Nebraska Amends Provisions Regarding Uniform Power of Attorney Act and Residential Mortgage Licensing Act
Uniform Power of Attorney Act
The State of Nebraska amended its provisions relating to its Uniform Power of Attorney Act under Legislative Bill 146 and Legislative Bill 145. These provisions are effective on September 6, 2019 (or 3 months following adjournment of the current legislative session).
The amendment under Legislative Bill 146 allows a person to bring an action or proceeding to mandate the acceptance of an acknowledged power of attorney. In such an action, a person found liable for refusing to accept such power of attorney is subject to liability to the principal and to the principal’s heirs, assigns, and personal representative of the estate of the principal in the same manner as the person would be liable had the person refused to accept the authority of the principal to act on the principal’s own behalf.
The amendment also states that “in any action or proceeding in which a person’s refusal to accept an acknowledged power of attorney prevents an agent from completing a transaction requested by the agent with respect to a security account owned by the principal, such person, would be subject, (i) to the economic damages of the principal proximately caused by the person’s refusal to accept the acknowledged power of attorney and failure to comply with the instructions of the agent designated in such power of attorney with respect to such security account; (ii) to the reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred to seek damages resulting from such person’s refusal to accept the acknowledged power of attorney and failure to comply with the instructions of such agent designated in the power of attorney with respect to the security account.”
The amendment under Legislative Bill 145 provides that “unless otherwise provided by the power of attorney, language in a power of attorney granting authority with respect to banks and other financial institutions authorizes the agent to execute such powers of attorney as may be required and necessary for interacting with a bank, trust company, savings and loan association, credit union, thrift company, brokerage firm, or other financial institution so long as the terms and conditions in the financial institution’s power of attorney are similar to those in the power of attorney granting authority, including the identification of the acting agent and the agent’s successors. The execution of a financial institution’s power of attorney document does not revoke the power of attorney document granting authority.”
Residential Mortgage Licensing Act
The State of Nebraska amended its provisions that include information relating to licensing requirements under its Residential Mortgage Licensing Act. Provisions in this bill range from effective on September 6, 2019 (or 3 months following adjournment of the current legislative session) to becoming operative on January 1, 2020.
Section 1 changes provisions relating to licensee and authorized delegate examinations. Sub -section 4 of Section 1 of the amendment provides that upon reasonable written notice to the licensee and the authorized delegate, the director of banking and finance (director) may conduct an examination of any authorized delegate or location of a licensee within the state. The amendment further provides that the licensee or authorized delegate shall pay the total charge for an examination.
Section 2 defines terms and “Branch office” is defined to mean ”any location, other than the main office location, at which the business of a licensee is to be conducted, including any offices physically located in Nebraska, and any offices that, while not physically located in this state, intend to transact business with Nebraska residents.”
Section 4 (1) provides that on or after January 1, 2020, a person will no longer be required to obtain a new a license for each place of business and may maintain a branch office or offices upon compliance with the act.
Section 4 (2) states that an application for a license “shall include but not be limited to, (a) the applicant’s name and any trade name or doing business as designation which the applicant intends to use in the state, (b) the applicant’s main office address, (c) all branch office addresses at which business is to be conducted, (d) the names and titles of each director and principal officer of the applicant, (e) the names of all shareholders, partners, or members of the applicant, (f) a description of the activities of the applicant in such detail as the department may require, (g) if the applicant is an individual, his or her social security number.”
The amendment also provides that, If applicable, a one –hundred dollar fee for each branch office listed in the application, shall be submitted along with each application.
Section 5 allows a licensee to move its main office if the licensee gives notice to the director through the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry. The licensee must at least thirty days prior to the establishment of a new branch office, relocation or closing of an existing branch office; or change of name, trade name, or doing business as designation notify the director through the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry. A fee of one hundred dollars and any processing fee allowed under the Act shall accompany a notice of each establishment of new branch office.
Section 7 provides that an application for a license as a mortgage banker shall include a fingerprints of any principal officer, director, partner, member, or sole proprietor for submission to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and any other governmental agency or entity authorized to receive such information for a state, national, and international criminal history record information check. The amendment further provides that “in order to reduce the points of contact which the Federal Bureau of Investigation may have to maintain the director may use the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry as a channeling agent for requesting information from and distributing information to the United States Department of Justice or any other governmental agency.”
Rhona Kyeyune, LLM, is a regulatory compliance consultant with CLA. She is a graduate of Makerere University and earned her master of laws at Boston University School of Law.
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