2006 Louisiana Laws - RS 6:1088 — Application for licensure; issuance of licenses; application and renewal fees

§1088.  Application for licensure; issuance of licenses; application and renewal fees

A.  An application for a license under this Chapter shall be made in writing, under oath, and on a form prescribed by the commissioner.  Each license shall expire on December thirty-first of the year in which the license was issued.

B.  Repealed by Acts 2001, No. 617, §3, eff. June 22, 2001.

C.(1)  Each applicant for licensing as a mortgage lender or a mortgage broker, or both, shall, at the time of application for licensure or any renewal of a license, provide evidence of financial responsibility and solvency in one of the following forms:

(a)  An audited financial statement prepared by a certified public accountant that meets the independent requirements of the profession.  The applicant shall maintain a net worth of fifty thousand dollars or more during the licensing year.  The date of the audit must be no more than eighteen months prior to the application or renewal date.  The licensee must submit the annual audit to the commissioner within sixty days of receipt of such audit.  Failure to submit the audited financial statements or furnish other acceptable evidence of financial responsibility within the time periods required by this Subsection may result in a late filing fee not to exceed one thousand dollars and may result in suspension or revocation of licenses in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter.

(b)  A deposit, irrevocably pledged to the commissioner, of fifty thousand dollars in a federally insured depositary institution located in Louisiana, designated by the applicant, and approved by the commissioner.  The applicant shall receive all interest earned on the deposit.

(c)  Securities of a type approved by the commissioner, including but not limited to bonds of the state or any of its political subdivisions or bonds of the United States government, having a value of not less than fifty thousand dollars irrevocably pledged to the commissioner.  The applicant shall receive all interest or dividends earned on the securities.

(d)  A surety bond authorized by a surety insurer licensed to do business in this state in the amount of fifty thousand dollars.  The surety bond shall name the office of financial institutions and shall be filed with the application or renewal.

(2)  An applicant who is a natural person and is employed by a juridical person engaging in residential mortgage lending activities as a mortgage broker or mortgage lender may demonstrate his financial responsibility and solvency by submitting evidence that his employer satisfies the requirements established in this Subsection.

D.  If the applicant has multiple office locations, all such locations may be covered by a single license by including in the license application the address of each office operated by the applicant and the name and license number of the individual licensees engaging in residential mortgage lending activities at that location.  A copy of the applicant's license certificate shall be prominently displayed at each office at which it does business.

E.  The application shall be accompanied by the following nonrefundable fees as determined by and payable to the commissioner:

(1)  In the case of an application for a license to act as a mortgage lender, a mortgage broker, or both, a license fee in an amount not to exceed four hundred dollars.

(2)  In the case of an application for a license to act as an originator, a license fee in an amount not to exceed one hundred dollars.

(3)  An annual license renewal fee for each person licensed as a mortgage broker or mortgage lender in an amount not to exceed three hundred dollars.  An annual license renewal application received by the commissioner postmarked after December first shall be accompanied by a late filing fee of two hundred dollars, in addition to the annual license renewal fee.

(4)  An annual license renewal fee for each originator in an amount not to exceed one hundred dollars.  An annual license renewal application received by the commissioner postmarked after December first shall be accompanied by a late filing fee of fifty dollars, in addition to the annual license renewal fee.

F.(1)  Each person licensed as a mortgage broker or mortgage lender shall file an annual license renewal application on or before November first of each year on a form prescribed by the commissioner.

(2)  Each originator shall file an annual license renewal application on or before November first of each year on a form prescribed by the commissioner.

(3)  Annual renewal applications shall be accompanied by the appropriate filing fee.  Annual license renewal applications received by the commissioner postmarked after December first shall be charged a late filing fee.

(4)  A license for which a renewal application was timely filed on or before the December thirty-first license expiration date shall remain in force and effect until such application is approved or rejected by the commissioner.  An application for renewal shall not require a new licensing decision by the commissioner and may only be rejected for incompleteness, failure to maintain the financial responsibilities required by this Section, or failure to pay any penalty which was previously accrued or imposed upon the applicant.  Nothing in this Section shall preclude the commissioner from implementing any administrative or enforcement action authorized by this Title for violations or material misrepresentation which may have occurred prior to the renewal date of a license.  Licenses for which renewal applications are filed after December thirty-first shall be deemed to have expired automatically on January first unless the applicant shows good cause for late renewal and pays a reinstatement penalty in an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars.

(5)  A natural person, licensed as a mortgage broker, mortgage lender, or originator, who, during the course of the year, becomes exempt from licensure, or becomes inactive in residential mortgage lending activities, may maintain his license by filing the annual license renewal application, paying the annual license renewal fee, and by satisfying the continuing professional education requirements for renewal established by this Chapter.

G.(1)(a)  No license shall be issued upon the filing of an application by a person upon whom any penalty or fee has been imposed unless and until such penalty or fee has been paid.  No new originator license shall be issued upon the filing of an application until any and all penalties or fees owed by the residential mortgage lender who employs or will employ the applicant have been paid.  This Section shall not be applicable to any fee or penalty which is subject to an administrative action pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act.

(b)  No license shall be issued unless the commissioner, upon investigation, finds that the financial responsibility, character, and fitness of the applicant, its owners, and its members, if the applicant is a partnership, and its officers and directors, if the applicant is a corporation, are such as to warrant a belief that the business will be conducted honestly and fairly within the purposes of this Chapter. The commissioner may grant restricted or conditional licenses.

(c)  Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S. 37:2950, when determining an applicant's character and fitness,  the commissioner may consider the criminal record of an applicant for a new license or a renewal thereof, and may deny such application if the applicant's criminal record includes a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to, or conviction of, any felony within ten years of the date of submission of the application.

(2)(a)  Upon written request, an applicant is entitled to a hearing on the question of his qualification for a license if either:

(i)  The commissioner has notified the applicant in writing that his application has been denied.

(ii)  The commissioner has not issued a license within sixty days of the date the application for licensure was filed.

(b)  A request for a hearing may not be made more than thirty days after the applicant has received the written notice notifying him that the application was denied and stating the commissioner's findings in support of the denial of the application.

(3)  Any person whose application or renewal application for licensure under this Chapter has been denied for any reason may not reapply for a license under this Chapter until at least three years have elapsed from the date of the order of denial, unless the commissioner, in his sole discretion, prescribes an earlier date or later date.  For purposes of this Paragraph, the order shall be considered to be the first to occur of either the date of the issuance of the commissioner's notification of denial of the person's application, or sixty days after the filing of that application, and a person shall include the applicant, its owners, and its members if the applicant is a limited liability company, its partners, if the applicant is a partnership, its officers and directors, if the applicant is a corporation, and any other person determined by the commissioner, in his sole discretion, to be closely related to the person.

(4)  Beginning July 1, 2000, no natural person shall be licensed as a mortgage broker, mortgage lender, or originator unless the applicant is certified as provided in this Chapter.

Acts 1999, No. 1098, §1, eff. July 9, 1999; Acts 2000, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 34, §1, eff. April 14, 2000; Acts 2001, No. 617, §§1 and 3, eff. June 22, 2001; Acts 2003, No. 875, §1; Acts 2006, No. 237, §1.