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Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

Washington DFI proposes MLO and student loan servicer amendments

State Issues State Regulators Student Lending Student Loan Servicer Mortgage Origination

State Issues

On September 24, the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) will hold a rulemaking hearing to discuss amendments concerning mortgage loan originators (MLOs) as well as provisions related to student loan servicers. The proposed amendments will amend rules impacting Washington’s Consumer Loan Act and the Mortgage Broker Practices Act, including those related to the regulation of student loan servicers under a final rule that went into effect January 1. (See previous InfoBytes coverage on DFI’s adoption of amendments concerning student loan servicers here.) According to DFI, the proposed amendments are currently scheduled to take effect November 24.

Among other proposed changes impacting MLOs are additional disclosure requirements concerning interest rate locks. Under the proposed amendments, MLOs will be required to provide a new interest rate lock agreement to a borrower within three business days of a locked interest rate change. Valid reasons for a change in a locked interest rate include changes in loan value, credit score, or other factors that may directly affect pricing. The amendments will also permit MLOs to include a prepayment penalty or fee on an adjustable rate residential mortgage loan provided “the penalty or fee expires at least sixty days prior to the initial reset period.” Among other provisions, the amendments also stipulate that a loan processor may work on files from an unlicensed location provided the processor accesses the files directly from the licensed mortgage broker’s main computer system, does not conduct any of the activities of a licensed MLO, and the licensed MLO has in place safeguards to protect borrower information.

The proposed amendments also contain several changes applicable to student loan servicers regulated under the Consumer Loan Act, including that: (i) licensees servicing student loans for borrowers in the state “may apply to the director to waive or adjust the annual assessment amount”; (ii) licensees are required to disclose to all service members their rights under state and federal service member laws and regulations connected to their student loans; and (iii) student loan servicers must review all student loan borrowers against the Department of Defense’s database to ensure borrower entitlements are applied appropriately, and maintain written policies and procedures for this practice. The proposed amendments also state that compliance with federal law is sufficient for complying with several Washington requirements applicable to student loan servicers, including borrower payment provisions.