January 1 989. In May of that year, the AQB adopted the initial Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria. Although very brief in length, the Criteria set the threshold levels for qualifying education, experience, continuing education and examinations. Because these criteria pre-dated state licensure and certification, the two levels were known simply as Residential Appraiser and General Appraiser.