2023 Rhode Island General Laws › Title 5 - Businesses and Professions › Chapter 5-20.9 - Real Estate Appraisal Management Company Registration Act › Section 5-20.9-4. - Requirements for registration.

§ 5-20.9-4. Requirements for registration.
(a)
Appraisal management companies shall provide the following information upon registration:
(1)
Name and contact information of the entity seeking registration;
(2)
Name and contact information of the controlling person for the entity;
(3)
If the entity is not a corporation domiciled in this state, the name and contact information for the company’s agent for service of process in this state; and
(4)
Name, address, and contact information for any individual or any corporation, partnership, or other business entity who or that owns 10% or more of the appraisal management company.
(b)
Contact information shall include the entity’s business and mailing address, telephone number, facsimile number, and electronic mail (email) address.
(c)
An appraisal management company shall certify that the following is true upon its initial registration and upon each renewal of its registration:
(1)
The registered entity has a system and process in place to verify that a person being added to the appraiser panel of the appraisal management company holds a certification or license in good standing in any jurisdiction to perform appraisals;
(2)
The registered entity has a system in place to periodically perform a quality assurance review of the work of independent fee appraisers who or that are performing real estate appraisal services on its behalf to ensure that appraisal services are being conducted in accordance with USPAP;
(3)
The registered entity maintains a detailed record of each service request that it receives for five (5) years;
(4)
The registered entity maintains a system to assure that the appraiser selected for an appraisal assignment is independent of the transaction and has the requisite education, expertise, and experience necessary to competently complete the appraisal assignment for the particular market and property type; and
(5)
The registered entity will have a system in place to ensure that real estate appraisal services are provided independently and free from inappropriate influence and coercion under the appraisal independence standards established under § 129E of the Truth in Lending Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1639e, including the requirement that independent fee appraisers be compensated at a customary and reasonable rate when the appraisal management company is providing services for a consumer credit transaction secured by the principal dwelling of a consumer.
(d)
Ownership requirements.
An appraisal management company shall not be registered in this state if:
(1)
Any person who owns, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, more than ten percent (10%) of the appraisal management company fails to submit to a background investigation, and/or is determined by the director not to have good moral character as determined by an analysis of the factors in § 28-5.1-14.
(2)
The appraisal management company is owned in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, by any person who has had a license or certificate to act as an appraiser refused, denied, canceled, surrendered in lieu of revocation, or revoked in this state or in any other state for substantive cause, as determined by the appropriate certifying and licensing agency. However, an appraisal management company is not barred from registration if the license or certificate of the appraiser with an ownership interest was not revoked for a substantive cause and has been reinstated by the state or states in which the appraiser was licensed or certified.
History of Section.
P.L. 2017, ch. 14, § 1; P.L. 2017, ch. 26, § 1; P.L. 2023, ch. 163, § 2, effective June 20, 2023; P.L. 2023, ch. 164, § 2, effective June 20, 2023.