N.H. Rev. Stat. § 310-B:2-a — NH Code / Title XXX / Chapter 310-B / Section 2-a
310-B:2-a Definitions for Appraisal Management Companies.
Status: in_force

In addition to the definitions in RSA 310-B:2 the following shall apply to appraisal management companies: I. "Affiliate" means affiliate as provided in 12 U.S.C. section 1841. II. "AMC National Registry" means the registry of state-registered appraisal management companies and federally regulated AMCs maintained by the Appraisal Subcommittee. III. (a) "Appraisal management company" or "AMC" means a person that: (1) Provides appraisal management services to creditors or to secondary mortgage market participants, including affiliates; (2) Provides such services in connection with valuing a consumer's principal dwelling as security for a consumer credit transaction or incorporating such transactions into securitizations; and (3) Within a given 12-month period oversees an appraiser panel of more than 15 state-certified or state-licensed appraisers in a state or 25 or more state-certified or state-licensed appraisers in 2 or more states; (b) An AMC does not include a department or division of an entity that provides appraisal management services only to that entity. IV. "Appraisal management services" means one or more of the following: (a) Recruiting, selecting, and retaining appraisers; (b) Contracting with state-certified or state-licensed appraisers to perform appraisal assignments; (c) Managing the process of having an appraisal performed, including providing administrative services such as receiving appraisal orders and appraisal reports, submitting completed appraisal reports to creditors and secondary market participants, collecting fees from creditors and secondary market participants for services provided, and paying appraisers for services performed; and (d) Reviewing and verifying the work of appraisers. V. "Appraiser panel" means a network, list, or roster of licensed or certified appraisers approved by an AMC to perform appraisals as independent contractors for the AMC. Appraisers on an AMC's appraiser panel include both appraisers accepted by the AMC for consideration for future appraisal assignments in covered transactions or for secondary mortgage market participants in connection with covered transactions and appraisers engaged by the AMC to perform one or more appraisals in covered transactions or for secondary mortgage market participants in connection with covered transactions. An appraiser is an independent contractor if the appraiser is treated as an independent contractor by the AMC for purposes of federal income taxation. VI. "Appraisal Subcommittee" means the Appraisal Subcommittee of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. VII. "Consumer credit" means credit offered or extended to a consumer primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. VIII. "Covered transaction" means any consumer credit transaction secured by the consumer's principal dwelling. IX. "Creditor" means: (a) A person who regularly extends consumer credit that is subject to a finance charge or is payable by written agreement in more than 4 installments (not including a down payment), and to whom the obligation is initially payable, either on the face of the note or contract, or by agreement when there is no note or contract. (b) A person who regularly extends consumer credit if the person extended credit (other than credit subject to the requirements of 12 C.F.R. section 1026.32) more than 5 times for transactions secured by a dwelling in the preceding calendar year. If a person did not meet these numerical standards in the preceding calendar year, the numerical standards shall be applied to the current calendar year. A person regularly extends consumer credit if, in any 12-month period, the person originates more than one credit extension that is subject to the requirements of 12 C.F.R. 1026.32 section or one or more such credit extensions through a mortgage broker. X. "Dwelling" means a residential structure that contains one to 4 units, whether or not that structure is attached to real property. The term includes an individual condominium unit, cooperative unit, mobile home, and trailer, if it is used as a residence. A consumer can have only one "principal" dwelling at a time. Thus, a vacation or other second home would not be a principal dwelling. However, if a consumer buys or builds a new dwelling that will become the consumer's principal dwelling within a year or upon the completion of construction, the new dwelling is considered the principal dwelling. XI. "Federally regulated AMC" means an AMC that is owned and controlled by an insured depository institution, as defined in 12 U.S.C. section 1813 and regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. XII. "Federally related transaction regulations" means regulations established by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or the National Credit Union Administration, pursuant to sections 1112, 1113, and 1114 of FIRREA, Title XI, 12 U.S.C. sections 3341-3343. XIII. "Person" means a natural person or an organization, including a corporation, partnership, proprietorship, association, cooperative, estate, trust, or government unit. XIV. "Secondary mortgage market participant" means a guarantor or insurer of mortgage-backed securities, or an underwriter or issuer of mortgage-backed securities. Secondary mortgage market participant only includes an individual investor in a mortgage-backed security if that investor also serves in the capacity of a guarantor, insurer, underwriter, or issuer for the mortgage-backed security. XV. "States" mean the 50 states and the District of Columbia and the territories of Guam, Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. XVI. "Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice" or "USPAP" means the current standards of the appraisal profession, developed for appraisers and users of appraisal services by the Appraisal Standards Board of the Appraisal Foundation.