In an attempt to bring greater transparency and accountability to the mortgage lending industry, federal regulators are ""proposing amendments"":http://www.occ.gov/ftp/release/2009-58a.pdf to the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (S.A.F.E. Act) enacted in July of last year.
The S.A.F.E. Act requires residential mortgage loan originators who are employees of regulated financial institutions (including national and state banks, savings associations, credit unions, and Farm Credit System institutions) to register with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry database. As part of this registration process, mortgage loan originators must also provide background information and fingerprints. The S.A.F.E. Act prohibits employees of a regulated institution from making home loans unless they are part of this system.
The proposed amendments to the S.A.F.E. Act rule establish additional registration requirements for mortgage loan originators and require lending institutions to institute policies and procedures to ensure their employees are in compliance with the S.A.F.E. Act. The proposal also requires loan officers to obtain a unique identifier through the Registry that they will keep regardless of changes in employment. These permanent identifiers would be made available to consumers for verification of the officer's employment history and other background information.
These changes to the S.A.F.E. Act regulation have been issued jointly by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Reserve, FDIC, Office of Thrift Supervision, Farm Credit Administration, and National Credit Union Administration. The proposal has been submitted to the Federal Register and is opento public comment for 30 days at ""Regulations.gov"":http://www.regulations.gov.