Six states, including California, now have laws in place requiring various levels of regulation of Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs). Click the link below for an article appearing in Valuation Review. Confusion abounds as to what each state requires of the AMCs to be compliant.
http://www.valuationreview.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=270E8EBA5AF64172B917EBD588EDB85A&nm=Daily+News&type=news&mod=News&mid=5F249E552B2C49509BC41751816632F3&AudID=F0F48C5C19CB47B3A675FD6074A3CB8A&tier=3&nid=1231938861B64EF49DB8853A46D248D8
California's Office of Real Estate Appraisers (OREA) passed emergency regulations requiring AMCs to register within 30 days of passage on 12/30/2009. As of March 12, 2010, only six AMCs had registered on the OREA site. As always, enforcement of the laws and regulations will dictate the success or failure of said regulations. Click link below for OREA announcement.
http://www.orea.ca.gov/pdf/2010AMCRegs.pdf