225 ILCS 459/165

(225 ILCS 459/165)

Sec. 165. Prohibited activities.

(a) No person or entity acting in the capacity of an appraisal management company shall improperly influence or attempt to improperly influence the development, reporting, result, or review of any appraisal by engaging, without limitation, in any of the following:

(1) Withholding or threatening to withhold timely payment for a completed appraisal, except where addressed in a mutually agreed upon contract.

(2) Withholding or threatening to withhold, either expressed or by implication, future business from, or demoting, or terminating, or threatening to demote or terminate an Illinois licensed or certified appraiser.

(3) Expressly or impliedly promising future business, promotions, or increased compensation for an independent appraiser.

(4) Conditioning an assignment for an appraisal service or the payment of an appraisal fee or salary or bonus on the opinion, conclusion, or valuation to be reached in an appraisal report.

(5) Requesting that an appraiser provide an estimated, predetermined, or desired valuation in an appraisal report or provide estimated values or sales at any time prior to the appraiser's completion of an appraisal report.

(6) Allowing or directing the removal of an appraiser from an appraisal panel without prior written notice to the appraiser.

(7) Requiring an appraiser to sign a non-compete clause when not an employee of the entity.

(8) Requiring an appraiser to sign any sort of indemnification agreement that would require the appraiser to defend and hold harmless the appraisal management company or any of its agents, employees, or independent contractors 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.

(9) Prohibiting or attempting to prohibit the appraiser from including or referencing the appraisal fee, the appraisal management company name or identity, or the client's or lender's name or identity within the body of the appraisal report.

(10) Require an appraiser to collect a fee from the borrower or occupant of the property to be appraised.

(11) Knowingly withholding any end-user client guidelines, policies, requirements, standards, assignment conditions, and special instructions from an appraiser prior to the acceptance of an appraisal assignment.

(b) A person or entity may not structure an appraisal assignment or a contract with an independent appraiser for the purpose of evading the provisions of this Act.

(c) No registrant or other person or entity may alter, modify, or otherwise change a completed appraisal report submitted by an independent appraiser, including without limitation, by doing either of the following:

(1) permanently or temporarily removing the appraiser's signature or seal; or

(2) adding information to, or removing information from, the appraisal report with an intent to change the value conclusion or the condition of the property.

(d) No appraisal management company may require an appraiser to provide it with the appraiser's digital signature or seal. However, nothing in this Act shall be deemed to prohibit an appraiser from voluntarily providing his or her digital signature or seal to another person on an assignment-by-assignment basis, in accordance with USPAP.

(e) Nothing in this Act shall prohibit an appraisal management company from requesting that an appraiser:

(1) consider additional appropriate property information, including the consideration of additional comparable properties to make or support an appraisal;

(2) provide further detail, substantiation, or explanation for the appraiser's value conclusion; or

(3) correct factual errors in the appraisal report.

(Source: P.A. 97-602, eff. 8-26-11.)