California Code of Regulations
Title 10 - Investment
Chapter 6.5 - Bureau of Real Estate Appraisers
Article 4 - Application Process
Section 3577 - Minimum Standards of Practice for Appraisal Management Companies

(a) Appraisal Management Companies must adopt reasonable procedures designed to ensure that all appraisal assignments completed by its independent contractor or employee appraisers are performed in accordance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.

(b) Appraisal Management Companies must maintain records of each of the following for each service request for at least five years:

(c) Appraisal Management Companies must maintain records of all appraisal fees dispersed to contracted appraisers and the final fee charged to the lender/client for at least five years.

(d) An Appraisal Management Company cannot prohibit a contracted appraiser/client from disclosing the fee paid to the appraiser/client for an appraisal assignment in the body of the appraisal report.

(e) No Appraisal Management Company shall improperly influence or attempt to improperly influence the development, reporting, result, or review of an appraisal report or review by engaging in coercion, extortion, inducement, collusion, bribery, intimidation, compensation, or instruction. In addition to the acts set forth in Business and Professions Code section 11345.4, prohibited acts include, but are not limited to, the following:

(f) The Appraisal Management Company shall not base the payment of an appraisal fee on a mortgage-related event occurring subsequent to completion of the appraisal, i.e. close of escrow.

(g) The appraiser shall not be required to provide the Appraisal Management Company with the appraiser's digital signature.

(h) The Appraisal Management Company shall not alter, amend, or change an appraisal report submitted by a licensed or certified appraiser by removing the appraiser's signature or seal or by adding information to or removing information from the appraisal report.

(i) The Appraisal Management Company shall not remove an appraiser from their panel of approved appraisers without prior written notice. The notice shall state the reason(s) for the appraiser's removal.

(j) An Appraisal Management Company shall not be registered if the Appraisal Management Company, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, is owned by any person who has had an appraiser license or certificate refused, denied, cancelled, surrendered in lieu of revocation, or revoked in any State for a substantive cause. As used in this section, substantive cause is any cause included in section 372 l(a).

(k) An Appraisal Management Company is not barred by paragraph (j) of this section from being registered if the license or certificate of the appraiser with an ownership interest was not revoked for a substantive cause and has been reinstated by the State or States in which the appraiser was licensed or certified.

(l) All Appraisal Management Companies shall submit to the Bureau the Appraisal Management Company National Registry form REA 5030 (Rev. 1/1/19), which is hereby incorporated by reference, with payment of the national registry fee as determined by 12 C.F.R. section 1102.402 (Rev. 11/24/17) which is hereby incorporated by reference, and the Bureau's state processing fee. The form is due twelve months after the issue date of the initial registration or renewal on or after June 1, 2020, and every twelve months thereafter. Failure to submit form REA 5030 (Rev. 1/1/19) with payment to the Bureau within thirty days of the due date shall result in automatic suspension until the form REA 5030 (Rev. 1/1/19) is submitted with payment to the Bureau. Additionally, if an Appraisal Management Company fails to renew its registration before it expires and then seeks an initial registration, the Bureau cannot issue the registration until the Appraisal Management Company submits form REA 5030 (Rev. 1/1/19) with payment for the most recent 12 months the Appraisal Management Company was registered.