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Jonathan Foxx
Lenders Compliance Group
President and Managing Director
LENDERS COMPLIANCE GROUP® is the country's first full-service mortgage risk management firms in the United States, devoted to offering a full suite of services in residential mortgage banking, respectively, to banks and nonbanks, independent mortgage professionals, and mortgage servicers. We also provide state-of-the-art mortgage quality control auditing and loan analytics.
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"mortgage licensees to submit reports of condition to the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry in such form and containing such information as the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry may require."

The Agencies' rules implementing the SAFE Act require MLOs to register with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry (Registry) within 180 days of the date the Registry begins accepting federal registrations. The Agencies will confirm the opening date for federal registration closer to the actual date and will publish notice of that date in the Federal Register.
On July 28, 2010, the Agencies announced the Federal Register publication of rules implementing the SAFE Act through this joint press release.
In any event, the federal bank and thrift regulatory agencies have said that they expect to be ready to accept residential mortgage loan originator registrations by about January 31, 2011.
Under the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (S.A.F.E. Act), loan originators must register with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry within 180 days of the date the Registry announces it can accept registrations. A precise date will be published in the Federal Register when it is determined, the agencies said.
A loan originator that does not register within the 180-day period will be prohibited from originating residential mortgage loans until it has completed its registration. There will be an exception for those who originated no more than five loans during the previous 12 months.
Rules adopted jointly by the agencies establish the registration requirements for loan originators employed by agency-regulated institutions and set the requirements for these institutions, which include the adoption of policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the S.A.F.E. Act and final rules.
The rules also require that each loan originator obtain a unique identifier through the Registry that will remain with that loan originator, regardless of changes in employment. This is intended to give consumers access to employment and other background information about loan originators. Registered mortgage loan originators and agency-regulated institutions will be required to provide these unique identifiers to consumers.
Compliance Effective: On or around January 31, 2011
OUTLINE OF MLO REGISTRATION TIMEFRAME
Visit Library for Issuance SAFE Act - Update: Registration of Residential Mortgage Loan Originators, FIL-1-2011 |
On December 6, 2010, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed a requirement that non-bank residential mortgage lenders and originators, just like other types of financial institutions, establish anti-money laundering (AML) programs and comply with suspicious activity report (SAR) regulations. The requirements are provided in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) authorizes the Treasury to issue regulations requiring financial institutions to keep records and file reports that the Secretary determines "have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax, or regulatory investigations or proceedings, or in the conduct of intelligence or counterintelligence activities, including analysis, to protect against international terrorism." The subject proposed rulemaking regarding residential mortgage lenders is derived from that authority.
At this time, the only mortgage originators that are required to file SARs are banks and insured depository institutions.
According to FinCEN, analyses of SARs in FinCEN's mortgage fraud reports show that non-bank mortgage lenders and originators initiated many of the mortgages that were associated with SAR filings.
The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking intends to provide prevention of mortgage fraud, including such activities as false statement, use of straw buyers, fraudulent flipping, and even identity theft associated with mortgage borrowing. These illegal activities, and others, have been identified in information provided by SARs.
This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was informed by comments received following an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) issued last year on July 21, 2009.
Comments: Due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Lenders Compliance Group provides a robust and comprehensive risk assessment for auditing SARs. If you would like to prepare for the SARs filing requirements and/or provide independent testing and monitoring for compliance, please contact us.
Minimum Requirements
(1) Policies and Procedures: incorporate policies, procedures, and internal controls based upon the loan or finance company's assessment of the money laundering and terrorist financing risks associated with its products and services.
Policies, procedures, and internal controls must:
(i) Include provisions for complying with the applicable requirements of Subchapter II of Chapter 53 of Title 31, United States Code ("Records and Reports on Monetary Instruments Transactions"),
(ii) Integrate the company's agents and brokers into its anti-money laundering program, and
(iii) Obtain all relevant customer-related information necessary for an effective anti-money laundering program.
(2) Compliance Officer: designate a compliance officer who will be responsible for ensuring that:
(i) The anti-money laundering program is implemented effectively, including monitoring compliance by the company's agents and brokers with their obligations under the program;
(ii) The anti-money laundering program is updated as necessary; and
(iii) Appropriate persons are educated and trained.
(3) Training: provide for on-going training of appropriate persons concerning their responsibilities under the program.
A loan or finance company may satisfy this requirement with respect to its employees, agents, and brokers by:
(i) Directly training such persons or
(ii) Verifying that such persons have received training by a competent third party with respect to the products and services offered by the loan or finance company.
(4) Independent Testing: provide for independent testing to monitor and maintain an adequate program, including:
(i) Testing to determine compliance of the company's agents and brokers with their obligations under the program.
(ii) Determining that the scope and frequency of the testing is commensurate with the risks posed by the company's products and services.
NOTE: Such testing may be conducted by a third party or by any officer or employee of the loan or finance company.
(5) Compliance: compliance is subject to examination by FinCEN or its delegates, under the terms of the Bank Secrecy Act. Failure to comply with the requirements may constitute a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act.
