Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, March 15, 2024
(1) An appraisal
management company (AMC) that has been issued a registration by the Missouri
Real Estate Appraisers Commission under these rules shall be responsible for
complying with the following:
(A) Shall
maintain with the commission the name and address of a registered agent for
service of process and shall furnish the commission within five (5) business
days of any changes to the information on file;
(B) Shall maintain a complete record of all
requests for appraisal services referred to state licensed and certified
appraisers, the amount of fees collected from borrowers or clients as well as
payments to the appraisers, and shall make such information available upon
commission request;
(C) Shall
separately state to the client the fees paid to an appraiser for the appraisal
services and the fees charged by the appraisal management company for services
associated with the management of the appraisal process, including procurement
of the appraiser's services;
(D)
Shall make available to the commission any and all records that are required to
be kept or records deemed by the commission to be pertinent to an investigation
of a complaint against a registrant;
(E) Shall designate a controlling person
responsible for ensuring compliance with the acts and regulations and shall
file with the commission a certification identifying the controlling person and
that individual's acceptance of these responsibilities;
(F) Shall maintain all records for a period
of five (5) years. Additionally, records that are used in judicial proceedings
in which the appraiser provided testimony related to the assignment shall be
retained for at least two (2) years after disposition;
(G) At any time a document filed with the
commission becomes inaccurate or incomplete the registrant shall within thirty
(30) days file an amendment correcting the information;
(H) Shall disclose to an appraiser within
their engagement documents verification of their state registration with the
Missouri Real Estate Appraisers Commission;
(I) Shall conduct its appraisal management
services in accordance with the requirements of section 129E(a) through (i) of
the Truth in Lending Act,
15 U.S.C.
1639e(a) through (i), and
regulations thereunder;
(J) Shall not employ
any person directly involved in appraisal management services who has a license
or certificate to act as an appraiser in Missouri or in any other state that
was refused, denied, cancelled, revoked, or surrendered in lieu of a pending
revocation and not subsequently granted or reinstated;
(K)
Shall not knowingly enter into any independent contractor arrangement, whether
in verbal, written, or in other form, with any person who has had a license or
certificate to act as an appraiser in Missouri or in any other state refused,
denied, cancelled, revoked, or surrendered in lieu of a pending revocation and
not subsequently granted or reinstated;
(L) Shall not
knowingly enter into any contract, agreement, or other business relationship
directly involved with the performance of real estate appraisal or appraisal
management services, whether in verbal, written, or any other form, with any
entity that employs, has entered into an independent contract arrangement, or
has entered into any contract, agreement, or other business relationship,
whether in verbal, written, or any other form, with any person who has ever had
a license or certificate to act as an appraiser in Missouri or in any other
state, refused, denied, cancelled, revoked, or surrendered in lieu of a pending
revocation and not subsequently granted or reinstated;
(M)
Shall not prohibit an appraiser who is part of an appraiser panel from
recording the fee that the appraiser was paid by the appraisal management
company for the performance of the appraisal within the appraisal
report;
(N) Shall not require an appraiser to modify any
aspect of an appraisal report unless the modification complies with Uniform
Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice;
(O) Shall only require
an appraiser to prepare an appraisal under a time frame that affords the
appraiser, in their own professional judgment, the ability to meet all relevant
legal and professional obligations. Appraisers shall decline appraisal
assignments made outside of such time frame and shall notify the AMC
accordingly;
(P) Shall not prohibit or inhibit legal or other
allowable communication between the appraiser and-
1. The lender;
2. A real estate licensee; or
3. Any person from whom the appraiser, in the
appraiser's own professional judgment, believes the communication would be
relevant;
(Q) Shall not require the appraiser to do anything
that does not comply with the-
1. Uniform
Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice;
2. Sections
339.500 to
339.549,
RSMo, and the regulations promulgated thereunder;
3. Any assignment conditions required by the
client; or
4. The appraisal
independence standards of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA);
(R)
Shall not make any portion of the appraiser's fee or the appraisal management
company's fee contingent on a predetermined or favorable outcome, including but
not limited to:
1. A loan closing;
or
2. Specific dollar amount being
achieved by the appraiser in the appraisal report;
(S)
Shall not require an appraiser to provide the appraisal management company with
the appraiser's digital signature or seal; and
(T) Shall not alter,
modify, or otherwise change a completed appraisal report submitted by an
appraiser.
(2) No
employee, director, officer, or agent of an AMC shall influence or attempt to
influence the development, reporting, or review of an appraisal through
coercion, extortion, collusion, compensation, instruction, inducement,
intimidation, bribery, or in any other manner, including but not limited to:
(A) Withholding or threatening to withhold
timely payment for an appraisal, except in cases of substandard performance or
non-compliance with conditions of engagement;
(B) Withholding or threatening to withhold
future business or demoting, terminating, or threatening to demote or terminate
an appraiser;
(C) Expressly or
impliedly promising future business, promotions, or increased compensation for
an appraiser;
(D) Conditioning the
request for an appraisal of the payment of an appraisal fee or salary or
bonuses on the opinion, conclusion, or valuation to be reached, or on a
preliminary estimate or opinion requested from an appraiser;
(E) Requiring that an appraiser provide an
estimated, predetermined, or desired valuation in an appraisal report or
provide estimated values or comparable sales at any time prior to the
appraiser's completion of an appraisal;
(F) Providing to an appraiser an anticipated,
estimated, encouraged, or desired value for a subject property or proposed or
target amount to be loaned to the borrower, except that a copy of the sales
contract for purchase transactions may be provided;
(G) Providing an appraiser, or any entity or
person related to the appraiser, stock or other financial or nonfinancial
benefits;
(H) Allowing the removal
of an appraiser from an appraiser panel without prior written notice to such
appraiser outlining the rea-son(s) for removal and allowing the appraiser a
reasonable amount of time to respond;
(I) Any other act or practice that knowingly
impairs or attempts to impair an appraiser's independence, objectivity, or
impartiality;
(J) Requiring an
appraiser to collect an appraisal fee on behalf of the AMC from the borrower,
homeowner, or other third party; or
(K) Requiring an appraiser to indemnify an
AMC or hold an appraisal management company harmless for any liability, damage,
losses, or claims arising out of the services performed by the AMC, and not the
services performed by the appraiser.
(3) Nothing in sections (1) and (2) of this
regulation shall prohibit the AMC from requesting that an appraiser
(A) Provide additional information about the
basis for a valuation;
(B) Correct
objective factual errors in an appraisal report; or
(C) Provide additional information with the
appraisal regarding additional sales provided through an established dispute
process.
*Original authority: 339.509, RSMo 1990, amended 1998,
2012; 339.511 , RSMo 1990, amended 1998, 2012; and 339.544, RSMo
1998.