§3415.16. Appraiser independence; prohibitions

A. It shall be unlawful for any employee, director, officer, or agent of an appraisal management company licensed in this state pursuant to this Chapter to 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 the following:

(1) Withholding or threatening to withhold timely payment for an appraisal.

(2) Withholding or threatening to withhold future business for an independent appraiser, or demoting or terminating or threatening to demote or terminate an independent appraiser.

(3) Expressly or impliedly promising future business, promotions, or increased compensation for an independent appraiser.

(4) Conditioning the request for a real estate appraisal service or the payment of an appraisal fee or salary or bonus on the opinion, conclusion, or valuation to be reached, or on a preliminary estimate or opinion requested from an independent appraiser.

(5) Requesting that an independent 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 independent appraiser's completion of a real estate appraisal service.

(6) Providing to an independent appraiser an anticipated, estimated, encouraged, or desired value for a subject property or a proposed or target amount to be loaned to the borrower, except that a copy of the sales contract for purchase transactions may be provided.

(7) Providing to an independent appraiser, or any entity or person related to the appraiser, stock or other financial or nonfinancial benefits, allowing the removal of an independent appraiser from an appraiser panel, without prior written notice to such appraiser.

(8) Obtaining, using, or paying for a second or subsequent appraisal or ordering an automated valuation model in conjunction with a mortgage financing transaction unless there is a reasonable basis to believe that the initial appraisal was flawed or tainted and such basis is clearly and appropriately noted in the loan file, or unless such appraisal or automated valuation model is done pursuant to a bona fide pre- or post-funding appraisal review or quality control process or underwriting guidelines, and so long as the lender adheres to a policy of selecting the most reliable appraisal, rather than the appraisal that states the highest value.

(9) Forcing an appraiser to accept an assignment where the delivery times are so short that they force the appraiser to render a misleading report.

B. Nothing in Subsection A of this Section shall be construed as prohibiting the appraisal management company from requesting that an independent appraiser do either of the following:

(1) Provide additional information about the basis for a valuation.

(2) Correct objective factual errors in an appraisal report.

Acts 2009, No. 502, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2010.