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Two days after its original announcement, the NMLS Policy Committee has amended its previously announced 60-day temporary deadline extension for certain types of reporting submitted in NMLS. According to the current posting on the NMLS website, it appears that because the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council announced there would be a 30-day extension for certain reports, the NMLS Policy Committee reduced its extension for filing financial statements and certain other reports from 60 days to 30 days. The revised reporting due date table has also been amended to reflect the new 30-day temporary deadline extension. We do not know the consideration(s) that went into this new decision.

Plus, the NMLS Policy Committee is now encouraging
Continue Reading NMLS Amends Extension to State Reporting Due Dates, as Coronavirus Still Plagues the Land

The next test for mortgage finance companies licensed through the NMLS is the requirement of a number of states to provide financial statements through the NMLS within 90 days of the licensee’s fiscal year end.  We brought this issue to the attention of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (“CSBS”) two weeks ago, and this was considered by the NMLS Policy Committee last week. No decision was made at that time, but the Policy Committee agreed to consider the matter further this week. As we understand, after the meeting of the Policy Committee on Tuesday, it was decided that while financial statements are still due, there will be a 60 day grace period to provide the financial statements, and certain other required filings of state licensed entities. Specifically, the NMLS Policy Committee issued the following yesterday:

“In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on state regulated entities, the NMLS Policy Committee has implemented a 60-Day deadline extension for the following types of reporting submitted in NMLS:

  • Money Services Business Call Report
  • Mortgage Call Report
  • Financial Statement

Continue Reading Coronavirus Still Plagues the Land, but State Regulators Step Up and Provide Some Temporary Relief from Certain State Filings

Last week, in a blog entitled “Coronavirus Hits Home,” we informed you that we had contacted the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (“CSBS”) and regulators in a number of states to see what CSBS or the state regulators were telling mortgage lender or broker licensees as to whether their licensed MLO employees who had been quarantined in their homes because of the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) could continue to originate mortgage loans from their homes without the home being licensed as a branch office. Since that blog, CSBS has posted certain state-by-state COVID-19 guidance on the NMLS Resource Center, which among other things covers relevant business continuity plans for licensed mortgage loan officers. We urge you to check the NMLS Resource Center and the State Agency websites for the guidance provided.

Since we sent our request to state regulators as to relief from branch licensing for licensed MLOs who are quarantined in their homes, but want to continue to originate mortgage loans, a number of state regulators have responded directly and positively to our email request. As some of the guidance posted on the NMLS website may not cover the branch licensing issue we posed to CSBS and certain other state regulators, we thought it would be helpful to post some of the specific guidance we have received from state regulators that addressed the branch licensing concern raised by our clients.
Continue Reading Coronavirus Hits Hard – Branch Licensing May Be Waived

As concerns about the spread of the coronavirus escalate, some of our clients have raised branch office licensing questions about employees originating mortgage loans from their homes during a period of being quarantined in their home due to the coronavirus. All but a handful of states license branch offices, and most states require a licensed…

It’s been 100 years since the time of jazz clubs, speakeasies and flappers. A time when new inventions such as radios, movies, telephones and automobiles introduced a new modern lifestyle. One hundred years later, technology has significantly evolved, and no doubt our jazz age ancestors would think the internet is the cat’s pajamas.

With that…

Last week was busy for the financial technology industry (Fintechs) and non-bank regulators.

New York joined the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) in filing a lawsuit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and announced plans to adopt a uniform licensing system for Fintechs. CSBS issued its support of the lawsuit,…

The NMLS Money Services Businesses (MSB) Call Report, described by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) as “a new tool within the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) that will streamline MSB reporting, improve compliance by the industry, and create the only comprehensive database of nationwide MSB transaction activity,” is now live in the NMLS, and the initial report is due May 15, 2017.

Since state regulators decided to transition the licensing of money services businesses on to the NMLS, they have been developing a more uniform report, which standardizes a number of definitions and the categorization of transactions, by which MSBs could report on their money service-related activities through the NMLS. Further, with the development and use of a more standardized MSB report, the need for MSBs to have additional tracking and reporting systems that can slice and dice transactions into each state’s unique buckets is reduced or eliminated.

