An appraisal management company manages a lender's appraisals: it takes the order, selects and engages a licensed or certified appraiser, reviews the report, and delivers it to the lender.
Last reviewed November 6, 2026.
Using one changes who does the work. It does not change what the lender answers for. The rules themselves are linked at their source, and they govern. A shorter answer is on the appraisal management FAQ.
What does an appraisal management company do for a lender?
An AMC does the appraisal management work a lender would otherwise do with its own staff.
Regulation Z, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rule on valuation independence, defines an AMC as a company authorized to do one or more of these things on the lender's behalf:
- Recruit, select and keep appraisers.
- Contract with appraisers for appraisal work.
- Manage each order: receive orders and reports, send completed reports to the lender and underwriters, collect fees from the lender, and pay the appraiser.
- Review and verify the appraiser's work.
The opinion of value stays with the appraiser. The AMC directs the appraiser to follow USPAP, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.
Is a lender required to use an appraisal management company?
No. A lender may manage appraisals with its own people or hand that work to an AMC, and the independence rules apply either way.
Under Regulation Z, no covered person may cause the value of the home to be based on "any factor other than the independent judgment of a person that prepares valuations." Covered persons include lenders, mortgage brokers, appraisers, AMCs and real estate agents, so the rule binds you and your AMC alike.
Fannie Mae's Selling Guide treats an AMC as an option: lenders may use third-party vendors, appraisal management companies among them, to manage appraiser selection.
For many lenders the practical question is staffing. Do you have enough people outside loan production to select appraisers, manage orders and review reports? If not, an AMC is one answer. It is one way to keep your loan staff away from the appraiser.
How does an AMC's fee relate to the appraiser's fee?
An AMC's charge to a lender pays for two things: the appraiser's work and the AMC's management of the order.
Federal law names them separately. The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act lets the settlement form show, for an appraisal coordinated by an AMC, the fee paid directly to the appraiser and the administration fee the AMC charges.
The appraiser's part has its own rule. Regulation Z requires the lender and its agents, AMCs included, to pay the appraiser a rate that is customary and reasonable for comparable work in the property's market.
When you compare AMCs, ask each one to show the two parts separately: what the appraiser receives and what the AMC charges for its own work.
What rules does an appraisal management company have to meet?
In a state that registers AMCs, an AMC not owned by a bank must register with the state's appraiser licensing agency and be supervised by it.
Those federal minimum requirements, adopted in 2015, also have the state require the AMC to engage only state-certified or state-licensed appraisers for federally related transactions, and to pick an appraiser who is independent of the transaction and qualified for the work.
The Appraisal Subcommittee's AMC Registry lets anyone search for AMCs a state has registered. The Subcommittee says it has not independently verified what the states provide, so check the state's own record as well. For the questions to put to any AMC, see how to choose an appraisal management company.
What does a lender still own when it uses an AMC?
The lender still owns the result: its independence policy, its review of what comes back, and the record that shows both.
Fannie Mae is direct about it. A lender that contracts with a vendor "is accountable for the quality of the work performed as if it was performed by an employee of the lender."
Three things stay on your side of the file:
- The independence policy. You, or your authorized agent, must have policies that make sure qualified appraisers are selected under Fannie Mae's requirements, including the Appraiser Independence Requirements. Say in the policy how your staff may talk to the appraiser. Regulation Z allows asking the appraiser to consider more property information, to explain or support the report, and to correct errors.
- The review. Fannie Mae's lender responsibilities include continually evaluating the appraiser's work through quality control. An AMC's review comes before yours. It does not replace it.
- The record. If you know of an independence violation at or before consummation, Regulation Z says you may not extend credit based on that valuation unless you document reasonable diligence showing the value is not materially misstated.
When an examiner or a board asks how your appraisal function works, those three are the answer, with or without an AMC. The regulations page links each rule at its source.
The Appraisal Hub provides residential appraisal management for banks, credit unions and mortgage lenders in twelve states. To see how we work with lenders, read appraisal management for lenders. For a question about an order, call (508) 850-9090 or send us a message.