SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2043 FILED ON: 1/16/2009
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 479
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the Year Two Thousand Nine
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An Act relative to reverse mortgages..
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Subsection (i) of Section 7 of chapter 167 E is hereby repealed.
SECTION 2. Definitions
“Authorized Reverse Mortgage Loan Originator” (“ARLO”) shall mean a Mortgage Loan Originator approved by the DOB to negotiate, arrange, or sell Reverse Mortgages to Consumers. A person whose activities are ministerial and clerical will not be deemed to be acting as an ARLO.
“Consumer” means a natural person who is a resident of Massachusetts who seeks or obtains a mortgage loan secured by the Consumer’s principal residence in Massachusetts.
“the division” shall meant the Massachusetts Division of Banking.
“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of the DOB
“Reverse Mortgage” means a nonrecourse Mortgage Loan in which: (1) a mortgage, deed of trust, or equivalent consensual security interest securing one or more advances is created in the Consumer’s principal dwelling located in Massachusetts; and (2) any principal, interest, or shared appreciation or equity is due and payable (other than in the case of default) only after: (i) the Consumer dies; (ii) the dwelling is transferred; or (iii) the Consumer ceased to occupy the dwelling as a principal dwelling
SECTION 3. Said chapter 167E is hereby amended by inserting after section 7 the following section:-
Section 7A. Licensure of Reverse Mortgage Loan Originators
(a)No natural person shall act as an authorized reverse mortgage loan originator unless such person has first obtained an authorized reverse mortgage loan originator license from the commissioner. A natural person who meets the definition of an authorized reverse mortgage loan originator, prior to enactment of this section, shall file and application and obtain a license from the commissioner within one hundred eighty (180) days of the enactment of this section. An entity shall not knowingly employ or retain a reverse mortgage loan originator unless the reverse mortgage loan originator is licensed hereunder.
(b)The commissioner shall adopt rules and regulations relative to the lending practices relative to reverse mortgages, including but not limited to; an application for a license shall be in writing and in the form prescribed by the commissioner, signed under the pains and penalties of perjury, and shall contain the name, address and license number of the entity with whom a mortgage loan originator is employed or associated and other information as the commissioner may require, including evidence of compliance of subsection (b). Such application shall also include a description of the activities of the application, in such detail and for such periods as the Commissioner may require, as well as such further information as the Commissioner may require. The Division shall investigate each applicant and such investigation shall include a criminal records check based on the fingerprints of the applicant and a civil records check. The Division shall require each applicant to file a set of the applicant’s fingerprints, taken by a law enforcement agency, and any other information necessary to complete a statewide and nationwide criminal check with the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Department of Justice for state processing and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for federal processing. All costs associated with the criminal history check shall be determined annually by the Commissioner of administration under the provisions of Section three B (3B) of Chapter Seven (7). All costs associated with the criminal history check are the responsibility of the applicant. Criminal history records provided to the Division under this section are confidential and the Division may use the records only to determine if the applicant is eligible for licensure. The commissioner shall adopt such regulations on or before July 1, 2009.