Illinois Amends its AMC Licensing Law

Effective July 13, 2018, Illinois amended its statutory scheme licensing appraisal management companies (AMC) to bring the state into compliance with several aspects of the federal AMC Minimum Standards Rule.

The Dodd-Frank Act required federal agencies to promulgate regulations implementing certain minimum requirements for states that choose to license and supervise AMCs. Beginning August 10, 2018, AMCs may not provide services for a federally-related transaction in a state unless the AMC is registered with the state or is subject to oversight by a federal financial institutions regulatory agency.  States effectively had three years to establish registration and supervision systems that meet the requirements of the federal AMC Minimum Standards Rule before AMCs in the state will be subject to the aforementioned restriction.  However, states may request a one year extension if the state has made substantial progress toward implementation of a system that meets the requirements under the AMC Minimum Standards Rule.

Illinois was granted a one year extension to bring its AMC licensure regime into compliance with the federal AMC Minimum Standards Rule.  The recent bill, enacted as Senate Bill 2617, makes a number of changes to Illinois’s AMC licensing statute. Specifically, among other changes, the bill authorizes the state regulator to collect fees for the national AMC registry, requires AMCs to file an annual report with the state regulator, gives the state regulator broader authority to investigate AMCs, allows the state regulator to consider an applicant’s moral character when granting or denying a registration, prohibits an AMC from being owned by an individual who has had his or her appraiser license or certificate refused, denied, canceled, surrendered in lieu of revocation, or revoked, and requires applicants to submit fingerprints for purposes of a criminal background check.

The bill is available here.