Oklahoma amends SAFE Act licensing provisions

State Issues Licensing Oklahoma State Legislation Mortgage Servicing

On April 29, Oklahoma enacted SB 1492 (the “Act”) which amends the Oklahoma Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act by, among other things, expanding the definition of “mortgage broker” to include servicing a residential mortgage, defining “servicing” to include holding servicing rights, as well as significantly adjusting fees and annual assessments for licensees. With respect to mortgage servicing, the law defines servicing as “the administration of a resident mortgage loan following the closing of such loan” and further states that an entity will be serviced if it “either holds the servicing rights, or engages in any activities determined to be servicing, including: (a) the collection of monthly mortgage payments; (b) the administration of escrow accounts; (c) the processing of borrower inquiries and requests; and (d) default management.” The definition of “mortgage lender” already includes an entity that “makes a residential mortgage loan or services a residential mortgage loan” and will be approved by HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or Ginnie Mae. The Act adds a new section allowing licensees to permit their employees and independent contractors to work at remote locations, subject to certain conditions regarding policies and procedures for customer contact information and data, maintenance of physical records, and prohibitions on in-person customer interactions, among other things. Finally, the Act will add or amend certain fees and their annual assessment determinations, including assessments based on loan volumes for originated loans and others for serviced loans during the assessment period. The Act will go into effect on November 1.