Do you do work for Appraisal Management Companies (AMC’s)? If you do and they are not registered with the Alabama Real Estate Appraisers Board, you could be subject to discipline. As of October 1, 2011 any AMC’s doing business in Alabama must register with the state. Pursuant to §34-27A-20(a)(9) of the Alabama Real Estate Appraisers Act appraisers must not accept assignments from an unregistered AMC. It’s easy to check if they are registered, just go to the state’s website.
AMC’s are companies that manage the appraisal process by working with lenders and appraisers. Lenders typically hire the management company to do the appraisal ordering and quality control aspect of the loan process. This supposedly puts a layer of protection between the loan officer and the appraiser. This became an issue recently with the collapse of the real estate market and the accusation by some that lenders and appraisers were working in collusion to make real estate deals work. Some lenders would find appraisers that would give the values they needed to close a loan. Businesses recognized this as an opportunity to provide a service to the real estate industry. Up until the passing of this law in Alabama and other states, the AMC business had little regulation. This law seeks to help regulate the industry and make AMC’s more accountable for their role in the process.
So before you do any work for an AMC, please check out their status with the state so that you avoid being disciplined.
If you have any real estate appraisal related questions you can call me at 205.243.9304, email me, or connect with me on facebook.
Great blog – thank you for keeping us all informed. Regulatory agencies vary nationally from what I’ve observed. Many seem to be completely disconnected from the appraiser and the challenges they’ve faced the past 10 years. Going forward, I remain optimistic about the value and integrity of our professional services.
Thanks for your comments Lori. I agree, sometimes it appears appraisers are left out when these regulations are being drafted. I am very glad though that AMC’s are being held to a higher standard with these new regulations. I think this will weed out the ones that are not serious.
It seems backwards to have the appraiser responsible to check whether the AMC is in compliance or not. That sounds like a job for the lender and state licensing board rather than the appraiser. Interesting.
You make a good point Ryan. On the flip side though I am glad we have the AMC legislation. A local appraiser mentioned that he was able to use the registration requirement when an AMC contacted him with an order, which by the way had a fee which was way below what is “customary and reasonable”. I believe the law will filter out the companies that are honest and serious about their business. The ones that want to skirt the requirements and pay appraiserss way less than what what is typical will hopefully leave the business.