Definitions

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Professions and Businesses
  4. Real Estate Appraisers
  5. Definitions

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As used in this chapter, the term:

  1. "Affiliate" means any company that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another company.
  2. "Analysis" means a study of real estate or real property other than one estimating value.
  3. "Appraisal" or "real estate appraisal" means an analysis, opinion, or conclusion prepared by an appraiser relating to the nature, quality, value, or utility of specified interests in, or aspects of, identified real estate. An appraisal may be classified by subject matter into either a valuation or an analysis.
    1. "Appraisal management company" means a person that:
      1. Provides appraisal management services to creditors or to secondary mortgage market participants, including affiliates;
      2. 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; or
      3. Within a 12 month period, oversees an appraiser panel of more than 15 state certified or state licensed appraisers in one state or 25 or more state certified or state licensed appraisers in two or more states as described in Code Section 43-39A-14.3.
    2. "Appraisal management company" shall not mean:
      1. Any person licensed to practice law in this state who orders an appraisal in connection with a bona fide client relationship when that person directly contracts with an appraiser;
      2. Any person that contracts with an appraiser acting as an independent contractor for the completion of a real estate appraisal assignment and that, upon the completion of such an assignment, cosigns the appraisal report with the appraiser who is acting as an independent contractor;
      3. Any federal, state, or local government or any of its departments, agencies, or authorities that order appraisals;
      4. Any person that orders an appraisal on behalf of any federal, state, or local government or its departments, agencies, or authorities as an employee thereof;
      5. A relocation company; or
      6. A department or division of an entity that provides appraisal management services only to such entity.
  5. "Appraisal Management Company National Registry" means the registry of state registered appraisal management companies and federally regulated appraisal management companies maintained by the Appraisal Subcommittee.
  6. "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 mortgage market participants, collecting fees from creditors and secondary mortgage market participants for services provided, and paying appraisers for services performed; and
    4. Reviewing and verifying the work of appraisers.
  7. "Appraisal report" means any communication, written or oral, of an appraisal. For purposes of this chapter, the testimony of an appraiser dealing with the appraiser's analyses, conclusions, or opinions concerning identified real property is deemed to be an oral appraisal report.
  8. "Appraisal review" means the act or process of developing and communicating an opinion about the quality of another appraiser's work that was performed as part of an appraisal assignment, except that an examination of an appraisal for grammatical, typographical, or other similar errors shall not be an appraisal review.
  9. "Appraisal Subcommittee" means the Appraisal Subcommittee of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council established pursuant to 12 U.S.C. Section 3310.
  10. "Appraiser" means any individual who, for a valuable consideration or with the intent or expectation of receiving the same from another, engages in real estate appraisal activity on any type of real estate or real property.
  11. "Appraiser classification" means any category of appraiser which the board creates by designating criteria for qualification for such category and by designating the scope of practice permitted for such category, including the registration of real estate appraisal management companies.
  12. "Appraiser panel" means a network, list, or roster of state certified or state licensed appraisers approved by an appraisal management company to perform appraisals as independent contractors for the appraisal management company.
  13. "Board" means the Georgia Real Estate Appraisers Board established pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
  14. "Client" means any person that enters into an agreement with an appraiser or an appraisal management company for the performance of real estate appraisal activity.
  15. "Commission" means the Georgia Real Estate Commission created in Code Section 43-40-2.
  16. "Commissioner" means the real estate commissioner.
  17. "Consumer credit" means credit offered or extended to a consumer primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.
  18. "Controlling person" means:
    1. An owner, officer, or director of a corporation, partnership, or other business entity seeking to offer appraisal management services in this state;
    2. An individual employed, appointed, or authorized by an appraisal management company who has the authority to enter into a contractual relationship with other persons for the performance of appraisal management services and has the authority to enter into agreements with appraisers for the performance of appraisals; or
    3. An individual who possesses, directly or indirectly, the power to direct or cause the direction of the management or policies of an appraisal management company.
  19. "Covered transaction" means any consumer credit transaction secured by the consumer's principal dwelling.
  20. "Creditor" means a person that 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 which the obligation is initially payable, either on the face of the note or contract or by agreement when there is no note or contract.
  21. "Dwelling" means a residential structure that contains one to four units, whether or not such structure is attached to real property. Such term includes an individual condominium unit, cooperative unit, mobile home, and trailer, if it is used as a residence.
  22. "Federally related transaction" means any real estate related financial transaction which:
    1. A federal financial institutions regulatory agency or the Resolution Trust Corporation engages in, contracts for, or regulates; and
    2. Requires the services of an appraiser.
  23. "Federally regulated appraisal management companies" means appraisal management companies that are owned and controlled by a federal credit union as defined in 12 U.S.C. Section 1752 and insured by the National Credit Union Administration or by an insured depository institution as defined in 12 U.S.C. Section 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.
  24. "Independent appraisal assignment" means an engagement for which an appraiser is employed or retained to act, or would be perceived by third parties or the public as acting, as a disinterested third party in rendering an unbiased analysis, opinion, or conclusion relating to the nature, quality, value, or utility of identified real estate or identified real property.
  25. "Owner" means any person who owns 10 percent or more of an appraisal management company.
  26. "Person" means a natural person or an organization, including a corporation, limited liability company, partnership, proprietorship, association, cooperative, estate, trust, or government unit.
  27. "Real estate" means condominiums and leaseholds as well as any other interest or estate in land, whether corporeal, incorporeal, freehold, or nonfreehold and whether the real estate is situated in this state or elsewhere. Such term also includes any structure or structures equipped with the necessary service connections and made so as to be readily moveable as a unit or units when such a structure is affixed to land.
  28. "Real estate appraisal activity" means the act or process of valuation of real estate or real property and preparing an appraisal report.
  29. "Real estate related financial transaction" means any transaction involving:
    1. The sale, lease, purchase, or exchange of or investment in real estate or real property or the financing thereof;
    2. The refinancing of real estate or real property; and
    3. The use of real estate or real property as security for a loan or investment, including mortgage backed securities.
  30. "Real property" means one or more defined interests, benefits, and rights inherent in the ownership of real estate.
  31. "Relocation company" means a business entity that acts as an agent or contractor of an employer for the purposes of relocating the employees of such employer and determining an anticipated sales price of the residences of the employees being relocated.
  32. "Regularly extends consumer credit" means:
    1. Extending credit (other than credit subject to the requirements of 12 C.F.R. 1026.32) more than five times for transactions secured by a dwelling in the preceding calendar year;
    2. Extending credit (other than credit subject to the requirements of 12 C.F.R. 1026.32) more than five times for transactions secured by a dwelling in the current calendar year if credit was not extended more than five times in the preceding calendar year; or
    3. Originating in a 12 month period more than one credit extension that is subject to the requirements of 12 C.F.R. 1026.32 or one or more such credit extensions through a mortgage broker.
  33. "Secondary mortgage market participant" means a guarantor or insurer of mortgage backed securities or an underwriter or issuer of mortgage backed securities. Such term only includes an individual investor in a mortgage backed security if such investor also serves in the capacity of a guarantor, insurer, underwriter, or issuer for the mortgage backed security.
  34. "Specialized services" means services, other than independent appraisal assignments which are performed by an appraiser. Specialized services may include marketing, financing, and feasibility studies; valuations; analyses; and opinions and conclusions given in connection with activities such as real estate brokerage, mortgage banking, real estate counseling, and real estate tax counseling.
  35. "State" means any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the territories of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands.
  36. "Valuation" means an estimate of the value of real estate or real property.

