Seal; records

(a) The board shall adopt a seal, which may be either an engraved or ink stamp seal, with the words ‘‘Real Estate Appraisers Board, State of Georgia’’ and such other device as the board may desire included thereon, by which it shall authenticate the acts of the board. Copies of all records and papers in the office of the board, certified by the signature of the real estate commissioner or the commissioner’s designee and the seal of the board, shall be received in evidence in all cases equally and with like effect as the originals. (b) The board shall maintain records so that it may certify the history of appraisers or any person issued an appraisal management company registration under this chapter for a period of up to five years preceding the date of certification. The board may certify the classification history of an appraiser or appraisal management company based on electronic data that it maintains. When that electronic data is derived from a paper record, upon converting the information on the paper record to electronic form and after verification of the electronic record, the board may: (1) Properly destroy the paper record; or (2) Retain the paper record for a period of time determined by the board. History. — Code 1981, § 43-39A-6, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1701, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1402, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 881, § 1; Ga. L. 1996, p. 6, § 43; Ga. L. 1999, p. 715, § 2; Ga. L. 2010, p. 765, § 3/HB 1050. 43-39A-7. Applications for appraiser classification; registration; confidentiality. (a) Any person desiring to act as a real estate appraiser must file an application for an appraiser classification with the board. All original and subsequent applications filed with the board shall be in such form and detail as the board shall prescribe, setting forth the following: (1) The name and address of the applicant and the name under which the applicant intends to conduct business; (2) The place or places, including the city with the street and street number, if any, where the business is to be conducted; and 357 43-39A-7 (3) Such other information as the board shall require. (b)(1) No person shall directly or indirectly engage or attempt to engage in business as an appraisal management company, directly or indirectly engage or attempt to perform appraisal management services, or advertise or hold itself out as engaging in or conducting business as an appraisal management company without first obtaining a registration issued by the board. (2) The registration required by paragraph (1) of this subsection shall: (A) Be subject to the ownership limitations set forth in subsection (a) of Code Section 43-39A-14.1; (B) Apply only to an appraisal management company that is not owned and controlled by an insured depository institution and not regulated by a federal financial institutions regulatory agency; (C) Provide the name of the entity seeking registration; (D) Provide the business address of the entity seeking registration which must be located and maintained within this state; (E) Provide the telephone contact information and the email address of the entity seeking registration; (F) If the entity is not a corporation that is domiciled in this state, provide the name and contact information for the company’s agent for service of process in this state; (G) Provide the name, address, and contact information for any individual or any corporation, partnership, or other business entity that owns 10 percent or more of the appraisal management company; (H) Provide the name, address, and contact information for a designated controlling person to be the primary communication source for the board; (I) Provide a certification that the entity has a system and process in place to verify that a person being added to the appraiser panel of the appraisal management company for appraisal services to be performed in Georgia holds a license or certification in good standing in Georgia pursuant to this chapter. Additionally, the board shall be authorized to verify that the appraisers on the appraisal management company’s appraiser panel hold a valid Georgia classification; ( J) Provide a certification that the entity has a system in place to review the work of all appraisers who are performing real estate appraisal services for the appraisal management company on a 358 43-39A-7 periodic basis to validate that the real estate appraisal services are being conducted in accordance with the standards for real estate appraisals established by the board; (K) Provide a certification that the entity maintains a detailed record of each service request that it receives for appraisal services within the State of Georgia and the name, address, and telephone number of the appraiser who performs the requested real estate appraisal services for the appraisal management company; (L) Require an irrevocable consent to service of process; and (M) Require any such other information as the board shall seek. (3) The board shall issue a unique registration number to each appraisal management company. (4) The board shall publish annually a list of the appraisal management companies that have registered pursuant to this chapter and have been issued a registration number. (5) An appraisal management company shall be required to disclose the registration number on each engagement letter utilized in assigning an appraisal request for real estate appraisal assignments within the State of Georgia. (b.1) Any employee or independent contractor of an appraisal management company who performs appraisal review services must be an individual who holds a valid appraiser license or certification issued pursuant to this chapter. (c) Notwithstanding any provision of Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50 to the contrary, all applications, including supporting documents and other personal information submitted by applicants, classified appraisers, and appraisal management companies as part of an application filed with the board, shall be confidential. The board shall deem as public records the following information and shall make such information reasonably available for inspection by the general public: an appraiser’s name, classification number and status, business name, business address, business telephone number, type of classification held, and term of classification; the fact that an appraiser has or has not received a disciplinary sanction; and such other information pertaining to the