(6) Effective date: an anti-money laundering program that complies with the all requirements must be implemented on or before the later of six (6) months from the effective date of the regulation, or six (6) months after the date a loan or finance company is established and becomes subject to the requirements.
Visit Library for Issuances
FinCEN: Anti-Money Laundering Program and Suspicious Activity Report
Filing Requirements for Residential Mortgage Lenders and Originators
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (12/6/10)
FinCEN: Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
Federal Register, Vol. 74, No. 138 (7/21/09)
LENDERS COMPLIANCE GROUP is the first full-service, mortgage risk management firm in the country, specializing exclusively in mortgage compliance and offering a full suite of hands-on and automated services in residential mortgage banking.
Licensing Obligations for Individuals Acting as In-House Underwriters
The Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) has changed its licensing requirements: earlier this year the OFR passed a mandate that mortgage processors and underwriters must become licensed as loan originators. This requirement has been reversed, because "underwriters did not clearly fit [the] description" of a "loan originator."
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On August 17, 2010, the OFR provided a legal opinion (Opinion), issued by Jenny S. Kim, the OFR's Assistant General Counsel, which gave the following clarification to substantially the following question:
Whether individuals employed by Florida-licensed mortgage lenders who exclusively conduct underwriting activities for their employer will be required to be licensed as "mortgage loan originators" on October 1, 2010?
According to the Opinion, effective October 1, 2010, the definition of "loan originator" means:
[A]n individual who, directly or indirectly, solicits or offers to solicit a mortgage loan, accepts or offers to accept an application for a mortgage loan, negotiates or offers to negotiate the terms or conditions of a new or existing mortgage loan on behalf of a borrower or lender, processes a mortgage loan application, or negotiates or offers to negotiate the sale of an existing mortgage loan to a non-institutional investor for compensation or gain. The term includes the activities of a loan originator as that term is defined in the S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008, and an individual acting as a loan originator pursuant to that definition is acting as a loan originator for purposes of this definition. The term does not include an employee of a mortgage broker or mortgage lender who performs only administrative or clerical tasks, including quoting available interest rates, physically handling a completed application form, or transmitting a completed form to a lender on behalf of a prospective borrower. [Section 494.001(14), Fla. Stat. - Emphasis Added]
The Opinion indicates that the Florida definition of "loan originator," does not explicitly include underwriting. Section 1503(4) of the S.A.F.E. Act, however, provides that an underwriter "means an individual who performs clerical or support duties at the direction of and subject to the supervision and instruction of (i) a State-licensed loan originator; or (ii) a registered loan originator." Section 1504(b) of the S.A.F.E. Act further states that "supervised" underwriters (who do not represent to the public that they perform loan origination activities) are not required to obtain loan originator licenses, while independent contractors "may not engage in residential mortgage loan origination activities as a[n]...underwriter unless such independent contractor is a State-licensed loan originator."
Opinion's Interpretative Conclusions
Finally the Opinion states that in-house underwriters who work for a licensed lender must be supervised by a licensed loan originator in order to comply with the S.A.F.E. Act and Chapter 494, Florida Statutes.
Our Advice & Summary
Effective October 1, 2010
1. "the receipt, collection, distribution, and analysis of information common for the processing or underwriting of a residential mortgage loan"; or
2. "communication with consumers to obtain the information necessary for the processing or underwriting of a loan, to the extent that such communication does not include offering or negotiating loan rates or terms or does not include counseling consumers about residential mortgage loan rates or terms."
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Visit Library for Issuance
Licensing Obligations for Individuals
Acting as In-House Underwriters
Florida - Office of Finance Regulation
August 17, 2010
Lenders Compliance Group is the first full-service, mortgage risk management firm in the country, specializing exclusively in mortgage compliance and offering a full suite of hands-on and automated services in residential mortgage banking.
MORTGAGE COMPLIANCE
On July 28, 2010, the federal agencies issued final rules requiring residential mortgage loan originators (MLO) who are employees of national and state banks, savings associations, Farm Credit System institutions, credit unions, and certain of their subsidiaries (agency-regulated institutions) to meet the registration requirements of the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (SAFE Act).
An MLO as an individual who: (i) takes a residential mortgage loan application; and, (ii) offers or negotiates terms of a residential mortgage loan for compensation or gain.
Excluded from the registration requirement are individuals engaged in modifications and assumptions, since those transactions do not result in the extinguishing of an existing loan and the replacement with a new loan.
The SAFE Act does not require employees of mortgage loan servicers to be licensed as MLOs; indeed, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act excludes servicers, providing in its separate definition of "mortgage originator" under the Truth in Lending Act that those persons, among others, do not include servicers and their employees, agents, or contractors.
The newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will be assuming HUD's role of determining whether states have met the SAFE Act's minimum requirements, and undoubtedly the CFPB will clarify whether the SAFE Act requires employees of mortgage loan servicers to be licensed as originators.
