Appraisal Disclosure Requirements: Timing, Waivers, and Fees

Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B, your mortgage lender must meet specific appraisal disclosure requirements on any first-lien loan secured by a dwelling: it has to tell you, within three business days of your application, that you can receive copies of every appraisal and written valuation developed in connection with the loan, and then it has to deliver those copies for free, whether the loan closes or not.¹

What Counts as a Valuation You Can Receive

The rule is broader than the full appraisal report most borrowers picture. It covers every written valuation the lender develops or uses in connection with your application. The CFPB’s commentary specifically names reports from automated valuation models and broker price opinions prepared by real estate agents as examples of covered valuations.¹ If the lender ordered it and used it in deciding whether to extend credit, you can get a copy.

If more than one valuation was obtained, you are entitled to all of them, not just the one that supported the lender’s decision. Lenders sometimes run an automated model alongside a traditional appraisal or order a second appraisal; each written valuation is separately disclosable.¹

The Early Notice After You Apply

Before the appraisal exists, you should hear from the lender about your right to receive it. Regulation B requires the creditor to mail or deliver a written notice of your right to receive copies of all appraisals no later than three business days after receiving your application.¹ This notice is a separate step from actually sending you the appraisal report, which happens later in the process.

If the loan is not initially secured by a first lien on a dwelling but the lender later determines that it will be, the clock restarts: the notice is due within three business days of that determination.

When the Appraisal Copy Must Reach You

Two deadlines run in parallel, and the lender has to meet whichever comes first. The creditor must provide a copy of each completed appraisal or written valuation promptly upon completion, or at least three business days before closing, whichever is earlier.¹ An appraisal finished four weeks before closing should land in your inbox or mailbox within days, not at the signing table.

If the appraisal arrives late and the three-business-day window has already closed, the lender has to either push the closing date or get a valid waiver from you. Handing you the report at closing without one is not an option.

Electronic delivery is permitted only if you have affirmatively consented to receive electronic disclosures under the federal E-SIGN Act.² Without that consent, the lender has to use mail or hand delivery.

If the Loan Does Not Close

Your right to the appraisal copy survives a dead deal. Whether you withdrew, the lender denied the loan, or the transaction collapsed for any other reason, every completed valuation still has to be delivered. If you previously waived the prompt-delivery timing, the lender has no more than 30 days from the point it determines the transaction will not close to get the copies to you.³

Waiving the Three-Day Advance Window

You can waive the three-business-day advance delivery rule, and the waiver mechanics under Regulation B are more straightforward than many borrowers are told. There is no requirement of a “bona fide personal financial emergency” or a specially worded signed statement; that stricter test belongs to a different rule, the right-of-rescission waiver under Regulation Z.

Under Regulation B, the CFPB’s commentary recognizes two waiver scenarios:

At least three business days before closing, you give the lender an affirmative oral or written statement waiving the timing requirement.
Within three business days of closing, you give an affirmative oral or written waiver, but only to cover a revised appraisal that contains nothing more than clerical changes from a version you already received three or more business days before closing. Clerical changes are those with no impact on the estimated value or the methodology used to reach it.

A waiver only skips the advance-delivery window. The lender still has to put the appraisal copy in your hands at or before closing.³

You Pay for the Appraisal, Not for the Copy

Regulation B expressly prohibits charging you a fee for providing copies of appraisals and other written valuations.¹ The lender can still require a reasonable fee to reimburse the cost of the appraisal itself. The appraiser’s work is yours to pay for; the paperwork copy is not.

Higher-Priced Mortgage Loans: Extra Rules

If your loan is a “higher-priced mortgage loan” under Regulation Z, another layer of appraisal disclosure rules sits on top of the Regulation B requirements. Higher-priced loans are those with interest rates exceeding set thresholds above the average prime offer rate.

On these loans, the lender has to deliver a specific written disclosure stating: “We may order an appraisal to determine the property’s value and charge you for this appraisal. We will give you a copy of any appraisal, even if your loan does not close. You can pay for an additional appraisal for your own use at your own cost.” The notice is due within three business days of receiving your application.⁴

Two appraisals from two different appraisers are required before closing in certain flip scenarios:

The seller owned the property for 90 days or less and the purchase price exceeds the seller’s acquisition price by more than 10 percent.
The seller owned the property for 91 to 180 days and the purchase price exceeds the seller’s acquisition price by more than 20 percent.

The second appraisal has to analyze the price difference between the seller’s acquisition and your purchase, changes in market conditions, and any improvements made to the property. The lender can bill you for only one of the two appraisals.⁴ You must receive copies of both at no charge, no later than three business days before closing, with the 30-day backstop if the loan does not close.

Transactions These Rules Do Not Cover

A few application types sit outside Regulation B’s appraisal disclosure rule. Loans to business entities rather than individuals, such as a corporation financing an investment property, that are secured by a dwelling other than the borrower’s principal residence generally fall outside the requirement.¹ Business-purpose loans secured by a dwelling may also be exempt when the dwelling is taken only as additional collateral for a commercial line of credit rather than as the primary focus of the credit. The loan’s purpose drives the analysis, not the type of property.

Timing can also work differently for valuations tied to a loan modification or a home equity line of credit after the original loan has closed, though the underlying obligation to provide a copy generally still applies to most residential transactions secured by a first lien.

If the Lender Does Not Comply

A lender that fails to meet these requirements faces liability under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. You can recover actual damages for financial harm caused by the violation, and a court can award punitive damages of up to $10,000 in an individual action.⁵ In a class action, total punitive damages are capped at the lesser of $500,000 or one percent of the creditor’s net worth. If you prevail, the court adds attorney’s fees and litigation costs to the award.

Courts assessing damages weigh the frequency and persistence of the failures, whether the violations were intentional, the lender’s resources, and the number of borrowers affected. The statute of limitations is five years from the date of the violation, with an added one-year extension if a government enforcement action is already underway.⁵ A narrow good-faith defense exists for lenders that relied on an official CFPB rule or interpretation later changed; outside that safe harbor, liability does not depend on whether the failure was accidental or deliberate.

1
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1002.14 – Rules on Providing Appraisals and Other Valuations
2
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR Part 1002 – Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Regulation B)
3
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Comment for 1002.14 – Rules on Providing Appraisals and Valuations
4
eCFR. 12 CFR 1026.35 – Requirements for Higher-Priced Mortgage Loans
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1691e – Civil Liability