For purposes of this subpart:
(a) Affiliate has the meaning
provided in 12 U.S.C. 1841.
(b) AMC National
Registry means the registry of State-registered AMCs and Federally
regulated AMCs maintained by the Appraisal Subcommittee.
(c) Appraisal Foundation means the Appraisal Foundation
established on November 30, 1987, as a not-for-profit corporation
under the laws of Illinois.
(d) (1) Appraisal management company
(AMC) means a person that:
(i) Provides appraisal
management services to creditors or to secondary mortgage market participants,
including affiliates;
(ii) 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
(iii) Within a 12-month
period, as defined in section 225.192(d), 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
two or more States, as described in section 225.192;
(2) An AMC does not include
a department or division of an entity that provides appraisal management
services only to that entity.
(e) Appraisal management services means one or more of the following:
(1) Recruiting, selecting, and retaining
appraisers;
(2) Contracting
with State-certified or State-licensed appraisers to perform appraisal
assignments;
(3) 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
(4) Reviewing and verifying the work of appraisers.
(f) 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” under this part 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 for purposes
of this part if the appraiser is treated as an independent contractor
by the AMC for purposes of Federal income taxation.
(g) Consumer credit means credit offered or extended to a
consumer primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.
(h) Covered transaction means any consumer
credit transaction secured by the consumer’s principal dwelling.
(i) Creditor means:
(1) A person who regularly extends consumer
credit that is subject to a finance charge or is payable by written
agreement in more than four 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.
(2) A person
regularly extends consumer credit if the person extended credit (other
than credit subject to the requirements of 12 CFR 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 CFR 1026.32 or one or more
such credit extensions through a mortgage broker.
(j) Dwelling means:
(1) A residential structure that contains
one to four 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.
(2) 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 for purposes of
this section.
(k) Federally regulated
AMC means an AMC that is owned and controlled by an insured depository
institution, as defined in 12 U.S.C. 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.
(l) 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. 3341-3343.
(m) Person means a natural person or an organization, including a corporation,
partnership, proprietorship, association, cooperative, estate, trust,
or government unit.
(n) 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.
(o) 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.
(p) Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal
Practice (USPAP) means the appraisal standards promulgated by
the Appraisal Standards Board of the Appraisal Foundation.
