BILL NUMBER: SB 657 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 797
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 25, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 11, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 1, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 13, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 23, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senators Berryhill and Pan
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Dababneh)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Cooley)
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
An act to amend Sections 50003 and 50201 of the Financial Code,
relating to mortgages.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 657, Berryhill. The California Residential Mortgage Lending
Act: lenders: licensees.
Existing law defines specified terms for purposes of the
California Residential Mortgage Lending Act, which generally
prohibits a person from engaging in the business of making
residential mortgage loans or servicing residential mortgage loans
without first obtaining a license from the Commissioner of Business
Oversight in accordance with the act. Existing law defines a lender
as a person who is an approved lender for the Federal Housing
Administration, the Veterans Administration, the Farmers Home
Administration, the Government National Mortgage Association, the
Federal National Mortgage Association, or the Federal Home Loan
Mortgage Corporation, who directly makes residential mortgage loans,
and who makes the credit decision in the loan transactions. Existing
law requires a licensee issued a license for purposes of making or
servicing residential mortgage loans to continuously maintain a
minimum tangible net worth of $250,000.
This bill would specify that the term "lender" includes a person,
other than a natural person, and a natural person who is also an
independent contractor, who engages in the activities of a loan
processor or underwriter for residential mortgage loans, but does not
solicit loan applicants, originate mortgage loans, or fund mortgage
loans, as specified. The bill would authorize the commissioner to
require a licensee who is engaged in the processing or underwriting
of residential mortgage loans to continuously maintain a minimum
tangible net worth in an amount that is greater than $250,000, but
that does not exceed the net worth required of an approved lender
under the Federal Housing Administration.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 50003 of the Financial Code is amended to read:
50003. (a) "Annual audit" means a certified audit of the licensee'
s books, records, and systems of internal control performed by an
independent certified public accountant in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles and generally accepted auditing
standards.
(b) "Borrower" means the loan applicant.
(c) "Buy" includes exchange, offer to buy, or solicitation to buy.
(d) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Business Oversight.
(e) "Control" means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the
power to direct, or cause the direction of, the management and
policies of a licensee under this division, whether through voting or
through the ownership of voting power of an entity that possesses
voting power of the licensee, or otherwise. Control is presumed to
exist if a person, directly or indirectly, owns, controls, or holds
10 percent or more of the voting power of a licensee or of an entity
that owns, controls, or holds, with power to vote, 10 percent or more
of the voting power of a licensee. No person shall be deemed to
control a licensee solely by reason of his or her status as an
officer or director of the licensee.
(f) "Depository institution" has the same meaning as in Section 3
of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, and includes any credit union.
(g) "Engage in the business" means the dissemination to the
public, or any part of the public, by means of written, printed, or
electronic communication or any communication by means of recorded
telephone messages or spoken on radio, television, or similar
communications media, of any information relating to the making of
residential mortgage loans, the servicing of residential mortgage
loans, or both. "Engage in the business" also means, without
limitation, making residential mortgage loans or servicing
residential mortgage loans, or both.
(h) "Federal banking agencies" means the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System, the Comptroller of the Currency, the
National Credit Union Administration, and the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation.
(i) "In this state" includes any activity of a person relating to
making or servicing a residential mortgage loan that originates from
this state and is directed to persons outside this state, or that
originates from outside this state and is directed to persons inside
this state, or that originates inside this state and is directed to
persons inside this state, or that leads to the formation of a
contract and the offer or acceptance thereof is directed to a person
in this state (whether from inside or outside this state and whether
the offer was made inside or outside the state).
(j) "Institutional investor" means the following:
(1) The United States or any state, district, territory, or
commonwealth thereof, or any city, county, city and county, public
district, public authority, public corporation, public entity, or
political subdivision of a state, district, territory, or
commonwealth of the United States, or any agency or other
instrumentality of any one or more of the foregoing, including, by
way of example, the Federal National Mortgage Association and the
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.
(2) Any bank, trust company, savings bank or savings and loan
association, credit union, industrial bank or industrial loan
company, personal property broker, consumer finance lender,
commercial finance lender, or insurance company, or subsidiary or
affiliate of one of the preceding entities, doing business under the
authority of or in accordance with a license, certificate, or charter
issued by the United States or any state, district, territory, or
commonwealth of the United States.
(3) Trustees of pension, profit-sharing, or welfare funds, if the
pension, profit-sharing, or welfare fund has a net worth of not less
than fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000), except pension,
profit-sharing, or welfare funds of a licensee or its affiliate,
self-employed individual retirement plans, or individual retirement
accounts.
