Sec. 20-500. Definitions.

As used in sections 20-500 to 20-529e, inclusive, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) “Appraisal” means the practice of developing an opinion of the value of real property, in conformance with the USPAP.

(2) “Appraisal Foundation” means the not-for-profit corporation referred to in Section 1121 of Title XI of FIRREA.

(3) “Appraisal management company” means any person, partnership, association, limited liability company or corporation that performs appraisal management services. “Appraisal management company” does not include:

(A) An appraiser that enters into a written or oral agreement with another appraiser for the performance of an appraisal, which is signed by both appraisers upon completion;

(B) An appraisal management company that (i) is wholly owned by a financial institution subject to regulation by an agency or department of the United States government or an agency of this state, and (ii) only receives appraisal requests from an employee of such financial institution. For the purposes of this subdivision, “financial institution” means a bank, as defined in section 36a-2, an out-of-state bank, as defined in section 36a-2, an institutional lender, any subsidiary or affiliate of such bank, out-of-state bank or institutional lender, or other lender licensed by the Department of Banking;

(C) A department or unit of a financial institution subject to regulation by an agency or department of the United States government or an agency of this state that only receives appraisal requests from an employee of such financial institution; or

(D) Any local, state or federal agency or department thereof.

(4) “Appraisal management services” means any of the following:

(A) The administration of an appraiser panel;

(B) The recruitment of certified appraisers to be part of an appraiser panel, including, but not limited to, the negotiation of fees to be paid to, and services to be provided by, such appraisers for their participation on such panel; or

(C) The receipt of an appraisal request or order and the delivery of such request or order to an appraiser panel.

(5) “Appraiser panel” means a network of appraisers who are certified in accordance with the requirements established by the commission by regulation, who are independent contractors of an appraisal management company and who have:

(A) Responded to an invitation, request or solicitation from an appraisal management company to perform appraisals (i) requested or ordered through such company, or (ii) directly for such company on a periodic basis as assigned by the company; and

(B) Been selected and approved by such company.

(6) “Certified appraiser” means a person who has satisfied the minimum requirements for a category of certification established by the commission by regulation. Such minimum requirements shall be consistent with guidelines established by the Appraisal Qualification Board of the Appraisal Foundation. The categories of certification shall include, but may be modified by the commission thereafter, one category denoted as “certified residential appraiser” and another denoted as “certified general appraiser”.

(7) “Commission” means the Connecticut Real Estate Appraisal Commission appointed under the provisions of section 20-502.

(8) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Consumer Protection.

(9) “Compliance manager” means a person who holds an appraiser certification in at least one state and who is responsible for overseeing the implementation of, and compliance with, procedures for an appraisal management company to:

(A) Verify that a person being added to the appraiser panel of the company holds a license in good standing in accordance with section 20-509;

(B) Maintain detailed records of each appraisal request or order the company receives and of the appraiser who performs such appraisal; and

(C) Review on a periodic basis the work of all appraisers performing appraisals for the company to ensure that such appraisals are being conducted in accordance with the USPAP.

(10) “Controlling person” means a person who has not had an appraiser license or a similar license or appraiser certificate denied, refused to be renewed, suspended or revoked in any state and who:

(A) Is an owner, officer or director of a partnership, association, limited liability company or corporation offering or seeking to offer appraisal management services in this state;

(B) Is employed by an appraisal management company and has the authority to enter into contracts or agreements for the performance of appraisal management services or appraisals, or is appointed or authorized by such company to enter into such contracts or agreements; or

(C) May exercise authority over or direct the management or policies of an appraisal management company.

(11) “Engaging in the real estate appraisal business” means the act or process of estimating the value of real estate for a fee or other valuable consideration.

(12) “FIRREA” means the Financial Institutions, Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989, P.L. 101-73, 103 Stat. 183.

(13) “Person” means an individual.

(14) “Provisional appraiser” means a person engaged in the business of estimating the value of real estate for a fee or other valuable consideration under the supervision of a certified real estate appraiser and who meets the minimum requirements, if any, established by the commission by regulation for provisional appraiser status.

(15) “Provisional license” means a license issued to a provisional appraiser.

(16) “Real estate appraiser” or “appraiser” means a person engaged in the business of estimating the value of real estate for a fee or other valuable consideration.

(17) “USPAP” means the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice issued by the Appraisal Standards Board of the Appraisal Foundation pursuant to Title XI of FIRREA.

(P.A. 93-354, S. 25, 54; P.A. 94-36, S. 41, 42; P.A. 95-79, S. 71, 189; P.A. 98-10, S. 67; P.A. 00-192, S. 54, 102; P.A. 10-77, S. 1; P.A. 14-52, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 93-354 effective in accordance with Sec. 20-528; P.A. 94-36 changed effective date of P.A. 93-354 but without affecting this section; P.A. 95-79 redefined “person” to include a limited liability company, effective May 31, 1995; P.A. 98-10 deleted former Subdiv. (6) as obsolete, renumbered former Subdivs. (7) to (11) as Subdivs. (6) to (10) and made other technical changes; P.A. 00-192 amended Subdivs. (3) and (7) by changing “tenured appraiser” to “limited appraiser” and amended Subdiv. (8) to delete partnership, association, limited liability company or corporation from the definition of “person”, effective May 26, 2000 (Revisor's note: In P.A. 00-192, S. 54, an opening bracket following an underscored period appeared in Subdiv. (8) without a corresponding closing bracket. After research, it is the opinion of the Revisors that the General Assembly intended to delete the phrase “, partnership, association, limited liability company or corporation.” from Subdiv. (8) while retaining all of the text of Subdivs. (9) and (10)); P.A. 10-77 applied definitions to Secs. 20-529 to 20-529e, defined “appraisal”, “appraisal management company”, “appraisal management services”, “appraiser panel”, “commissioner”, “compliance manager”, “controlling person” and “USPAP” in new Subdivs. (1), (3) to (5), (9) to (11) and (18), respectively, and redesignated existing Subdivs. (1) to (10) as Subdivs. (2), (6) to (8) and (12) to (17), respectively (Revisor's note: In 2011, a reference to “Banking Department” in Subdiv. (3)(B) was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Department of Banking” for accuracy); P.A. 14-52 deleted references to licensed appraisers throughout, deleted former Subdiv. (7) re definition of “limited appraiser”, redesignated existing Subdivs. (8) to (13) as Subdivs. (7) to (12), redefined “controlling person” in redesignated Subdiv. (10), deleted former Subdiv. (14) re definition of “licensed appraiser”, redesignated existing Subdivs. (15) and (16) as Subdivs. (13) and (14), added new Subdiv. (15) defining “provisional license”, redesignated existing Subdivs. (17) and (18) as Subdivs. (16) and (17), redefined “USPAP” in redesignated Subdiv. (17), and made technical changes, effective July 1, 2014.

Notation

Testifying in court re the value of real property does not constitute “engaging in the real estate appraisal business” for purposes of the statutory scheme. 320 C. 332.

Court did not improperly allow testimony of expert witness who was not a “real estate appraiser”, as defined in section, and testifying as to the value of property or diminution in value of property did not constitute “engaging in the real estate appraisal business” under section. 121 CA 105.