9-2203. License required to conduct mortgage business; registration required for a loan originator; penalty; statute of limitations for prosecution. (a) Mortgage business shall only be conducted in this state at or from a mortgage company licensed by the commissioner as required by this act. A licensee shall be responsible for all mortgage business conducted on their behalf by loan originators or other employees.

(b) Mortgage business involving loan origination shall only be conducted in this state by an individual who has first been registered with the commissioner as a loan originator as required by this act and maintains a valid unique identifier issued by the nationwide mortgage licensing system and registry, if operational at the time of registration.

(c) Loan origination shall only be conducted at or from a mortgage company and a registrant shall only engage in mortgage business on behalf of one mortgage company.

(d) Nothing under this act shall require a licensee to obtain any other license under any other act for the sole purpose of conducting non-depository mortgage business.

(e) Any person who willfully or knowingly violates any of the provisions of this act, any rule and regulation adopted or order issued under this act commits a severity level 7 nonperson felony. A second or subsequent conviction of this act, regardless of its location on the sentencing grid block, shall have a presumptive sentence of imprisonment.

(f) No prosecution for any crime under this act may be commenced more than five years after the alleged violation. A prosecution is commenced when a complaint or information is filed, or an indictment returned, and a warrant thereon is delivered to the sheriff or other officer for execution, except that no prosecution shall be deemed to have been commenced if the warrant so issued is not executed without unreasonable delay.

(g) Nothing in this act limits the power of the state to punish any person for any conduct which constitutes a crime by statute.

History: L. 1996, ch. 175, § 3; L. 1999, ch. 45, § 3; L. 2001, ch. 88, § 4; L. 2005, ch. 144, § 1; L. 2009, ch. 29, § 6; L. 2016, ch. 15, § 3; L. 2017, ch. 52, § 8; July 1.