(4) A corporation or other entity with outstanding securities
registered under Section 12 of the federal Securities Exchange Act of
1934 or a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation or entity,
provided that the purchaser represents either of the following:
(A) That it is purchasing for its own account for investment and
not with a view to, or for sale in connection with, any distribution
of a promissory note.
(B) That it is purchasing for resale pursuant to an exemption
under Rule 144A (17 C.F.R. 230.144A) of the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
(5) An investment company registered under the Investment Company
Act of 1940; or a wholly owned and controlled subsidiary of that
company, provided that the purchaser makes either of the
representations provided in paragraph (4).
(6) A residential mortgage lender or servicer licensed to make
residential mortgage loans under this law or an affiliate or
subsidiary of that person.
(7) Any person who is licensed as a securities broker or
securities dealer under any law of this state, or of the United
States, or any employee, officer, or agent of that person, if that
person is acting within the scope of authority granted by that
license or an affiliate or subsidiary controlled by that broker or
dealer, in connection with a transaction involving the offer, sale,
purchase, or exchange of one or more promissory notes secured
directly or indirectly by liens on real property or a security
representing an ownership interest in a pool of promissory notes
secured directly or indirectly by liens on real property, and the
offer and sale of those securities is qualified under the California
Corporate Securities Law of 1968 or registered under federal
securities laws, or exempt from qualification or registration.
(8) A licensed real estate broker selling the loan to an
institutional investor specified in paragraphs (1) to (7), inclusive,
or paragraph (9) or (10).
(9) A business development company as defined in Section 2(a)(48)
of the Investment Company Act of 1940 or a small business investment
company licensed by the United States Small Business Administration
under Section 301(c) or (d) of the Small Business Investment Act of
1958.
(10) A syndication or other combination of any of the foregoing
entities that is organized to purchase a promissory note.
(11) A trust or other business entity established by an
institutional investor for the purpose of issuing or facilitating the
issuance of securities representing undivided interests in, or
rights to receive payments from or to receive payments primarily
from, a pool of financial assets held by the trust or business
entity, provided that all of the following apply:
(A) The business entity is not a sole proprietorship.
(B) The pool of assets consists of one or more of the following:
(i) Interest-bearing obligations.
(ii) Other contractual obligations representing the right to
receive payments from the assets.
(iii) Surety bonds, insurance policies, letters of credit, or
other instruments providing credit enhancement for the assets.
(C) The securities will be either one of the following:
(i) Rated as "investment grade" by Standard and Poor's Corporation
or Moody's Investors Service, Inc. "Investment grade" means that the
securities will be rated by Standard and Poor's Corporation as AAA,
AA, A, or BBB or by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. as Aaa, Aa, A, or
Baa, including any of those ratings with "+" or "--" designation or
other variations that occur within those ratings.
(ii) Sold to an institutional investor.
(D) The offer and sale of the securities is qualified under the
California Corporate Securities Law of 1968 or registered under
federal securities laws, or exempt from qualification or
registration.
(k) "Institutional lender" means the following:
(1) The United States or any state, district, territory, or
commonwealth thereof, or any city, county, city and county, public
district, public authority, public corporation, public entity, or
political subdivision of a state, district, territory, or
commonwealth of the United States, or any agency or other
instrumentality of any one or more of the foregoing, including, by
way of example, the Federal National Mortgage Association and the
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.
(2) Any bank, trust company, savings bank or savings and loan
association, credit union, industrial loan company, or insurance
company, or service or investment company that is wholly owned and
controlled by one of the preceding entities, doing business under the
authority of and in accordance with a license, certificate, or
charter issued by the United States or any state, district,
territory, or commonwealth of the United States.
(3) Any corporation with outstanding securities registered under
Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or any wholly owned
subsidiary of that corporation.
(4) A residential mortgage lender or servicer licensed to make
residential mortgage loans under this law.
( l ) "Law" means the California Residential Mortgage
Lending Act.
(m) "Lender" means a person that satisfies either of the
following:
(1) The person is or does all of the following:
(A) The person is an approved lender for the Federal Housing
Administration, Veterans Administration, Farmers Home Administration,
Government National Mortgage Association, Federal National Mortgage
Association, or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.
(B) The person directly makes residential mortgage loans.
(C) The person makes the credit decision in the loan transactions.
