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Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

Oregon Enacts Law Regulating Residential Mortgage Loan Servicers

State Issues State Legislation Reverse Mortgages Lending Mortgage Servicing

State Issues

On August 2, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed into law the Mortgage Loan Servicer Practices Act (SB 98), which places certain residential mortgage loan servicers under the supervision of the state’s Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) and requires them to comply with a range of requirements. Among other things, the law gives licensing, examination, investigation, and enforcement authority to the DCBS, and requires applicable residential mortgage loan servicers to: (i) obtain and renew a license through the DCBS if they “directly or indirectly service a residential mortgage loan” in Oregon; (ii) maintain “sufficient liquidity, operating reserves and tangible net worth”; (iii) notify the DCBS in writing before certain operational changes occur; and (iv) comply with a range of consumer protection, antifraud, and recordkeeping requirements, including those related to borrower communications, payment processing, and fee assessments. The law becomes operative on January 1, 2018, and applies “to service transactions for residential mortgage loans that occur on or after” that date.