On March 9th Washington State’s Governor Christine Gregoire signed House Bill 2340 which will regulate all Loan Originators in the brokering of residential real estate loans. According to Washington Association of Mortgage Brokers the new legislation requires the following:
- All Loan Originators will need to pass a basic compliance skills examination prior to January 1, 2007;
- Continuing Education will be required on an annual basis;
- Background checks will be required prior to licensing, removing felons’ and person with criminal histories that do not warrant the public’s trust.
Washington Association of Mortgage Brokers (WAMB) also states:
(The licensing) creates new consumer protections by raising the bar for practitioners in our industry by achieving two key objectives: 1) it will help weed out those in the industry who do no have the consumer’s best interest in mind and creates a revocable license for those that employ unethical and illegal practices; and 2) it will strengthen our industry by exposing educational opportunities needed for brokers that care about doing things right, but may be lacking the knowledge to remain compliant in accordance with State and national regulations.
WAMB provided some interesting facts about other states that have implemented a licensing requirement:
- In Ohio 10% of loan originators were removed due to felony convictions.
- In Utah 25% of loan originators never passed a basic compliance skills examination.
- Many “out of state
I have a question,
It states in the law for this regulation that any mortgage broker may not obtain a license if he or she has a felony conviction or a misdemeanors involving financial nature.
My question is, basically is it saying anyone with felony or misdemeanors involving financial nature cannot ontain licenses or is it saying any Felon period….and any misdemeanor involving financial nature?
Felonies involving assualt, thefts ( without financial nature ) DV’s and drug related etc are not things that can restrict someone from obtaining a license??????
Please clarify the actual terms of this.