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A complaint must be in writing and must be signed by the complainant. Board staff may initiate a complaint. (1)Upon receipt of a complaint, staff shall: (A)assign the complaint a case number in the complaint tracking system; and (B)send written acknowledgement of receipt to the complainant. (2)If the staff determines at any time that the complaint is not within the Board's jurisdiction or that no violation exists, the complaint shall then be dismissed with no further processing. The Board or the commissioner may delegate to Board staff the duty to dismiss complaints. (3)A complaint alleging mortgage fraud or in which mortgage fraud is suspected: (A)may be investigated covertly; and (B)shall be referred to the appropriate prosecutorial authorities. (4)Staff may request additional information necessary to proceed with the complaint. (5)A copy of the complaint and all supporting documentation shall be sent to the respondent unless the complaint qualifies for covert investigation and the Standards and Enforcement Services Division deems covert investigation appropriate. (6)The respondent shall submit a response within 20 days of receiving a copy of the complaint. The 20-day period may be extended for good cause upon request in writing or by e-mail. (A)The response shall include the following: (i)a copy of the respondent's work file; (ii)a narrative response to the complaint, addressing each and every element thereof; (iii)a list of any and all persons known to the respondent to have actual knowledge of any of the matters made the subject of the complaint and, if in the respondent's possession, contact information; and (iv)the following statement in the letter transmitting the response: EXCEPT AS SPECIFICALLY SET FORTH HEREIN, THE COPY OF EACH AND EVERY APPRAISAL WORK FILE ACCOMPANYING THIS RESPONSE IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF THE ACTUAL WORK FILE, AND NOTHING HAS BEEN ADDED TO OR REMOVED FROM THIS WORK FILE OR ALTERED AFTER PLACEMENT IN THE WORK FILE. (B)Any supporting documentation that was not in the work file must be conspicuously labeled as such and kept separate from the work file. (C)The respondent may also address other matters not raised in the complaint that the respondent believes likely to be raised and may be supported by documentation contained in the work file. (7)The complaint shall be assigned to a staff investigator and shall be investigated by the staff investigator or peer investigative committee, as appropriate. (8)The staff investigator or peer investigative committee assigned to investigate a complaint shall prepare a report detailing its findings on a form approved by the Board for that purpose. Reports prepared by a peer investigative committee shall be reviewed by the Standards and Enforcement Services Division, which shall determine the appropriate disposition of the complaint. (9)In determining the proper disposition of a complaint and subject to the maximum penalties authorized under Texas Occupations Code §1103.552, staff shall consider the following penalty matrix: Attached Graphic (A)For the purposes of the matrix in this paragraph, a person will not be considered to have had a prior occurrence unless the Board had taken final action against the person before the date of the appraisal that led to the subsequent disciplinary action. (B)In addition to the guidelines outlined in the matrix, staff may recommend any or all of the following: (i)reducing or increasing the recommended penalty based on documented factors that support the deviation, including but not limited to the number or seriousness of the violation(s) and degree of harm to the public; (ii)probating all or a portion of a sanction or administrative penalty for a period not to exceed five years; (iii)requiring additional reporting requirements; and (iv)such other recommendations, with documented support, as will achieve the purposes of the Act, the Rules, and/or USPAP. (10)Agreed resolutions of complaint matters pursuant to Texas Occupations Code §1103.458 or §1103.459 must be signed by the respondent, a representative of the enforcement division, and the commissioner. Such agreements may become effective prior to being submitted to the board for approval at a future meeting.
This agency hereby
certifies that the proposal
has been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's
legal authority to adopt.
Filed with the Office
of the Secretary of State on December 18, 2009
TRD-200905967 Devon V. Bijansky
General Counsel
Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board
Earliest possible date of adoption: January 31, 2010
For further information, please call: (512) 465-3938
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