(2) The person is either of the following:
(A) Is not a natural person and engages in the activities of a
loan processor or underwriter for a residential mortgage loan but
does not solicit loan applicants, originate mortgage loans, or fund
mortgage loans unless the person is also a lender under paragraph
(1).
(B) Is a natural person and an independent contractor who engages
in the activities of a loan processor or underwriter for a
residential mortgage loan as described in subdivision (c) of Section
50003.6 but does not solicit loan applicants, originate mortgage
loans, or fund mortgage loans unless the person is also a lender
under paragraph (1).
(n) "Licensee" means, depending on the context, a person licensed
under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 50120), Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 50130), or Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 50140).
(o) "Makes or making residential mortgage loans" or "mortgage
lending" means processing, underwriting, or as a lender using or
advancing one's own funds, or making a commitment to advance one's
own funds, to a loan applicant for a residential mortgage loan.
(p) "Mortgage loan," "residential mortgage loan," or "home
mortgage loan" means a federally related mortgage loan as defined in
Section 1024.2 of Title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or a
loan made to finance construction of a one-to-four family dwelling.
(q) "Mortgage servicer" or "residential mortgage loan servicer"
means a person that (1) is an approved servicer for the Federal
Housing Administration, Veterans Administration, Farmers Home
Administration, Government National Mortgage Association, Federal
National Mortgage Association, or Federal Home Loan Mortgage
Corporation, and (2) directly services or offers to service mortgage
loans.
(r) "Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry" means a
mortgage licensing system developed and maintained by the Conference
of State Bank Supervisors and the American Association of Residential
Mortgage Regulators for the licensing and registration of licensed
mortgage loan originators.
(s) "Net worth" has the meaning set forth in Section 50201.
(t) "Own funds" means (1) cash, corporate capital, or warehouse
credit lines at commercial banks, savings banks, savings and loan
associations, industrial loan companies, or other sources that are
liability items on a lender's financial statements, whether secured
or unsecured, or (2) a lender's affiliate's cash, corporate capital,
or warehouse credit lines at commercial banks or other sources that
are liability items on the affiliate's financial statements, whether
secured or unsecured. "Own funds" does not include funds provided by
a third party to fund a loan on condition that the third party will
subsequently purchase or accept an assignment of that loan.
(u) "Person" means a natural person, a sole proprietorship, a
corporation, a partnership, a limited liability company, an
association, a trust, a joint venture, an unincorporated
organization, a joint stock company, a government or a political
subdivision of a government, and any other entity.
(v) "Residential real property" or "residential real estate" means
real property located in this state that is improved by a
one-to-four family dwelling.
(w) "SAFE Act" means the federal Secure and Fair Enforcement for
Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-289).
(x) "Service" or "servicing" means receiving more than three
installment payments of principal, interest, or other amounts placed
in escrow, pursuant to the terms of a mortgage loan and performing
services by a licensee relating to that receipt or the enforcement of
its receipt, on behalf of the holder of the note evidencing that
loan.
(y) "Sell" includes exchange, offer to sell, or solicitation to
sell.
(z) "Unique identifier" means a number or other identifier
assigned by protocols established by the Nationwide Mortgage
Licensing System and Registry.
(aa) For purposes of Sections 50142, 50143, and 50145,
"nontraditional mortgage product" means any mortgage product other
than a 30-year fixed rate mortgage.
(ab) For purposes of Section 50141, "expungement" means the
subsequent order under the provisions of Section 1203.4 of the Penal
Code allowing such individual to withdraw his or her plea of guilty
and to enter a plea of not guilty, or setting aside the verdict of
guilty or dismissing the accusation, information, or indictment. With
respect to criminal convictions in another state, that state's
definition of expungement will apply.
SEC. 2. Section 50201 of the Financial Code is amended to read:
50201. (a) A licensee issued a license for purposes of making or
servicing residential mortgage loans, including a licensee employing
one or more mortgage loan originators, shall continuously maintain a
minimum tangible net worth at all times of two hundred fifty thousand
dollars ($250,000). The commissioner, in his or her discretion, may
require a lender who engages in the activities described in paragraph
(2) of subdivision (m) of Section 50003 to continuously maintain a
minimum tangible net worth of an amount that is greater than two
hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000), but that does not exceed
the net worth required of an approved lender under the Federal
Housing Administration.
(b) Tangible net worth shall be computed in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles.
(c) The commissioner may promulgate rules or regulations with
respect to the requirements for minimum net worth, as are necessary
to accomplish the purposes of this division and comply with the SAFE
Act.