761.101—Authority, purpose, and scope.
(a) Authority.
This part is issued pursuant to the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008, title V of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (S.A.F.E. Act) (Pub. L. 110-289, 122 Stat. 2654, 12 U.S.C. 5101
et seq. ).
(b) Purpose.
This part implements the S.A.F.E. Act's Federal registration requirement for mortgage loan originators. The S.A.F.E. Act provides that the objectives of this registration include aggregating and improving the flow of information to and between regulators; providing increased accountability and tracking of mortgage loan originators; enhancing member protections; reducing fraud in the residential mortgage loan origination process; and providing members with easily accessible information at no charge regarding the employment history of, and publicly adjudicated disciplinary and enforcement actions against, mortgage loan originators.
(c) Scope—
(1) In general.
This part applies to any Federally insured credit union and its employees, including volunteers, who act as mortgage loan originators. This part also applies to non-Federally insured credit unions and their employees, including volunteers, who act as mortgage loan originators, subject to the conditions in paragraph (c)(3) of this section.
(2) Exception.
(i)
This part and the requirements of 12 U.S.C. 5104(a)(1)(A) and (2) of the S.A.F.E. Act do not apply to any employee of a credit union who has never been registered or licensed through the Registry as a mortgage loan originator if during the past 12 months the employee acted as a mortgage loan originator for 5 or fewer residential mortgage loans.
(ii)
Prior to engaging in mortgage loan origination activity that exceeds the exception limit in paragraph (c)(2)(i) of this section, a credit union employee must register with the Registry pursuant to this part.
(iii) Evasion.
Credit unions are prohibited from engaging in any act or practice to evade the limits of the de minimis exception set forth in paragraph (c)(2)(i) of this section.
(3) For non-Federally insured credit unions.
Non-Federally insured credit unions and their employees who are mortgage loan originators may register under this rule only if:
(i)
The appropriate State supervisory authorities where non-Federally insured credit unions are located enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Credit Union Administration on or before the date NCUA provides in a public notice that the Registry is accepting initial registrations.
(ii)
The MOU may require non-Federally insured credit unions to pay various fees related to oversight costs and registration costs for the non-Federally insured credit unions' mortgage loan originators.
(iii)
Any Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry listing of a non-Federally insured credit union and its employees must contain a clear and conspicuous statement that the non-Federally insured credit union is not insured by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund.
(iv)
If any State supervisory authority where non-Federally insured credit unions are located fails to enter into or maintain an agreement with the National Credit Union Administration for this registration process and oversight, the non-Federally insured credit unions and their employees in that State cannot register or maintain registration under the Federal system. They instead must use the appropriate State licensing and registration system, or if the State does not have such a system, the licensing and registration system established by the Department of Housing and Urban Department (HUD) for mortgage loan originators and their employees.