Montana § 37-54-514 - Appraiser Independence -- Prohibitions

§ 37-54-514. Appraiser Independence -- Prohibitions

Appraiser independence -- prohibitions. (1) An employee, director, officer, or agent of an appraisal management company registered in this state may not influence or attempt to influence the development, reporting, or review of an appraisal through coercion, extortion, collusion, compensation, inducement, intimidation, or bribery or in any other manner, including but not limited to: (a) withholding or threatening to withhold timely payment for an appraisal; (b) withholding or threatening to withhold future business for an appraisal assignment or demoting or terminating or threatening to demote or terminate an appraiser; (c) expressly or impliedly promising future business, promotions, or increased compensation for an appraiser; (d) conditioning the request for an appraisal or the payment of an appraisal fee, salary, or bonus on the opinion, conclusion, or valuation to be reached or on a preliminary estimate or opinion requested from an appraiser; (e) requesting that an 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 appraiser's completion of an appraisal; (f) providing to an 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 a purchase transaction may be provided; (g) providing stock or other financial or nonfinancial benefits to an appraiser or a person related to the appraiser; (h) allowing the removal of an appraiser from an appraiser panel without prior written notice to the appraiser; or (i) performing any other act or practice that impairs or attempts to impair an appraiser's independence, objectivity, or impartiality. (2) Subsection (1) may not be construed as prohibiting an appraisal management company from requesting that an appraiser: (a) consider additional appropriate property information that falls within the original scope of work for that appraisal service; (b) provide additional information about the basis for a valuation; or (c) correct objective factual errors in an appraisal report.