Washington State Department of Financial Institutions adopts amendments concerning student education loan servicers

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On December 3, the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) issued a final rule adopting amendments  including student education loan servicing and servicers as activities and persons regulated under the state’s Consumer Loan Act. According to DFI, the amendments will provide consumers with student education loans a number of consumer protections and allow DFI to monitor servicers’ activities.…

Upcoming deadline: Mortgage call report

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Just a friendly reminder that the mortgage call report for the third quarter of 2018 is due by November 14. The report must be filed by any company that maintains one or more specified licenses (typically, mortgage licenses) in the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System. Note that even if your company does not engage in mortgage-related…

2019 NMLS renewal period begins November 1

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The 2019 Nationwide Multistate Licensing System renewal period will open on November 1 and close on December 31. The NMLS Resource Center has state-by-state renewal checklists and three renewal handbooks specifically written for companies, individuals, and money services business, debt, and consumer finance companies. Prior to the opening of the renewal period, there are a…

Upcoming deadline: California license assessments

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The California Department of Business Oversight has notified California Financing Law licensees and California Residential Mortgage Lending Act (CRMLA) licensees of their annual assessment obligations for fiscal year 2018-2019. The assessments cover each licensee’s share of the cost of administering the programs under the California Financial Code and must be paid by October 31, 2018.…

Washington state Attorney General says debt buyers are collection agencies, files lawsuit for operating without a license

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On September 21, the Washington state Attorney General announced that it filed a lawsuit against several collection agencies and their owner (defendants) for allegedly purchasing and suing on charged-off consumer debts in violation of the Washington Collection Agency Act (WCAA) and the Washington Consumer Protection Act (WCPA). The complaint alleges that defendants bought and then obtained judgements on…

New York adds three license applications to NMLS

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On October 1, without notice, the New York State Department of Financial Services and the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System announced that the NMLS would begin receiving new application and transition filings for the check casher license, the commercial check casher license, and the virtual currency license in New York. The announcement from the NYSDFS explained…

NYDFS adds check cashing and virtual currency businesses to nationwide licensing system

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On October 1, NYDFS announced the commencement of the final phase of its initiative to manage the license application and regulation of all non-depository financial institutions operating in the state through the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry (NMLS). As such, NYDFS now allows financial services companies holding check casher and virtual currency business activity licenses to…

APPROVED Checkpoint: Fingerprinting

APPROVED Checkpoint, Insights

Fingerprints for purposes of conducting a criminal background check may be required of any number of individuals associated with a licensee/license applicant: from employees to senior officers to ultimate owners. The fingerprinting process typically involves an individual making an appointment with and traveling to an authorized fingerprint technician who will then capture the individual’s fingerprints…

Colorado regulator exempts certain cryptocurrency exchanges from money transmitter licensing requirements

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On September 20, the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies Division of Banking (Division) issued interim guidance exempting certain types of cryptocurrency exchanges from the state’s money transmitter licensing requirements. Under the interim guidance — which outlines the Division’s interpretation of Colorado’s existing Money Transmitters Act (the Act) — the Division determined that the Act regulates the transmission…

Federal Reserve seeks to repeal SAFE Act regulations to reflect CFPB authority

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On September 21, the Federal Reserve Board (Board) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking seeking comment on the repeal of certain provisions of regulations that incorporate the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (SAFE Act), which the Board states are intended to reflect the transfer of rulemaking authority to the CFPB by the Dodd-Frank Act. Specifically, the…

Massachusetts adds mortgage licensing exemption for certain nonprofit organizations

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On September 19, the Massachusetts Division of Banks (the Division) issued an Industry Letter to provide guidance regarding a new mortgage licensing exemption for “bona fide nonprofit affordable homeownership organizations.” These bona fide nonprofits, who must have as their primary purpose helping qualified low-income individuals build, repair, and purchase affordable housing, may apply to the…

District of Columbia moves to dismiss lawsuit alleging city’s student loan servicer regulations are preempted by federal law

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On September 7, the District of Columbia filed a memorandum in support of its motion to dismiss a lawsuit claiming that the city’s regulations and requirements for student loan servicers are preempted by federal law. The plaintiff, a D.C.-based trade group whose membership consists of national student loan servicers, argues in its complaint that various provisions of District of Columbia…

Sports betting and licensing

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Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Murphy v. NCAA, a number of states are expected to legalize some form of sports betting. Each state will institute its own regulatory compliance framework, with many likely borrowing heavily from those states with more mature sports betting industries (like Nevada and New Jersey). Those seeking to establish…