The House Commerce, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee will consider legislation on Wednesday that will augment the power and widen the profit margins of large corporations at the expense of small businesses and citizens. The bill, Regulation of Appraisal Management Companies (SB829), will, as currently written, place onerous regulations and assess fees on these companies that will disproportionately affect small business and bolster the market share and power of large corporations.
To qualify for registration, companies must register with the state, pay a filing fee of $5,000 and pay a subsequent annual free of $2,500. Large companies will much more easily be able to pay these registration fees while smaller appraisal management firms, the small businesses that create jobs, opportunity and wealth for many North Carolinians, will be burdened excessively, perhaps to the point of being unprofitable. Furthermore, companies that are able to pay the fee will simply pass along the added expense to consumers, making it more expensive for North Carolinians to do business.
Additionally, the legislation will require that each individual who owns more than ten percent of a registered company to be of “good moral character” as though it is falls under the purview of state government to ensure that business owners are of good moral character. Such intrusions into the lives of business owners and the subjectivity involved in assessing what qualifies as “good moral character” are inconsistent with the free market and individual liberty. The state continues to amass power and, as always, does so at the expense of its citizens.
Companies that are successfully registered will be required to designate compliance managers who will be tasked with ensuring that their respective companies operate in compliance with the legislation. The employee assigned this duty will be forced to spend time going through this bureaucratic red tape instead of being a productive worker and the overall productivity of the company will suffer as a result. For small businesses operating on the margin, this, in addition to the burdensome fees, may force the small business out of business.
It should come as no surprise that federal, state or municipal government entities as well as banks and credit unions are exempt.
It is no surprise that big business supports this legislation as it will decrease competition by forcing small businesses out of the market and creating a high barrier to entry for any new firms seeking to enter into the market. Onerous regulation will decrease the productivity of each company and the fees will simply be passed on to the consumer. Bottom line: the citizens of North Carolina will suffer while the state assesses the moral character of business owners and large corporations increase their profit margins.
You are right in your assessment of the proposed NC AMC fees on small businesses in the state. TAVMA shares your concern as do several small in-state AMCs that I’ve communicated with. Here’s a link to an article that I wrote that quantifies the challenge. I hope it is of some value to your readers and legislators.
Link: http://www.tavma.org/images/tav_doing%20the%20math_high%20amc%20fee.pdf