46:10B-26 High-cost home loans, limitations, prohibited practices.

5. A high-cost home loan shall be subject to the following additional limitations and prohibited practices:

a. No high-cost home loan shall contain a scheduled payment that is more than twice as large as the average of earlier scheduled payments. This provision shall not apply when the payment schedule is adjusted to the seasonal or irregular income of the borrower.

b. No high-cost home loan shall include payment terms under which the outstanding principal balance will increase at any time over the course of the loan because the regular periodic payments do not cover the full amount of interest due.

c. No high-cost home loan shall contain a provision that increases the interest rate after default. This provision shall not apply to interest rate changes in a variable rate loan otherwise consistent with the provisions of the loan documents, provided the change in the interest rate is not triggered by the event of default or the acceleration of the indebtedness.

d. No high-cost home loan shall include terms under which more than two periodic payments required under the loan are consolidated and paid in advance from the loan proceeds provided to the borrower.

e. Without regard to whether a borrower is acting individually or on behalf of others similarly situated, any provision of a high-cost home loan agreement that allows a party to require a borrower to assert any claim or defense in a forum that is less convenient, more costly, or more dilatory for the resolution of a dispute than a judicial forum established in this State if the borrower may otherwise properly bring a claim or defense or limits in any way any claim or defense the borrower may have is unconscionable and void.

f. A creditor shall not make a high-cost home loan unless the creditor has given the following notice, or substantially similar notice, in writing, to the borrower, acknowledged in writing and signed by the borrower not later than the time the notice is required under the notice provision contained in 12 C.F.R. s.226.31(c).

NOTICE TO BORROWER

YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO OBTAIN A LOAN AT A LOWER COST. YOU SHOULD SHOP AROUND AND COMPARE LOAN RATES AND FEES. MORTGAGE LOAN RATES AND CLOSING COSTS AND FEES VARY BASED ON MANY FACTORS, INCLUDING YOUR PARTICULAR CREDIT AND FINANCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES, YOUR EMPLOYMENT HISTORY, THE LOAN-TO-VALUE REQUESTED AND THE TYPE OF PROPERTY THAT WILL SECURE YOUR LOAN. THE LOAN RATE AND FEES COULD ALSO VARY BASED ON WHICH CREDITOR OR BROKER YOU SELECT.

IF YOU ACCEPT THE TERMS OF THIS LOAN, THE CREDITOR WILL HAVE A MORTGAGE LIEN ON YOUR HOME. YOU COULD LOSE YOUR HOME AND ANY MONEY YOU PUT INTO IT IF YOU DO NOT MEET YOUR PAYMENT OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE LOAN.

YOU SHOULD CONSULT AN ATTORNEY-AT-LAW AND A QUALIFIED INDEPENDENT CREDIT COUNSELOR OR OTHER EXPERIENCED FINANCIAL ADVISOR REGARDING THE RATE, FEES AND PROVISIONS OF THIS MORTGAGE LOAN BEFORE YOU PROCEED. A LIST OF QUALIFIED COUNSELORS IS AVAILABLE BY CONTACTING THE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF BANKING AND INSURANCE.

YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THIS LOAN AGREEMENT MERELY BECAUSE YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS DISCLOSURE OR HAVE SIGNED A LOAN APPLICATION.

REMEMBER, PROPERTY TAXES AND HOMEOWNER'S INSURANCE ARE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. NOT ALL CREDITORS PROVIDE ESCROW SERVICES FOR THESE PAYMENTS. YOU SHOULD ASK YOUR CREDITOR ABOUT THESE SERVICES.

ALSO, YOUR PAYMENTS ON EXISTING DEBTS CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR CREDIT RATINGS. YOU SHOULD NOT ACCEPT ANY ADVICE TO IGNORE YOUR REGULAR PAYMENTS TO YOUR EXISTING CREDITORS.

g. A creditor shall not make a high-cost home loan to a borrower who finances points and fees in connection with a high-cost home loan without first receiving certification from a third-party nonprofit credit counselor, approved by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Banking and Insurance, that the borrower has received counseling on the advisability of the loan transaction or completing another substantial requirement developed by the department.

h. A creditor shall not pay a contractor under a home-improvement contract from the proceeds of a high-cost home loan, unless the instrument is payable to the borrower or jointly to the borrower and the contractor, or, at the election of the borrower, through a third-party escrow agent in accordance with terms established in a written agreement signed by the borrower, the creditor, and the contractor prior to the disbursement.

i. A creditor shall not charge a borrower any fees or other charges to modify, renew, extend, or amend a high-cost home loan or to defer any payment due under the terms of a high- cost home loan.

j. A creditor shall not charge a borrower points and fees in connection with a high- cost home loan if the proceeds of the high-cost home loan are used to refinance an existing high- cost home loan held by the same creditor as note holder.

k. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, a creditor making a high-cost home loan that has the legal right to foreclose shall use the judicial foreclosure procedures of this State so long as the property securing the loan is located in this State.

l. No creditor making a high-cost home loan shall directly or indirectly finance points and fees in excess of 2% of the total loan amount.

L.2003,c.64,s.5.