§3353 Appraisal management company minimum requirements

Summary

Federal regulators must write rules that set the minimum standards states must use when they register appraisal management companies. The rules must make sure companies register with and are overseen by the state appraiser licensing agency where they operate, use only licensed or certified appraisers for federally related work, follow the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, and keep appraisals free from improper influence under the appraisal independence rules in section 1639e of title 15. States can add more rules if they want. The rules also apply to appraisal management companies owned by financial institutions regulated by a federal agency, but those subsidiary companies do not have to register with a State. A State must not register or list any company that is owned, in whole or in part, by someone who had an appraiser license refused, denied, cancelled, surrendered in lieu of revocation, or revoked in any State. Anyone who owns more than 10 percent of a company must be found to have good moral character by the state agency and must submit to a background check. The federal agencies must also make rules about reporting company activities to the Appraisal Subcommittee for the annual registry fee. After the final rules are issued, no appraisal management company may do work on federally related transactions in a State after 36 months unless it is registered with that State or under federal oversight, and the Appraisal Subcommittee can extend that deadline by 12 months with Council approval if a State is making substantial progress.