Rhode Island General Laws 5-20.9-16. Investigations
(a) If the department has reasonable grounds to believe that an appraisal management company has violated the provisions of this chapter or that facts exist that would be the basis for an order against an appraisal management company, the department may at any time investigate or examine the books, accounts, records, and files of any registrant or other person relating to the complaint or matter under investigation. The department may require any registrant or other person to submit a criminal history record check in connection with any examination or investigation. Refusal to submit the requested criminal history record check shall be grounds for disciplinary action. The reasonable cost of this investigation or examination shall be charged against the registrant.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 5-20.9-16
- Appraisal: A determination of property value.
- Appraisal: means an analysis, opinion, or conclusion relating to the nature, quality, value, or utility of specified interests in, or aspects of, identified real estate. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-20.9-2
- Appraisal management company: means :
(i) In connection with valuing properties collateralizing mortgage loans or mortgages incorporated into a securitization, any external third party authorized either by a creditor of a consumer credit transaction secured by a consumer's principal dwelling, or by an underwriter of or other principal in the secondary mortgage markets, that oversees a network or panel of more than fifteen (15) certified or licensed appraisers in Rhode Island or twenty-five (25) or more nationally, excluding those appraisers who do not provide appraisal services for covered transactions, within a given year to:
(A) Recruit, select, and retain appraisers;
(B) Contract with licensed and certified appraisers to perform appraisal assignments;
(C) Manage the process of having an appraisal performed, including providing administrative duties such as receiving appraisal orders and appraisal reports, submitting completed appraisal reports to creditors and underwriters, collecting fees from creditors and underwriters for services provided, and reimbursing appraisers for services performed; or
(D) Review and verify the work of appraisers. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-20.9-2
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Department: means the department of business regulation. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-20.9-2
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
(b) The department shall have the power to issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of persons and the production of papers and records before the department in any hearing, investigation, inquiry, or other proceeding conducted by it. Upon the production of any papers, records, or documents, the department shall have the power to authorize true copies thereof to be substituted in the permanent record of the matter in which the books, records, or documents shall have been introduced in evidence.
(c) The department may from time to time conduct routine examinations of the books and records of an appraisal management company registered with the department in order to determine the compliance with this chapter and any rules promulgated thereunder.
History of Section.
P.L. 2017, ch. 14, § 1; P.L. 2017, ch. 26, § 1.