As part of this registration process, MLOs must furnish to the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry (Registry) information and fingerprints for background checks. The SAFE Act generally prohibits employees of agency-regulated institutions from originating residential mortgage loans unless they register with the registry.
The agencies' final rules establish the registration requirements for MLOs employed by agency-regulated institutions and requirements for these institutions, including the adoption of policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the SAFE Act and the final rules.
Importantly, the agencies anticipate that the Registry could begin accepting federal registrations as early as January 28, 2011.
Employees of agency-regulated institutions must not register until the agencies instruct them to do so. The agencies will provide an advance announcement of the date when the registry will begin accepting federal registrations, beginning on the date the Agencies provide in a public notice that the Registry is accepting initial registrations, and agency-regulated institutions and their applicable employees will have 180 days from that date to comply with the initial registration requirements.
Final Rule Effective: October 1, 2010.
If you have any questions about this matter or would like assistance with mortgage compliance, please contact Jonathan Foxx, Managing Director.
Highlights
Registration of Mortgage Loan Originators (MLO)
Policies and Procedures
Use of Unique Identifier
1. Upon request;
2. Before acting as a mortgage loan originator; and
3. Through the originator's initial written communication with a consumer, if any, whether on paper or electronically.
Visit Library for Issuance
Registration of Mortgage Loan Originators - Final Rule
Federal Register, Vol. 75, No. 144, 44656-44708, (7/28/10)
Lenders Compliance Group is the first full-service, mortgage risk management firm in the country, specializing exclusively in mortgage compliance and offering a full suite of hands-on and automated services in residential mortgage banking.
Overview
On March 15, 2010, on behalf of the state regulatory agencies participating in the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry (NMLSR), the State Regulatory Registry invited public comments on the proposed implementation of a NMLS Mortgage Call Report (Report), which is intended to replace and standardize annual reports required by state regulators, provide necessary information to supervise state mortgage licensees, and fulfill the requirements of the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (SAFE Act).
The comment period closed on Friday, May 14, 2010. Notwithstanding that deadline, the NMLSR was accepting comments in response to the proposal as late as May 28, 2010.
Since June 2009, a working group of state regulators have been developing the Report and accompanying policies. When implemented, the Report will institute significant obligations for large and small mortgage company licensees, requiring them to report a far more extensive set of mortgage loan activity and financial information, in a more detailed manner, and more frequently, than any state has ever required such mortgage activity and financial information to be reported by a licensee.
The legal authority is claimed under the SAFE Act itself. State regulators use the SAFE Act for their authority to impose on licensees the information gathering requirements of a Mortgage Call Report. That is, the SAFE Act is intended to provide for the (1) registration of the loan originator employees of institutions regulated by the federal banking agencies, and (2) licensing of loan originators who are employees of state-licensed mortgage companies.
Section 1505 of the SAFE Act (12 U.S.C. 5104) sets forth the requirements that must be met for an individual to be a state-licensed loan originator. Subsection (e) of Section 1505 of the SAFE Act (12 U.S.C. 5104(e)) states:
"MORTGAGE CALL REPORTS -- Each mortgage licensee shall submit to the National Mortgage Licensing System and Registry reports of condition, which shall be in such form and shall contain such information as the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry may require."
This provision is worded broadly. The SAFE Act does not otherwise address the Mortgage Call Reports. State regulators have concluded that because the term mortgage licensee,as used only in this section of the SAFE Act, is undefined, and appears to be distinct from the term loan originator (which is actually defined in12 USCA 5102), and because the phrase "reports of condition" is a phrase drawn from banking supervision of federally insured depository institutions, the Mortgage Call Report must be a statement of condition on the company that employs licensed mortgage loan originators and its operations (including financial statements and production activity volumes reported per state).
Many industry representatives believe that since the Mortgage Call Report provision requires each mortgage licensee to submit reports of condition to the NMLSR, and as the NMLSR is limited licensing or registering loan originators, the reference to a "mortgage licensee" in the Mortgage Call Report provision is intended to mean only licensed loan originators.
In other words, there is no statutory basis under the SAFE Act to extend the Mortgage Call Report provision to requiring each mortgage company to submit a quarterly financial statement and a quarterly report to each state on its mortgage activity in the state. A state regulator may already have or seek authority under its state law to require licensees to submit quarterly financial statements and loan activity reports, but the authority itself does not exist under the SAFE Act.
The upshot, from the industry's perspective, is that a Mortgage Call Report will impose significant operational and financial obstacles.
For instance the National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) believes there are "several legal flaws" in the proposal; and, it is also concerned about the burden of such reporting on small business mortgage companies, and places an "unacceptable financial burden" on small businesses.
If you have any questions about this NMLS requirement or would like assistance with mortgage compliance, please contact Jonathan Foxx, Managing Director or call 516-442-3456 x 100.
Highlights
Configuration
1. Part I: Residential Mortgage Loan Activity Report, by state.
2. Part II: Financial Condition Report for the entity
Policies
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NMLS Mortgage Call Report - Request for Public Comments
March 15, 2010