§ 37:3409 — Disciplinary proceedings

§3409. Disciplinary proceedings
A. The board may censure a registered or licensed real estate appraiser, conditionally
or unconditionally suspend or revoke any registration or license issued in accordance with
the provisions of this Chapter, levy fines or impose civil penalties not to exceed five
thousand dollars, or impose continuing education requirements on registrants and licensees
if, in the opinion of the board, a registrant or licensee is performing, is attempting to perform,
has performed, or has attempted to perform any of the following acts:
(1) Committing any act in violation of this Chapter.
(2) Violating any rule or regulation adopted by the board in the interest of the public
and consistent with the provisions of this Chapter.
(3) Knowingly making any false representation to any party in developing or
communicating an appraisal.
(4) Accepting an appraisal assignment when the employment itself is contingent
upon the appraiser reporting a predetermined analysis or opinion or where the fee to be paid
for the performance of this appraisal assignment is contingent upon the opinion, conclusion,
or valuation reached or upon the consequences resulting from the appraisal assignment.
(5) Violating the confidential nature of governmental records to which he gained
access through employment or engagement as an appraiser by a governmental agency.
(6) Procuring a registration or license for himself or anyone else by fraud,
misrepresentation, or deceit.
(7) Having been convicted of a felony or having entered a plea of nolo contendere
to a felony charge.
(8) Failing to make available to the board for its inspection, without prior notice,
originals or true copies of all written contracts engaging the person's services to appraise real
property and all reports and supporting data assembled and formulated by the appraiser in
preparing the reports.
(9) Paying a fee or valuable consideration to any person for acts or services
performed in violation of this Chapter.
(10) Acting as a real estate appraiser in an unworthy or incompetent manner that may
endanger the public interest.
B.(1) Sole authority for the conduct of adjudicatory proceedings in accordance with
the Administrative Procedure Act for violations of this Chapter is vested in the board.
(2) Before censuring any registrant or licensee, or suspending or revoking any
license, the board shall notify the registrant or licensee in writing of any charges made at
least twenty days prior to the date set for the hearing and shall afford him an opportunity to
be heard in person or by counsel.
(3) The written notice shall be satisfied by personal service on the respondent, or by
sending the notice by certified mail to the registrant's or licensee's address on file with the
board, or by hand delivery from board personnel.
(4) The board shall have the power to subpoena and issue subpoenas duces tecum
and to bring before it any person in this state to take testimony by deposition, in the same
manner as prescribed by law in judicial proceedings in the courts of this state, or to require
production of any records relevant to any inquiry or hearing by the board.
C.(1) The hearing on the charges shall be at a time and place prescribed by the board
and in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act.
(2) The board may make findings of fact and shall deliver or mail such findings to
the registrant or licensee charged with an offense under this Chapter. Any finding of fact by
the board pursuant to this Subsection shall be conclusive.
(3) Any final decision or determination of the board in adjudicatory proceedings shall
be reviewable as to questions of law by the Ninteenth Judicial District Court in the parish of
East Baton Rouge. Any application for judicial review made by an aggrieved party shall be
filed within thirty days after the final decision of the board.
(4) If a petition to review the final decision of the board is filed, the case shall be
specifically fixed for trial within thirty days from the filing of an answer by the board. If the
court finds that the board has properly pursued its authority in accordance with the law, is
supported by evidence in the record, and has not acted arbitrarily, it shall affirm the decision,
order, or ruling of the board.
(5) If an appeal is filed in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court, the court shall
receive the entire record of the hearing.
(6) Absent an agreement of counsel for all parties, no stay of enforcement of a
decision issued by the board shall be granted during the pendency of an appeal unless the
Nineteenth Judicial District Court finds that the applicant has established that the issuance
of the stay does not threaten harm to other interested parties.
(7) No stay shall be granted ex parte. The court shall schedule a hearing on the
request for a stay order within ten days from filing. The decisions shall be rendered within
five days after the conclusion of the hearing.
(8) No judicial order staying or enjoining the effectiveness or enforcement of a final
decision or order of the board in an adjudication proceeding, whether issued pursuant to R.S.
37:3409 or otherwise, shall be effective, or be issued to be effective, longer than either of the
following:
(a) One hundred twenty days from the date on which the board's decision or order
was rendered.
(b) The date on which the court enters judgment in a proceeding for judicial review
of the board's decision or order pursuant to R.S. 49:978.1, whichever occurs first.
D. The board may also suspend or revoke the registration or license of a real estate
appraiser based upon a final civil judgment against the appraiser on grounds of fraud,
misrepresentation, or deceit in the making of an appraisal of real property. In a disciplinary
proceeding based upon such judgment, the registered or licensed real estate appraiser shall
be afforded notice and the opportunity to present matters in mitigation and extenuation but
shall not collaterally attack the civil judgment.
E. It shall be the duty of each registered or licensed real estate appraiser to notify the
board within ten days by registered or certified mail or by hand delivery of the following
actions:
(1) The rendering of a final judgment against the appraiser by a court of competent
jurisdiction the subject matter of which involves a real estate appraisal transaction to which
the appraiser was a party.
(2) The institution of criminal prosecution by arrest or indictment which involves a
real estate appraisal transaction to which the appraiser was a party.
(3) Any conviction of the appraiser by a court of competent jurisdiction for forgery,
embezzlement, obtaining money under false pretenses, larceny, extortion, conspiracy to
defraud, theft, or any other felony.
(4) Any sanction imposed on the appraiser by another jurisdiction.
F. A registered or licensed real estate appraiser shall not participate in the preparation
of federally related real estate appraisals during any period in which his registration or license
has been suspended by the board pursuant to adjudicatory proceedings.

Legislative History

Acts 1987, No. 472, §1; Acts 1991, No. 412, §1; Acts 1993, No. 949, §1; Acts 1995, No. 690, §2; Acts 1999, No. 158, §1; Acts 2003, No. 341, §1; Acts 2014, No. 213, §1; Acts 2022, No. 547, §1, eff. June 17, 2022; Acts 2024, No. 644, §1.