Chapters

CHAPTER 454M MORTGAGE SERVICERS

Contents 454M-1 Definitions 454M-2 License required 454M-2.5 Unlicensed foreclosure actions voided 454M-3 Exemptions 454M-4 License; fees; renewals; voluntary surrender of license 454M-4.5 Registration with NMLS 454M-5 Duties of a mortgage servicer; disclosures; good faith 454M-6 Prohibited activities 454M-7 License sanctions; suspension, revocation, denial, condition, and refusal to renew, reinstate, or restore 454M-8 Powers of commissioner 454M-8.5 Investigation and examination authority 454M-9 Private right of action 454M-10 Penalty 454M-11 Compliance resolution fund

     §454M-5  Duties of a mortgage servicer; disclosures; good faith.  (a)  A mortgage servicer licensed or acting under this chapter, in addition to any other duties imposed by law, shall:

     (1)  Safeguard and account for any money handled for the borrower;

     (2)  Act with reasonable skill, care, timeliness, promptness, and diligence;

     (3)  Disclose to the commissioner in the servicer's license application and each yearly renewal a complete, current schedule of the ranges of costs and fees it charges borrowers for its servicing-related activities;

     (4)  File a report with each yearly renewal statement in a form and format acceptable to the director detailing the servicer's activities in this State, including:

         (A)  The number of mortgage loans the servicer is servicing;

         (B)  The type and characteristics of loans serviced in this State;

         (C)  The number of serviced loans in default, along with a breakdown of thirty-, sixty-, and ninety-day delinquencies;

         (D)  Information on loss mitigation activities, including details on workout arrangements undertaken;

         (E)  Information on foreclosures commenced in this State;

         (F)  The affiliations of the mortgage servicer, including any lenders or mortgagees for which the mortgage servicer provides service, any subsidiary or parent entities of the mortgage servicer, and a description of the authority held by the mortgage servicer through its affiliations; and

         (G)  Any other information that the commissioner may require; and

     (5)  Maintain an office in the State that is staffed by at least one agent or employee for the purposes of addressing consumer inquiries or complaints and accepting service of process; provided that the mortgage servicer's business constitutes at least a twenty per cent share of the portion of the total mortgage loan service market in the State that was serviced by mortgage servicers licensed under this chapter within the previous calendar year; and provided further that nothing in this section shall prohibit a mortgagee as defined by section 667-1 or a mortgage servicer from contracting with a licensee that maintains an office in this State in conformity with this section for the purposes of addressing consumer inquiries or complaints and accepting service of process.

     (b)  At the time a servicer accepts assignment of servicing rights for a mortgage loan, the servicer shall disclose to the borrower all of the following:

     (1)  Any notice required by the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, 12 United States Code section 2601 et seq., or by regulations promulgated thereunder;

     (2)  A schedule of the ranges and categories of its costs and fees for its servicing-related activities, which shall comply with this chapter and which shall not exceed those reported to the commissioner; and

     (3)  A notice in a form and content acceptable to the commissioner that the servicer is licensed by the commissioner and that complaints about the servicer may be submitted to the commissioner.

     (c)  In the event of a delinquency or other act of default on the part of the borrower, the servicer shall act in good faith to inform the borrower of the facts concerning the loan and the nature and extent of the delinquency or default, and, if the borrower replies, shall negotiate with the borrower, subject to the servicer's duties and obligations under the mortgage servicing contract, if any, to attempt a resolution or workout relating to the delinquency. [L 2009, c 106, pt of §1; am L 2011, c 48, §10; am L 2012, c 182, §4]