§3409. Disciplinary proceedings

A. The board may censure a licensed real estate appraiser, conditionally or unconditionally suspend or revoke any license issued under this Chapter, levy fines or impose civil penalties not to exceed five thousand dollars, or impose continuing education requirements on licensees if, in the opinion of the board, a licensee is performing, is attempting to perform, has performed, or has attempted to perform any of the following acts:

(1) Committing any act in violation of this Chapter.

(2) Violating any rule or regulation adopted by the board in the interest of the public and consistent with the provisions of this Chapter.

(3) Knowingly making any false representation to any party in developing or communicating an appraisal.

(4) Accepting an appraisal assignment when the employment itself is contingent upon the appraiser reporting a predetermined analysis or opinion or where the fee to be paid for the performance of this appraisal assignment is contingent upon the opinion, conclusion, or valuation reached or upon the consequences resulting from the appraisal assignment.

(5) Violating the confidential nature of governmental records to which he gained access through employment or engagement as an appraiser by a governmental agency.

(6) Procuring a license for himself or anyone else by fraud, misrepresentation, or deceit.

(7) Having been convicted of a felony or having entered a plea of nolo contendere to a felony charge.

(8) Failing to make available to the board for its inspection, without prior notice, originals or true copies of all written contracts engaging the person's services to appraise real property and all reports and supporting data assembled and formulated by the appraiser in preparing the reports.

(9) Paying a fee or valuable consideration to any person for acts or services performed in violation of this Chapter.

(10) Acting as a real estate appraiser in an unworthy or incompetent manner that may endanger the public interest.

B.(1) Sole authority for the conduct of adjudicatory proceedings in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act for violations of this Chapter is vested in the board.

(2) Before censuring any licensee, or suspending or revoking any license, the board shall notify the licensee in writing of any charges made at least twenty days prior to the date set for the hearing and shall afford him an opportunity to be heard in person or by counsel.

(3) The written notice shall be satisfied by personal service on the respondent, or by sending the notice by certified mail to the licensee's address on file with the board, or by hand delivery from board personnel.

(4) The board shall have the power to subpoena and issue subpoenas duces tecum and to bring before it any person in this state to take testimony by deposition, in the same manner as prescribed by law in judicial proceedings in the courts of this state, or to require production of any records relevant to any inquiry or hearing by the board.

C.(1) The hearing on the charges shall be at a time and place prescribed by the board and in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act.

(2) The board may make findings of fact and shall deliver or mail such findings to the licensee charged with an offense under this Chapter. Any finding of fact by the board pursuant to this Subsection shall be conclusive.

(3) Any final decision or determination of the board in adjudicatory proceedings shall be reviewable as to questions of law by the Ninteenth Judicial District Court in the parish of East Baton Rouge. Any application for judicial review made by an aggrieved party shall be filed within thirty days after the final decision of the board.

(4) If a petition to review the final decision of the board is filed, the case shall be specifically fixed for trial within thirty days from the filing of an answer by the board. If the court finds that the board has properly pursued its authority in accordance with the law, is supported by evidence in the record, and has not acted arbitrarily, it shall affirm the decision, order, or ruling of the board.

(5) If an appeal is filed in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court, the court shall receive the entire record of the hearing.

(6) Absent an agreement of counsel for all parties, no stay of enforcement of a decision issued by the board shall be granted during the pendency of an appeal unless the Nineteenth Judicial District Court finds that the applicant has established that the issuance of the stay does not threaten harm to other interested parties.

(7) No stay shall be granted ex parte. The court shall schedule a hearing on the request for a stay order within ten days from filing. The decisions shall be rendered within five days after the conclusion of the hearing.

(8) No judicial order staying or enjoining the effectiveness or enforcement of a final decision or order of the board in an adjudication proceeding, whether issued pursuant to R.S. 37:3409 or otherwise, shall be effective, or be issued to be effective, longer than either of the following:

(a) One hundred twenty days from the date on which the board's decision or order was rendered.

(b) The date on which the court enters judgment in a proceeding for judicial review of the board's decision or order pursuant to R.S. 49:964, whichever occurs first.

D. The board may also suspend or revoke the license of a real estate appraiser based upon a final civil judgment against the appraiser on grounds of fraud, misrepresentation, or deceit in the making of an appraisal of real property. In a disciplinary proceeding based upon such judgment, the licensed real estate appraiser shall be afforded notice and the opportunity to present matters in mitigation and extenuation but shall not collaterally attack the civil judgment.

E. It shall be the duty of each licensed real estate appraiser to notify the board within ten days by registered or certified mail or by hand delivery of the following actions:

(1) The rendering of a final judgment against the appraiser by a court of competent jurisdiction the subject matter of which involves a real estate appraisal transaction to which the appraiser was a party.

(2) The institution of criminal prosecution by arrest or indictment which involves a real estate appraisal transaction to which the appraiser was a party.

(3) Any conviction of the appraiser by a court of competent jurisdiction for forgery, embezzlement, obtaining money under false pretenses, larceny, extortion, conspiracy to defraud, theft, any other felony, or any crime involving moral turpitude.

(4) Any sanction imposed on the appraiser by another jurisdiction.

F. A licensed real estate appraiser shall not participate in the preparation of federally related real estate appraisals during any period in which his license has been suspended by the board pursuant to adjudicatory proceedings.

Acts 1987, No. 472, §1; Acts 1991, No. 412, §1; Acts 1993, No. 949, §1; Acts 1995, No. 690, §2; Acts 1999, No. 158, §1; Acts 2003, No. 341, §1; Acts 2014, No. 213, §1.