Consequently, the new MSB Call Report was adopted by CSBS and released in NMLS on April 1, 2017. As a former Assistant Commissioner with the State of Maryland, I served on both the MSB Call Report Working Group and the NMLS Policy Committee (NMLSPC). The NMLSPC was responsible for recommending the approval of the Report, which was envisioned to operate along the lines of the Mortgage Call Report required of mortgage finance licenses, to CSBS.
Continue Reading Money Services Businesses Call Report Q1 Submission Deadline Quickly Approaching

The 2017 Maryland legislative session ended at midnight last Monday, April 10. Here is a look at legislation affecting financial services businesses that the Governor is expected to sign into law.

HB0182 – Commissioner of Financial Regulation and State Collection Agency Licensing Board – Licensees – Revisions

HB0182, or as we prefer, the “2017 NMLS Transition Bill,” is intended to transition Maryland’s Check Casher, Collection Agency, Consumer Lender, Credit Service Business, Debt Management Company, Installment Lender, and Sales Finance licenses to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (the “NMLS”) effective July 1, 2017.

NMLS was established originally to provide a platform for mortgage licensing. More recently, however, NMLS has been expanded to accommodate other categories of licenses. Pursuant to prior state legislation, the Commissioner transitioned all mortgage lender (which includes mortgage brokers and mortgage servicers) and mortgage loan originator licenses to NMLS in 2009-2010 and money transmitter licenses in 2012. Similar to prior transition legislation, the 2017 NMLS Transition Bill is massive and includes: (i) new and amended definitions (including “branch location” and “control person”), (ii) revisions to the term of the license, (iii) with respect to any information and disclosures provided to NMLS, provisions that continue to apply any privilege arising under federal or state law to that information, (iv) authority to share  information with certain officials without the loss of privilege or confidentiality protections provided by federal or certain State laws, and (v) authority to adopt regulations to facilitate the transition to NMLS and more.

No Fee Increase

NMLS was created by Conference of State Bank Supervisors (“CSBS”) and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators and began operations in January 2008. It is owned and operated by the State Regulatory Registry L.L.C., a wholly-owned subsidiary of CSBS. Significantly, the cost to register with NMLS annually is $100 and $20 for each additional branch license/registration. The Commissioner advised that NMLS has agreed to waive the annual fees for Maryland licensees transitioning to the system this fiscal year (July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018). Although NMLS will resume charging its annual fee for use of the system during the next fiscal year, in an effort to reduce the cost of regulation, the Commissioner proposed and the final bill includes the NMLS processing fee as part of the licensing fee without increasing the current license fee.

No State Criminal Background Check 

Applicants for Maryland mortgage lender, check casher, debt management service, and money transmitter licenses and certain other persons are required to submit fingerprints for a national and State criminal history records check (the “CHRC”) as part of the licensing process. Presently, if an individual required to submit fingerprints for a CHRC is within the Maryland borders, the individual can electronically submit fingerprints for the CHRC, but the process is particularly burdensome for those individuals or control persons who are out-of-state. Individuals who are out-of state cannot use the state’s electronic fingerprint submission process without physically entering the state and must submit fingerprints for processing on paper cards through the mail.

According to the bill’s fiscal and policy notes, the Commissioner advised that the state criminal history records check requirement is time-consuming and does not provide a significant benefit. Therefore, HB0182 not only effectively eliminates the state background check requirement at this time, but allows for the use of the NMLS process for the submission of the CHRC.

The bill would have an effective date of July 1, 2017, but stay tuned for notices from the Commissioner to confirm the precise submission dates for new applications, the transition period for current licensees, and transition instructions – specifically as it relates to licenses that are approaching renewal periods.
Continue Reading Maryland Legislative Session Adjourned

With all eyes on Washington, DC, and the press abuzz with each movement and action of the newly sworn-in President Trump, Maryland quietly published in the January 20, 2017 issue of the Maryland Register a highly-anticipated request for comment and proposed revisions to its regulations governing a wide range of mortgage finance licensing and practice…

It’s fall, Halloween is over, and the scary clowns (other than those vying for political office) will recede into the forests next to small communities.  Now it’s time to look forward.  Many, we hear tell, cannot do so with joy as they plan for Thanksgiving and the year-end holidays.  Rather, there is a sense of dread and foreboding as mortgage companies, money transmitters, and collection agencies, among others, begin the annual license renewal process through the NMLS.  Before too many deficiencies start haunting your NMLS Account Records, the Consumer Financial Services practice group at Mayer Brown wishes to offer you some cheer to keep your spirits up and 12 terrific tips (indeed, huuuuuge ideas) to help you slog through renewals and minimize deficiencies.
Continue Reading A Dozen Tips for Less Stress During the License Renewal Season*