§ 160-MMMM — Appraiser independence; unlawful acts

§ 160-mmmm. Appraiser independence; unlawful acts. Each appraisal\nmanagement company shall ensure that real estate appraisals are\nconducted independently and free from inappropriate influence and\ncoercion. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, it shall\nbe unlawful for any employee, director, officer, or agent of an\nappraisal management company registered in this state pursuant to this\narticle to:\n 1. Compensate, coerce, extort, collude, instruct, induce, bribe, or\nintimidate, or attempt to compensate, coerce, extort, collude, instruct,\ninduce, bribe, or intimidate a person, firm or other entity conducting\nor involved in an appraisal for the purpose of causing the appraised\nvalue assigned under the appraisal or other valuation services to the\nproperty to be based on any factor other than the independent judgment\nof the appraiser;\n 2. Mischaracterize the appraised value of a property in conjunction\nwith a consumer credit transaction;\n 3. Seek to influence an appraiser or otherwise to encourage a targeted\nvalue in order to facilitate the making or pricing of a consumer credit\ntransaction;\n 4. Act without just cause to withhold or threaten to withhold timely\npayment for an appraisal report or for other valuation services rendered\nwith such appraisal report or services provided in accordance with the\ncontract between parties;\n 5. Act without just cause to withhold or threaten to withhold future\nbusiness, or to demote or terminate an appraiser without just cause;\n 6. Expressly or implicitly promise future business, promotions, or\nincreased compensation for an appraiser in exchange for the real estate\nappraiser inflating or deflating his or her appraised value of real\nproperty;\n 7. Require a real estate appraiser to indemnify an appraisal\nmanagement company or hold an appraisal management company harmless for\nany liability, damage, losses, or claims arising out of the services\nperformed by such appraisal management company, and not the services\nperformed by the appraiser;\n 8. Condition the request for an appraisal or the payment of an earned\nfee, salary or bonus, on the opinion, conclusion, or valuation to be\nreached, or on a preliminary estimate or opinion requested from an\nappraiser;\n 9. Request that an appraiser provide an estimated, predetermined, or\ndesired valuation in an appraisal report, or provide estimated values or\ncomparable sales at any time prior to the appraiser's completion of an\nappraisal;\n 10. Provide to an appraiser an anticipated, estimated, encouraged, or\ndesired value for a subject property or a proposed or target amount to\nbe loaned to the borrower, except that a copy of the sales contract for\npurchase transactions may be provided; or\n 11. Provide to an appraiser, or any entity or person related to the\nappraiser, stock or any other financial or non-financial benefits in\nexchange for appraising property in a manner other than that which is\nwithin the independent opinion of the appraiser.\n Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting the\nappraisal management company from asking an appraiser to consider\nadditional, appropriate property information, including: additional\ncomparable properties to make or support an appraisal; provide further\ndetail, substantiation, or explanation for the appraiser's value\nconclusion; or correct errors in the appraisal report.\n