Representatives of the North Dakota Appraisal Board told the Senate Industry and Business Committee that House Bill 1080 updates state law governing appraisal management companies (AMCs) to align with Title XI of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) as amended and the federal AMC rule. The committee closed the hearing and asked staff to prepare a consolidated version of the amendments for further review.

Joe Sheehan, a public member of the North Dakota Real Estate Appraiser Qualifications and Ethics Board, said HB 1080 updates the state AMC statute to comply with federal requirements and the Appraisal Subcommittee's review findings. "This is to bring the statute into compliance with Title XI and the AMC rule," Sheehan said, noting the appraisal subcommittee conducts periodic compliance reviews of state programs.

Dave Campbell, executive director of the North Dakota Appraiser Board, described the amendments as clarifying language that the Appraisal Subcommittee requested during its periodic review. Campbell said the requested changes focus on ownership requirements in NDCC 43-23.5 and replace confusing text with wording that mirrors the federal statute in areas such as whether an appraisal management company is barred from registration when an appraiser-owner's license was revoked for "substantive cause" and later reinstated.

Campbell said the clarifying language was developed in consultation with the Appraisal Subcommittee and stakeholders and that the board sought to "go back to the way the federal law is written and change it to match the federal law." He provided the committee a set of highlighted amendments that address ownership-interest provisions; he told members the changes do not expand regulatory authority but make the statute clearer.

Jill Beck, chief executive officer of the North Dakota Realtors, said her organization supports bringing the statute into compliance and viewed the amendments as primarily clarifying. "We do support the change to come into compliance," Beck said, and asked for additional time to review the final consolidated language.

Committee members discussed the yellow-highlighted amendment pages and asked staff to merge the House-passed text with the Appraisal Subcommittee–recommended clarifications. The hearing was closed with committee direction that staff prepare a single, clean version of the bill that incorporates the requested ownership‑requirement language for a future committee action.

Why it matters: Appraisal management companies are subject to federal oversight; state programs are reviewed by the Appraisal Subcommittee for conformity with Title XI and the AMC rule. The board said the changes are procedural to address ASC-identified areas of noncompliance and to clarify when owner reinstatement relieves an AMC from being barred from registration.

Next steps: Committee staff will prepare consolidated bill text reflecting the Appraiser Board's requested clarifications and the committee will reconvene to consider those amendments. No committee vote on final language was recorded in the transcript.