6-906. Required accounting practices and
records; escrow of monies; disclosure
A. Every mortgage broker shall keep and maintain at all times correct and complete
records as prescribed by the superintendent which will enable him to determine whether
the licensee is conducting his business in accordance with this article. If the mortgage
broker operates two or more licensed places of business in this state, after notifying
the superintendent, he may maintain such records at his principal place of business in
this state, except that a mortgage broker, with the approval of the superintendent, may
maintain the records outside of this state. For records kept outside this state, a
mortgage broker shall make the records available to the superintendent in this state not
more than three business days after demand and provide for the acceptance of collect
calls or provide a toll free telephone number to borrowers to obtain information from the
records if the licensed place of business in this state cannot readily provide the
information requested by the borrowers. Every mortgage broker shall maintain original
documents or clearly legible copies of all mortgage loan transactions for not fewer than
five years from the date of the mortgage loan closing.
B. Every mortgage broker shall observe generally accepted accounting principles and
practices.
C. A mortgage broker shall immediately deposit all monies received by the mortgage
broker in an escrow account with an escrow agent licensed pursuant to chapter 7 of this
title. Withdrawals shall only be disbursed according to the terms of the escrow
instructions. The escrow agent shall not be the mortgage broker. A mortgage broker,
however, may accept an appraisal fee, which the mortgage broker shall only use to obtain
an appraisal, a credit investigation fee and a fee in connection with an application for
a mortgage loan. The mortgage broker shall not commingle the appraisal fee or credit
investigation fee with other monies of the mortgage broker. A mortgage broker shall not
accept any monies or documents in connection with an application for a mortgage loan in
an amount of two hundred thousand dollars or less, except as provided in this section and
pursuant to a written agreement. The parties shall sign the written agreement and the
agreement shall contain terms pertaining to the disposition of the monies and documents,
whether the loan is finally consummated or not, the term for which the agreement is to
remain in force before return of the monies and documents for nonperformance can be
required and an itemized list of all estimated costs to the borrower of obtaining the
mortgage loan including all costs charged by third parties. The licensee shall preserve
all agreements between the parties involved in the transaction and all contracts,
agreements and escrow instructions to or with the depository. All documents provided by
the borrower or at the expense of the borrower to the mortgage broker, including any
appraisals, are the property of the borrower and shall, at the borrower's request, be
returned to the borrower or transferred to any person designated by the borrower without
further expense to the borrower if the loan is not consummated, provided that any such
document is not prohibited by law from being transferred or returned.
D. Before a mortgage loan closing on residential real property designed principally
for the occupancy of from one to four families, a licensee shall fully comply, to the
extent applicable, with the real estate lending disclosure requirements of title I of the
consumer credit protection act (15 United States Code sections 1601 through 1666j), the
real estate settlement procedures act (12 United States Code sections 2601 through 2617)
and the regulations promulgated under those acts.
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