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The current face of the mortgage industry had changed. Things that were not necessary on one day made a
hundred-eighty degree turn overnight. Within twenty-four hours the mortgage
industry as we use to know was gone. One could say…rightly so because now the
results are in, and by the skin of our teeth, we may have weathered this storm,
but the country as a whole and many Americans and other counties have suffered across
the board financially. The lost of real cash and equity have been lost by
millions with holdings in real estate.
Because of the housing meltdown, the
Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, signed into law on July 30, 2008
(Public Law 110-289) (HERA), constitutes a major new housing law that is
designed to assist with the recovery and the revitalization of America's
residential housing market - from modernization of the Federal Housing
Administration, to foreclosure prevention, to enhancing consumer protections.
The SAFE Act is a key component of HERA.
The SAFE Act is designed to enhance
consumer protection and reduce fraud by encouraging states to establish minimum
standards for the licensing and registration of state-licensed mortgage loan originators
and for the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) and the American
Association of
Residential Mortgage Regulators (AARMR) to establish and maintain a nationwide
mortgage licensing system and registry for the residential mortgage industry for
the purpose of achieving the following objectives:
(1) Providing uniform license
applications and reporting requirements for state licensed-loan originators;
(2) Providing a comprehensive licensing and supervisory database;
(3) Aggregating and improving the flow of information to and between
regulators;
(4) Providing increased
accountability and tracking of loan originators;
(5) Streamlining the licensing process and reducing regulatory burden;
(6) Enhancing consumer protections and supporting anti-fraud measures;
(7) Providing consumers with easily accessible information, offered at no
charge, utilizing
electronic media, including the Internet, regarding the
employment history of, and
publicly adjudicated disciplinary and enforcement
actions against, loan originators;
(8) Establishing a means by which residential mortgage loan originators would,
to the greatest extent possible, be required to act in the
best interests of the consumer;
(9) Facilitating responsible behavior in the subprime mortgage market place and
providing
comprehensive training and
examination requirements related to subprime mortgage lending;
(10) Facilitating the collection and disbursement of consumer complaints on
behalf of state mortgage regulators.
Effective July 21, 2011, the Secure and Fair Enforcement for MortgageLicensing Act (SAFE Act) has been transferred to the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CFPB) for administration and enforcement. You can
submit a SAFE Act inquiry to the CFPB by e-mailing to CFPB_SAFEAct_Inquiries@cfpb.gov. If
you are a consumer or mortgage loan originator with questions regarding the
SAFE Act and state licensing requirements, you should contact the mortgage regulatory
agency in your state.
It will be important for companies to have a
good handle on several characteristics of the NMLS Mortgage Call Report (MCR).
The first distinguishing feature is
that the MCR comes in two varieties: Standard and Expanded. The Expanded
version of the MCR is for companies that are a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac
Seller/Servicer or Ginnie Mae Issuer. All other companies will submit a
Standard MCR. The vast majority (90%) of state-licensed companies in NMLS
will complete the Standard MCR.
The other important feature is that the
MCR contains two components: RMLA and FC.
- Residential Mortgage Loan Activity
(RMLA) – This section collects application, closed loan, individual MLO,
Line of Credit and repurchase data by state. This is always due 45 days
from the end of each calendar quarter.
- Financial Condition (FC) – This section
collects financial information at the company level. It does not have to
be completed by state. For companies completing the Standard MCR , it is
due ONCE A YEAR 90 days from the end of the company’s fiscal year end. For
companies completing the Expanded MCR, it is due QUARTERLY 45 days from
the end of each calendar quarter.
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