§ 160-AAAA — Definitions

§ 160-aaaa. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms\nshall have the following meanings:\n 1. "Appraisal" or "real estate appraisal" means an analysis, opinion\nor conclusion relating to the nature, quality, value or utility of\nspecified interests in, or aspects of, identified real estate. An\nappraisal may be classified by subject matter into either a valuation or\nan analysis.\n 2. "Appraisal management company" or "AMC" means an individual or\nbusiness entity that:\n (a) provides appraisal management services to creditors or to\nsecondary mortgage market participants, including affiliates;\n (b) provides such services in connection with valuing a consumer's\nreal property as security for consumer credit transactions secured by a\nconsumer's principal dwelling; and\n (c) within a given year, oversees an appraisal panel of more than\nfifteen appraisers working in New York state or twenty-five or more\nappraisers working in two or more states. An AMC shall not include a\ndepartment or division of an entity that provides appraisal management\nservices only to that entity.\n 3. "Appraisal management services" means to, directly or indirectly,\nprovide any of the following services on behalf of a lender, financial\ninstitution, client, or any other person in connection with valuing a\nconsumer's principal dwelling as security for a consumer credit\ntransaction or incorporating such transactions into securitizations:\n (a) administer an appraiser panel;\n (b) recruit, retain or select appraisers;\n (c) qualify or verify licensing or certification and negotiate fees\nand service level expectations with persons who are part of an appraiser\npanel;\n (d) contract with appraisers to perform appraisal assignments;\n (e) receive an order for an appraisal from one person, and deliver the\norder for the appraisal to an appraiser that is part of an appraiser\npanel for completion;\n (f) manage the process of having an appraisal performed, including\nproviding administrative duties, such as receiving appraisal orders and\nreports, submitting completed appraisal reports to creditors and\nunderwriters for services provided, and reimbursing appraisers for\nservices performed;\n (g) track and determine the status of orders for appraisals;\n (h) conduct quality control of a completed appraisal prior to the\ndelivery of the appraisal to the person that ordered the appraisal;\n (i) provide a completed appraisal performed by an appraiser to one or\nmore clients; or\n (j) compensate appraisers for services rendered.\n An individual who hires an appraiser solely for his or her own\npurposes, shall not be deemed an appraisal management company.\n 4. "Appraiser" means a person licensed or certified pursuant to\narticle six-E of this chapter.\n 5. "Appraiser panel" means a network, list or roster of licensed or\ncertified appraisers approved by the appraisal management company to\nperform appraisals as independent contractors of the appraisal\nmanagement company.\n 6. "Appraisal review" means the act or process of developing and\ncommunicating an opinion about the quality of another appraiser's work\nthat was performed as part of an appraisal assignment. Appraisal reviews\nmust be performed by a person who is certified as a real estate\nappraiser pursuant to article six-E of this chapter.\n 7. "Board" means the state board of real estate appraisal which shall\nadvise the department, as necessary, on implementation of, and\nenforcement of this article.\n 8. "Competent appraiser" means an appraiser that satisfies each\nprovision of the competency rule of the uniform standards of\nprofessional appraisal practice for a specific appraisal assignment or\nvaluation service that the appraiser has received, or may receive, from\nan appraisal management company.\n 9. "Controlling person" means:\n (a) an owner, officer or director of an appraisal management company,\nor an individual who holds an ownership interest of ten percent or more\nof such company;\n (b) an individual employed, appointed or authorized by an appraisal\nmanagement company that has the authority to enter into a contractual\nrelationship with other persons for the performance of appraisal\nmanagement services and has the authority to enter into agreements with\nappraisers for the performance of appraisals; or\n (c) an individual who possesses, directly or indirectly, the power to\ndirect or cause the direction of the management or policies of an\nappraisal management company.\n 10. "Department" means the New York state department of state.\n 11. "Hybrid firm or entity" means an entity that hires both real\nestate appraisers as employees to perform appraisals of real property,\nand engage independent contractors to perform such appraisals. A hybrid\nfirm or entity shall be treated as an AMC for purposes of state\nregistration if it oversees more than fifteen real estate appraisers\ncompleting valuation services in an individual state or twenty-five or\nmore real estate appraisers in two or more states within a given year.\nThe numerical calculation for a hybrid firm or entity should only\ninclude real estate appraisers engaged as independent contractors.\n 12. "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, or any\nother entity recognized under New York state law.\n 13. "Real estate" means an identified parcel or tract of land,\nincluding improvements, if any.\n 14. "Real property" means the interest, benefits, and rights inherent\nin the ownership of real estate.\n 15. "Uniform standards of professional appraisal practice" or "USPAP"\nmeans the appraisal standards promulgated by the appraisal standards\nboard of the appraisal foundation.\n 16. "Secondary mortgage market participant" means a guarantor or\ninsurer of mortgage-backed securities, or an underwriter or issuer of\nmortgage-backed securities. Secondary mortgage market participant only\nincludes an individual investor in a mortgage-backed security if that\ninvestor also serves in the capacity of a guarantor, insurer,\nunderwriter, or issuer for such mortgage-backed security.\n