InfoBytes Blog
State Law Update: Tennessee, Kansas Update Mortgage-Related Provisions
Tennessee Makes Minor Changes to Mortgage Licensing Rules. On April 11, Tennessee enacted HB 160, a bill that makes certain minor changes to the state’s mortgage licensing law. The bill removes current licensing exemptions for (i) a person who owns a vacant tract of real property which the person subsequently subdivides and sells the tracts, regardless of the number of individual tracts sold and the number of ultimate purchasers of such tracts of real property, and (ii) a person or agent engaged solely in commercial real estate lending or who provides financing on property which is not intended to be owner-occupied by the person receiving the financing. The bill continues to allow licensed real estate brokers to include in any contract, mortgage terms agreed upon by the parties without having to obtain mortgage licenses, but clarifies that such communications cannot include the offering or negotiating of any terms of a residential mortgage loan. The changes took effect immediately.
Kansas Increases Mortgage Interest Rate Cap. On April 4, Kansas enacted SB 52, which increases the maximum annual interest rate for certain mortgages from 1.5 percentage points to no more than 3.5 percentage points above a specified monthly floating rate set by Freddie Mac.