Iowa Adopts Mortgage and Real Estate Licensing Provisions
The Iowa Department of Commerce, Division of Banking, has enacted licensing provisions regarding mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers, real estate closing agents, and mortgage loan originators. These provisions are effective as of July 1, 2017.
Mortgage Banker, Mortgage Broker, and Real Estate Closing Agent Requirements
The first new provision in the section provides that any officer, director, or individual having control over an applicant for a license to operate as a mortgage banker, mortgage broker, or real estate closing agent is required to provide fingerprints, authorize a fingerprint background check through NMLS, and pay any required fees needed to conduct a national criminal history background check through the FBI.
The second adopted provision concerns changes in a licensee’s business. The provision states that when a change of control of a licensee is proposed, the party that assuming control of the licensee is required to give notice to the superintendent through the NMLS at least sixty days before the proposed change takes effect. Further, the party must furnish the superintendent with the same information required of initial applicants for a license, along with the appropriate fee. The party may be required to provide fingerprints, authorize a fingerprint background check through NMLS, and pay the appropriate fees for the purpose of conducting a national criminal history background check through the FBI. The superintendent shall approve or deny the request in accordance with the provisions of Iowa Code section 535B.5 and rule 187—18.4(17A, 535B).
MLO Requirements
This section was amended to eliminate the provision stating that mortgage loan originators who have passed the Iowa originator test are exempt from taking the Iowa state component of the SAFE mortgage loan originator test. Also eliminated from this section is the requirement that applicants who are waiting on the NMLS’s completion of the implementation of the electronic fingerprint capture program must submit to a criminal background check by providing a fingerprint card.
Added to this section is the requirement that an applicant who has completed twenty hours of pre-licensure education must retake those twenty hours of pre-licensure education if the individual fails to acquire a valid state license or federal registration as an MLO within three years from either the date of federal compliance with 12 U.S.C. 5104(c) or the last date of licensure or registration as an MLO.
For the full text of these provisions please refer to https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/aco/arc/3080C.pdf, https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/aco/arc/3081C.pdf
Elizabeth Dailey, JD, is a Regulatory Compliance Director with CLA. She is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire and earned her juris doctor at New England Law. She is admitted to the Massachusetts Bar.
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