The license fee is $5,150. In accordance with Minn. Stat. 16E.22, this fee includes a $150 OET surcharge, which is being collected on behalf of the Minnesota Office of Enterprise Technology to fund a statewide electronic licensing system.

The Appraisal Management Company license law is found in Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 82C.

If you have questions about licenses, contact the Minnesota Department of Commerce Licensing Division at licensing.commerce@state.mn.us or 651-296-6319.

An Appraisal Management Company license term is one year, expiring on August 31.

How to Apply: 

To apply for an Appraisal Management Company license, go to www.pulseportal.com and submit an application electronically. 

1. Once you are at www.pulseportal.com, select "Minnesota Department of Commerce" as the Program and "Appraiser" as the Board.
2. Click on "Submit License Application" from the list of options.
3. Select “Organization” as the entity type and “Appraisal Management Company” as the License Type.
4. Enter the name of the company, the state that the company is from, and the company’s Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN).
5. Continue filling out the required information within the electronic application. 
6. At the end of the application, you will receive a “Confirmation Number” that can be used to check the status of the application within Pulse Portal by using the “Application Status Inquiry” feature”. If a discrepancy is found or the application is approved, it will be indicated within the “Application Status Inquiry” feature.

Once the application is paid for and submitted, additional documentation is required. Please click this link to download the “Minnesota AMC License Application Supplemental Forms” (.pdf). These forms must be completed and submitted to our office in order for a company to receive a license: 

Required Supplemental Forms: 

• Affidavit of Designated Controlling Person form
• Affidavit of Official Signing Application form
• Uniform Consent to Service of Process
• Biographical Statement and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) form for Owners, Partners and Officers.
• Disclosure of Company Owners, Partners and Officers (if not completed online).

Additional Documents that must be submitted:

• If the company is from Minnesota, a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation, Partnership Agreement or Articles of Organization from the Minnesota Secretary of State.
• If the company is not domiciled within Minnesota, a “Certificate of Authority to Transact Business” from the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office.
• If the applicant is a partnership, a partnership agreement.
• A certificate of good standing from the state of domicile.
• If the applicant has Minnesota employees, evidence of current workers' compensation coverage.
• If the business is operating under any name other than the exact corporate or partnership name, a copy of the "Assumed Name Certificate" issued by the Minnesota Secretary of State. (The name under which the business will be conducted must be exactly the same as the name under which the license will be issued.)

These forms must be completed and submitted to the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Licensing Division after the electronic application is submitted through the Pulse Portal. This supplemental information can be submitted via U.S. Mail or e-mailed to licensing.commerce@state.mn.us. Please indicate in the subject line “ATTN: AMC Processor”.

If an AMC is actively licensed or has been approved for a license, the company can use various tools that are provided within www.pulseportal.com in order to manage the active license. These features can be found by choosing the “MN Department of Commerce” as the “Program” and by choosing “Appraiser” as the “Board”. Some of the features you will see are specific for individual appraisers that are licensed within our state. The following features will be available to AMCs so they can manage their license: Search Licensees, Application/ Renewal Status Inquiry, Submit a License Application, Change your Address, Print a Letter of Certification, Print your License, and Renew your License (the renewal feature is available beginning in early July and is open through August 31st, each year). 

Please remember that it is the responsibility of the licensee to maintain license information and updates through Pulse Portal and with the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Licensing Division. If you have problems or questions while using Pulse Portal, Pulse support can be reached at: 1-866-274-4756.

Please contact the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Licensing Division (651-296-6319) for specific instructions if the AMC is updating the following information that has been previously filed with the initial application: Controlling Person, Owners, Officers & Partners, Signing Person, Service of Process information, and/or other major changes. There may be specific forms that the AMC may have to fill out and filed with the Department of Commerce.

An Appraisal Management Company (AMC) license expires annually on August 31. Application for renewal of a license is considered timely filed if received by the Department of Commerce before the date of the license expiration.  An AMC failing to make timely application for renewal of the license is unlicensed until the renewal license has been issued by the commissioner and is received by the licensee.

An application for renewal is considered properly filed if it is made upon the AMC License Renewal Form, contains the required information, and includes the required fee (see below).

Renewal applications can be submitted to the Minnesota Department of Commerce beginning July 1 of the applicable year.

Licenses timely and properly renewed are valid for a period of 12 months (that is, until August 31 of the applicable year).

Required Information

Only the requested information having changed from the most recent prior application must be submitted. In other words, complete only those sections of the form that ask for information that has changed since you submitted your previous application. If none of the information from your most recent prior application has changed, complete only the first page of the application and the Affidavit of Official Signing Application and submit them with the required fee.

Fee

The $2,650 non-refundable fee for license renewal, in the form of a check made payable to "Minnesota Department of Commerce," must accompany the application.  In accordance with Minn. Stat. §16E.22, this fee includes a $150 OET surcharge, which is being collected on behalf of the Minnesota Office of Enterprise Technology to fund a statewide electronic licensing system.

