Alaska Amends Provisions Regarding Mortgage Loan Originator Licensing
Effective as of January 1st, 2017, the Alaska legislature amended provisions regarding mortgage loan lenders’ and originators’ licensing requirements in addition to the inclusion of a “registered depository institution” in the Act. The following focuses on the inclusion of the latter entity throughout the amended provisions.
The Alaska legislature has amended its provisions to expand the definition of a licensed mortgage loan originator to include a “registered depository institution.” This includes the requirements that a mortgage loan originator must meet, namely: registering with the registry, working for/as an employee of a designated party and attaining sponsorship. With the recent changes, both of the aforementioned requirements (working for/as an employee and attaining sponsorship) may be attained through a registered depository institution.
Continuing an expansion of inclusion, the Alaska legislature amended the Act to include more parties in its exemption list. This exemption list allows the delineated parties to disregard mortgage lender and mortgage broker licensing requirements. Due to the recent changes federal, state and local government agencies – including agencies that arrange or provide finance for mortgage loans – are now exempted from meeting previous licensing requirements.
The inclusion of registered depository institutions in the Act has led the entities to acquire new responsibilities as well. First, a registered depository institution shall submit annual reports with the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development (hereinafter “the department”). Second, it must also report to the department its condition. Third, it must keep accounting records of all business transactions which occur within or partially within the state. These records must be kept in accordance with general accounting principles and retention must span at least three years. However, the exclusion of out of state transactions does not leave the department without any authority to preside over such matters.
Even though the Act does not control or regulate the actions of a registered depository institution outside of the state, the department has retained some authority over such transactions. Namely, should the department request a production of records detailing business transactions outside of the state, in accordance with the Act, the entity must furnish provide these transactions to the department.
Lastly, it is worth noting that inclusion of registered depository institutions is also extended to the Act’s reprimanding sections. Thus, all previous sections pertaining to suspension and barring of an entity now include registered depository institutions.
For the full text and reading of the Act, please follow the provided link: http://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Text/29?Hsid=HB0012A
Adam Faria, JD, is a regulatory compliance consultant with CLA. He is a graduate of Northeastern University and earned his juris doctor at Suffolk University Law School. He is admitted to the bar in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
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