HB 2152 -- Missouri Appraisal Management Company Registration and
Regulation Act

Sponsor:  Hobbs

This bill establishes the Missouri Appraisal Management Company
Registration and Regulation Act to regulate real estate appraisal
management companies.  In its main provisions, the bill:

(1)  Makes it unlawful for any person to act as a real estate
appraisal management company, to directly or indirectly engage or
assume to engage in the business of real estate appraisal
management, or to advertise or hold himself or herself out as
engaging in or conducting the business of real estate appraisal
management without being registered with the Missouri Real Estate
Appraisers Commission within the Department of Insurance,
Financial Institutions and Professional Registration;

(2)  Allows the commission to adopt rules necessary to implement,
administer, and enforce the provisions of the bill and to:

(a)  Prescribe forms and procedures for submitting information to
the commission;

(b)  Prescribe standards of practice for registered companies;
and

(c)  Prescribe standards for the operation of real estate
appraisal management companies;

(3)  Requires an appraisal management company to make written
application to the commission for the registration of the company
with the required fee as established by rule.  No company may be
owned by a person who has had an appraiser license or certificate
refused, denied, canceled, or revoked in any state.  Anyone with
more than 10% ownership in an appraisal management company must
be of good moral character and submit to a background
investigation at his or her own expense.  Once the commission has
received all the required information and fees, a certificate of
registration authorizing the company to act as an appraisal
management company will be issued unless the commission finds
substantial reason to deny.  An applicant who is denied will be
given the opportunity for a hearing before the commission;

(4)  Requires actual fees paid for appraisal services to not
contain hidden charges.  Fees must be paid to the appraiser
within 30 days of the date the appraisal is transmitted;

(5)  Requires an applicant who is not a resident of this state to
also submit with his or her application an irrevocable consent
that service of process in any action against the applicant
arising out of the applicant's activities as an appraisal
management company may be made by delivery of the process on the
commission and to submit the name and address of its registered
agent;

(6)  Requires registrants to maintain complete records of all
appraisal information and allows the commission to inspect the
records periodically without prior notice or when pertinent to an
investigation;

(7)  Requires each registered real estate appraisal management
company to designate a managing principal who is responsible for
assuring that the company is in compliance with these provisions.
An individual registrant operating as a sole proprietorship will
be considered the managing principal.  Anyone not complying with
this provision will have his or her registration suspended until
compliance has been achieved;

(8)  Specifies that a registration will expire June 30 of every
year and become invalid unless renewed by filing an application
and paying a renewal fee as established by rule.  Additional fees
will be charged if the application is late, except that any
registrant failing to reinstate within six months will be
required to file a new application for registration.
Reinstatement will not be retroactive;

(9)  Prohibits anyone under a real estate appraisal management
company, any third party acting as joint venture partner, or an
independent contractor from influencing or attempting to
influence the development, reporting, result, or review of an
appraisal through coercion, extortion, collusion, compensation,
inducement, intimidation, bribery, or any other manner as
specified in the bill;

(10)  Requires the commission to keep a register of all
applicants for registration whether granted or refused.  The
commission will also keep a current roster of all appraisal
management companies registered and will file a copy of the
roster with the Secretary of State on or before November 1 of
each year;

(11)  Requires a surety bond of $250,000 to accompany each
registration;

(12)  Allows the commission, by order, to deny, suspend, revoke,
or refuse to issue or renew a registration of an appraisal
management company or to restrict or limit the activities of the
company;

(13)  Specifies that the provisions of the bill will become
ineffective 60 days after the effective date of a federal law
which mandates the registration or licensing of appraisal
management companies with a federal regulator; and

(14)  Allows appraisal management companies doing business in
this state to continue to do business without a license until the
state regulations pertaining to the provisions of the bill have
been adopted.

The bill contains an emergency clause.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:13 pm