§ 160-OOOO — Unprofessional conduct

§ 160-oooo. Unprofessional conduct. 1. Appraisal management companies\nshall not engage in unprofessional conduct including, but not limited to\nthe following:\n (a) Requiring an appraiser to modify any aspect of an appraisal report\nor valuation service report, unless such modifications are appropriate\naccording to USPAP;\n (b) Requiring an appraiser to prepare an appraisal report or valuation\nservice report if such appraiser, in their professional judgment,\nbelieves they don't have the necessary expertise for the specific\ngeographic and or specific area type;\n (c) Requiring an appraiser to prepare an appraisal report or valuation\nservice under a time frame that such appraiser believes, in their\nprofessional judgment, does not afford such appraiser the ability to\nmeet all the relevant legal and professional obligations including USPAP\nrequirements. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this\nparagraph, all appraisal reports should be completed within a reasonable\ntimeframe and appraisers may not unnecessarily delay completing\nappraisal assignments;\n (d) Prohibiting or inhibiting communication between the appraiser and\nthe lender, a real estate licensee, or any other person from whom such\nappraiser, in their professional judgment is relevant;\n (e) Requiring the appraiser to do anything that does not comply with\nUSPAP, or any assignment conditions and certifications required by the\nclient;\n (f) Making any portion of the appraiser's fee or the appraisal\nmanagement company's fee contingent upon a favorable outcome, including,\nbut not limited to, the closing of a loan, requiring a specific dollar\namount be achieved by such appraiser in the appraisal report, making\nrequests for the purpose of facilitating a mortgage loan transaction,\nsetting a broker price opinion, or setting any other real property price\nor value estimation that does not qualify as an appraisal; or\n (g) Each appraisal management company operating in this state shall\nmake payment to an appraiser for the completion of an appraisal or\nvaluation assignment within thirty days of the date on which such\nappraiser transmits or otherwise provides the completed appraisal or\nvaluation services to the appraisal management company or its assignee;\n 2. It shall be unlawful for an appraisal management company to:\n (a) Knowingly fail to compensate an appraiser at a rate that is\nreasonable and customary for appraisal or other valuation services being\nperformed in the market area of the property being appraised without the\nservices of an appraisal management company in a manner that is either\ninconsistent with, or would violate section 1639(e) of the federal Truth\nin Lending Act (15 USC §1639(e));\n (b) Knowingly include any fees for appraisal management services that\nare performed by the appraisal management company for a lender, client,\nor other person in the amount that it charges the lender, client, or\nother person for the actual completion of an appraisal or valuation\nservice by an appraiser that is part of the appraiser panel of the\nappraisal management company;\n (c) Knowingly fail to separate any and all fees charged to a client by\nthe appraisal management company for the actual completion of an\nappraisal by an appraiser from the fees charged to a lender, client, or\nany other person by an appraisal management company for appraisal\nmanagement services;\n (d) Knowingly prohibit an appraiser from recording the fee that such\nappraiser was paid by the appraisal management company for the\nperformance of the appraisal within the appraisal report that is\nsubmitted by such appraiser to the appraisal management company;\n (e) Knowingly fail to separately state the fees paid to an appraiser\nfor appraisal services and the fees charged by the appraisal management\ncompany for services associated with the management of the appraisal\nprocess to the client, borrower and any other payer. Appraisal\nmanagement companies shall provide a copy of the appraiser's invoice\nwith a copy of any appraisal report submitted to a client or a client's\nrepresentative;\n (f) Knowingly allow the removal from rotation of an appraiser from an\nappraiser panel, without prior written notice to such appraiser with\njust cause; or\n (g) Knowingly obtain, use, or pay for a second or subsequent appraisal\nor the ordering of an automated valuation model or any other valuation\nservice in connection with a mortgage financing transaction unless there\nis a reasonable basis to believe that the initial appraisal was flawed\nor tainted and such basis is clearly and appropriately noted in the loan\nfile, or unless such appraisal or automated valuation model is done\npursuant to a bona fide pre- or post-funding appraisal review or quality\ncontrol process. Nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit an AMC from\nobtaining additional appraisals if required by a lending program, or if\nsuch additional appraisals are required by applicable local, state, or\nfederal law.\n