Mailing Instructions

Mail or deliver the completed, signed application, together with the fee and any supporting documents to the Department of Commerce, Licensing Division, 85 - 7th Place East, Suite 500, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101-2198.  Should there be any questions, please contact the Licensing Division at (651) 296-6319 or licensing.commerce@state.mn.us.

If you have questions about whether a license is required, please consult the License Minnesota website at http://www.license.mn.gov/. Click on "A-Z Indexes" or "Browse by Topics." If the information there does not answer your question, please send an e-mail to licensing.commerce@state.mn.us that explains your activities as specifically as possible.

Minn. Stat. §82C.03 Licensing

Subdivision 1. Requirement. It is unlawful for a person, corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, subsidiary, unit, or other business entity to directly or indirectly engage or attempt to engage in business as an appraisal management company, to directly or indirectly engage or attempt to perform appraisal management services, or to advertise or hold itself out as engaging in or conducting business as an appraisal management company without first obtaining a license issued by the commissioner under the provisions of this chapter.

Important Definitions

Appraisal
"Appraisal" means (noun) the act or process of developing an opinion of value; an opinion of value; (adjective) of or pertaining to appraising and related functions such as appraisal practice or appraisal services. For purposes of Chapter 82C, all appraisals or assignments that are referred to involve one to four unit single-family properties.

Appraisal Management Company
"Appraisal management company" means a corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, subsidiary, unit, or other business entity that directly or indirectly performs the following appraisal management services:

1. administers networks of independent contractors and/or employee appraisers to perform residential real estate appraisal assignments for clients;

2. receives requests for residential real estate appraisal services from clients and, for a fee paid by the client, enters into an agreement with one or more independent appraisers to perform the real estate appraisal services contained in the request; or

3. serves as a third-party broker of appraisal management services between clients and appraisers.

Appraisal Management Services
"Appraisal management services" means the process of directly or indirectly performing any of the following functions on behalf of a lender, financial institution, client, or any other person to:

1. administer an appraiser panel;

2. recruit, qualify, verify licensing or certification, and negotiate fees and service level expectations with persons who are part of an appraiser panel;

3. receive an order for an appraisal from one person, and deliver the order for the appraisal to an appraiser that is part of an appraiser panel for completion;

4. track and determine the status of orders for appraisals;

5. conduct quality control of a completed appraisal prior to the delivery of the appraisal to the person that ordered the appraisal; or

6. provide a completed appraisal performed by an appraiser to one or more clients.

Appraiser Panel
"Appraiser panel" means a network of licensed or certified appraisers who are independent contractors to the appraisal management company that have:

1. responded to an invitation, request, or solicitation from an appraisal management company, in any form, to perform appraisals for persons that have ordered appraisals through the appraisal management company, or to perform appraisals for the appraisal management company directly, on a periodic basis, as requested and assigned by the appraisal management company; and

2. been selected and approved by an appraisal management company to perform appraisals for any client of the appraisal management company that has ordered an appraisal through the appraisal management company, or to perform appraisals for the appraisal management company directly, on a periodic basis, as assigned by the appraisal management company.

Controlling Person
"Controlling person" means:

1. any owner, officer, or director of an appraisal management company seeking to offer appraisal management services in Minnesota;

2. an individual employed, appointed, or authorized by an appraisal management company that 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;

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; or

4. an individual who enters into:

• contractual relationships with clients for the performance of appraisal management services; and

• agreements with employed and independent appraisers for the performance of real estate appraisal services.

Exemptions
Exempt from licensure as an appraisal management company are:

1. a person that exclusively employs appraisers on an employer and employee basis for the performance of appraisals, and: the employer is responsible for ensuring that the appraisals are performed by employees in accordance with USPAP; and the employer accepts all liability associated with the performance of the appraisal by the employee;

2. a department or unit within a financial institution that is subject to direct regulation by an agency of the United States government, or to regulation by an agency of Minnesota, that receives a request for the performance of an appraisal from one employee of the financial institution, and another employee of the same financial institution assigns the request for the appraisal to an appraiser that is an independent contractor to the institution, except that an appraisal management company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of a financial institution shall not be considered a department or unit within a financial institution to which the provisions of Chapter 82C do not apply;

3. a person that enters into an agreement, whether written or otherwise, with an appraiser for the performance of an appraisal, and upon the completion of the appraisal, the report of the appraiser performing the appraisal is signed by both the appraiser who completed the appraisal and the appraiser who requested the completion of the appraisal, except that an appraisal management company may not avoid the requirements of Chapter 82C by requiring an employee of the appraisal management company that is an appraiser to sign an appraisal that is completed by an appraiser that is part of the appraisal panel of the appraisal management company; or

4. any governmental agency performing appraisals on behalf of that level of government or any agency performing ad valorem tax appraisals for county assessors.