classification of an appraiser or approval of a school, course, or instructor as the board may determine by rule. History. — Code 1981, § 43-39A-7, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1701, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1402, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1527, § 5; Ga. L. 2010, p. 765, § 4/HB 1050; Ga. L. 2019, p. 724, § 2/HB 192. The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, deleted ‘‘, at a minimum, include the following’’ following ‘‘shall’’ at the end of paragraph (b)(2); added subparagraphs (b)(2)(A) and (b)(2)(B); redesignated former subparagraphs (b)(2)(A) through (b)(2)(K) as present subparagraphs 359 (b)(2)(C) through (b)(2)(M), respectively; substituted ‘‘Provide the name’’ for ‘‘Name’’ in subparagraph (b)(2)(C); substituted ‘‘Provide the business’’ for ‘‘Business’’ in subparagraph (b)(2)(D); in subparagraph (b)(2)(E), substituted ‘‘Provide the telephone’’ for ‘‘Telephone’’ and inserted ‘‘and the email address’’; inserted ‘‘provide’’ in the middle of subparagraph (b)(2)(F); substituted ‘‘Provide the’’ for 43-39A-8 ‘‘The’’ in subparagraphs (b)(2)(G) and (b)(2)(H); substituted ‘‘10’’ for ‘‘5’’ in subparagraph (b)(2)(G); substituted ‘‘Provide a’’ for ‘‘A’’ in subparagraphs (b)(2)(I) through (b)(2)(K); added the second sentence in (b)(2)(I); substituted ‘‘Require an’’ for ‘‘An’’ in subparagraph (b)(2)(L); and, in subparagraph (b)(2)(M), substituted ‘‘Require any’’ for ‘‘Any’’ and substituted ‘‘seek’’ for ‘‘require’’ at the end. 43-39A-8. Establishment of appraiser classifications and appraisal management company registrations complying with federal law; continuing education courses; approval of instructors. (a) The board is authorized to establish through its rules and regulations such appraiser classifications and appraisal management company registrations as are necessary to comply with federal law in order to assure that Georgia has appropriate classifications of appraisers and registrations of appraisal management companies authorized to appraise in federally related transactions. The board shall also create a classification of appraiser to appraise in nonfederally related transactions and for which applicants need only to meet education standards established by the board through its rules and regulations. (a.1) In order to qualify to become an applicant for an appraiser classification or approval, an individual shall: (1) Have attained the age of 18 years; (2) Be a resident of the State of Georgia, unless that person has fully complied with the provisions of Code Section 43-39A-9; (3) Have attained the level of education that the board may establish through its rules and regulations; (4) Have complied fully with the requirements of subsection (b) of Code Section 43-39A-14 regarding any criminal convictions; (5) Furnish evidence of completion of the instructional hours in any course of study the board may require through its rules and regulations; and (6) Stand and pass an examination administered by or approved by the board covering generally the matters confronting real property appraisers after completing the requirements of paragraph (5) of this subsection. Failure to meet any of these requirements shall be grounds for denial of classification or approval without a hearing. 360 43-39A-8 (b) As a prerequisite to renewal of an appraiser classification, an appraiser shall present evidence satisfactory to the board of having successfully completed or instructed, during the immediately preceding renewal period, a board approved continuing education course or courses of not less than ten hours of in-class instruction for each year of the renewal period. No appraiser whose appraiser classification has been placed on inactive status shall be allowed to reactivate such appraiser classification unless the provisions of this subsection are met in addition to any other requirements of this chapter. (c) The board, through its rules and regulations, shall establish standards for offering of all education courses required by this Code section and for the approval of schools and instructors to offer the education courses required by this chapter. Each approved school must comply with Code Sections 43-40-15 through 43-40-31. Each approved school must designate an individual approved by the board to act as its director and such designated individual shall be responsible for assuring that the approved school complies with the requirements of this chapter and rules and regulations promulgated under this chapter. No school approval shall be granted to a school unless the school authorizes its director to bind the school to any settlement of a contested case before the board as defined in Chapter 13 of Title 50, the ‘‘Georgia Administrative Procedure Act.’’ Violations of this chapter or its attendant rules and regulations by an approved school shall subject the school and its director to sanction as authorized by this chapter. (d) Failure to complete any of the educational requirements as provided in this Code section shall be grounds for denial of an appraiser classification or denial of renewal of an appraiser classification without further hearing. No fees or portion of fees paid shall be refunded if an appraiser fails to meet the continuing education provisions of this chapter. (e) An instructor in any education course approved by the board must also be approved by the board and, where the board deems necessary, receive any special instruction that the board may require. (f ) The board may prepare and distribute to appraisers under this chapter educational material deemed of assistance in the conduct of their business. The board may prepare and distribute to the public educational material deemed of assistance to consumers engaging in business in real estate appraisals with persons classified under this chapter. History. — Code 1981, § 43-39A-8, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1701, § 1; Ga. L. 1991, p. 94, § 43; Ga. L. 1991, p. 266, § 3; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1402, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 881, § 2; Ga. L. 1996, p. 194, § 1; Ga. L. 2003, p. 370, § 2; Ga. L. 2006, p. 792, § 2/SB 547; Ga. L. 2007, p. 483, § 2/SB 114; Ga. L. 2019, p. 724, § 3/HB 192. The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, in subsection (a), in the first 361 sentence, inserted ‘‘and appraisal management company registrations’’ in the middle, and inserted ‘‘and registrations of appraisal management companies’’ near the end.