(Code 1981, §43-39A-2, enacted by Ga. L. 1990, p. 1701, § 1; Ga. L. 1991, p. 266, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1402, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 405, § 1; Ga. L. 2003, p. 370, § 1; Ga. L. 2010, p. 765, § 2/HB 1050; Ga. L. 2011, p. 752, § 43/HB 142; Ga. L. 2012, p. 1099, §§ 1, 2/SB 365; Ga. L. 2019, p. 724, § 1/HB 192.)

The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, added paragraph (1); redesignated former paragraphs (1) through (3) as present paragraphs (2) through (4), respectively; rewrote subparagraph (4)(A); substituted "shall not mean" for "does not include" in subparagraph (4)(B); substituted "that" for "who" twice in division (4)(B)(ii), division (4)(B)(iv), and paragraph (14); deleted "or" at the end of division (4)(B)(iv); inserted "; or" at the end of division (4)(B)(v); added division (4)(B)(vi); deleted former paragraph (4), which read: " 'Appraisal management services' means services performed by an appraisal management company and may include, but are not limited to, such activities as recruiting appraisers, contracting with appraisers to perform real estate appraisal activity, negotiating fees for appraisals, receiving appraisal orders and appraisal reports, and submitting appraisal reports received from appraisers to clients."; added paragraphs (5) and (6); redesignated former paragraphs (5) through (11) as present paragraphs (7) through (13), respectively; in paragraph (9), substituted "Appraisal Subcommittee of" for "designees of the heads of the federal financial institutions regulatory agencies established by", and substituted "established pursuant to 12 U.S.C. Section 3310" for "Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. Section 3301, et seq.), as amended"; substituted "individual" for "person" near the beginning of paragraph (10); rewrote paragraph (12); deleted former paragraph (12), which read: " 'Certified appraisal' or 'certified appraisal report' means an appraisal or appraisal report given, signed, and certified as such by a certified real estate appraiser. A certified appraisal or appraisal report represents to the public that it meets the appraisal standards defined in this chapter."; redesignated former paragraphs (13) through (15) as present paragraphs (14) through (16), respectively; added paragraph (17); redesignated former paragraph (16) as present paragraph (18); added paragraphs (19) through (21); deleted former paragraph (17), which read: " 'Evaluation assignment' means an engagement for which an appraiser is employed or retained to give an analysis, opinion, or conclusion that relates to the nature, quality, or utility of identified real estate or identified real property."; redesignated former paragraph (18) as present paragraph (22); in paragraph (22), inserted a colon following "transaction which", designated the existing (A) and (B) as subparagraphs (22)(A) and (22)(B), substituted "A federal" for "a federal" at the beginning of subparagraph (22)(A), substituted "Requires" for "requires" at the beginning of subparagraph (22)(B); added paragraph (23); redesignated former paragraphs (19) through (25.1) as present paragraphs (24) through (31), respectively; substituted "10" for "5" in paragraph (25); rewrote paragraph (26); added paragraphs (32) and (33); redesignated former paragraphs (26) through (28) as present paragraphs (34) through (36), respectively; rewrote paragraph (35); and deleted former paragraph (29), which read: " 'Valuation assignment' means an engagement for which an appraiser is employed or retained to give an analysis, opinion, or conclusion that estimates the value of an identified parcel of real estate or identified real property at a particular point in time."

Code Commission notes.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1997, "corporeal" was substituted for "corporal" in paragraph (14) (now (22)).


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