36-21D-10. Prohibited conduct--Grounds for discipline.

No employee, director, officer, agent, independent contractor or other third party acting on behalf of an appraisal management company may:

(1)    Improperly influence or attempt to improperly influence the development, reporting, result, or review of a real estate appraisal;

(2)    Intimidate, coerce, extort, bribe, blackmail, withhold payment for appraisal services, or threaten to exclude the real estate appraiser from future work in order to improperly obtain a desired result;

(3)    Condition payment of an appraisal fee upon the opinion, conclusion, or valuation to be reached;

(4)    Request a real estate appraiser to report a predetermined opinion, conclusion, or valuation or the desired valuation of any person or entity;

(5)    Engage in any other act or practice that impairs or attempts to impair a real estate appraiser's independence, objectivity, and impartiality;

(6)    Require a real estate appraiser to provide the appraisal management company with the appraiser's digital signature or seal;

(7)    Alter, amend, or change an appraisal report submitted by a real estate appraiser;

(8)    Remove an appraiser from a real estate appraiser panel without prior written notice to the appraiser, with the prior written notice including evidence of the following:

(a)    The appraiser's illegal conduct;

(b)    A violation of the appraisal standards adopted by the Department of Labor and Regulation pursuant to this chapter; or

(c)    Improper or unprofessional conduct; or

(9)    Require an appraiser to sign any indemnification agreement that would require the appraiser to defend and hold harmless the appraisal management company or any of its agents or employees for any liability, damage, losses, or claims arising out of the services performed by the appraisal management company or its agents, employees, or independent contractors and not the services performed by the appraiser.

A violation of this section may constitute grounds for discipline against an appraisal management company who is registered pursuant to the laws of the State of South Dakota.

Source: SL 2011, ch 184, § 10.