RCW 19.146.0201 Loan originator, mortgage broker—Prohibitions—Requirements.

It is a violation of this chapter for loan originators, mortgage brokers, officers, directors, employees, independent contractors, or any other person subject to this chapter to:

(1) Directly or indirectly employ any scheme, device, or artifice to defraud or mislead borrowers or lenders or to defraud any person;

(2) Directly or indirectly engage in any unfair or deceptive practice toward any person;

(3) Directly or indirectly obtain property by fraud or misrepresentation;

(4) Solicit or enter into a contract with a borrower that provides in substance that the mortgage broker may earn a fee or commission through the mortgage broker's "best efforts" to obtain a loan even though no loan is actually obtained for the borrower;

(5) Solicit, advertise, or enter into a contract for specific interest rates, points, or other financing terms unless the terms are actually available at the time of soliciting, advertising, or contracting from a person exempt from licensing under RCW 19.146.020(1)(f) or a lender with whom the mortgage broker maintains a written correspondent or loan broker agreement under RCW 19.146.040;

(6) Fail to make disclosures to loan applicants and noninstitutional investors as required by RCW 19.146.030 and any other applicable state or federal law;

(7) Make, in any manner, any false or deceptive statement or representation with regard to the rates, points, or other financing terms or conditions for a residential mortgage loan or engage in bait and switch advertising;

(8) Negligently make any false statement or knowingly and willfully make any omission of material fact in connection with any reports filed by a licensee or in connection with any investigation conducted by the department;

(9) Make any payment, directly or indirectly, to any appraiser of a property, for the purposes of influencing the independent judgment of the appraiser with respect to the value of the property;

(10) Advertise any rate of interest without conspicuously disclosing the annual percentage rate implied by such rate of interest;

(11) Fail to comply with state and federal laws applicable to the activities governed by this chapter;

(12) Fail to pay third-party providers no later than thirty days after the recording of the loan closing documents or ninety days after completion of the third-party service, whichever comes first, unless otherwise agreed or unless the third-party service provider has been notified in writing that a bona fide dispute exists regarding the performance or quality of the third-party service;

(13) Collect, charge, attempt to collect or charge or use or propose any agreement purporting to collect or charge any fee prohibited by RCW 19.146.030 or 19.146.070;

(14)(a) Except when complying with (b) and (c) of this subsection, act as a loan originator in any transaction (i) in which the loan originator acts or has acted as a real estate broker or salesperson or (ii) in which another person doing business under the same licensed real estate broker acts or has acted as a real estate broker or salesperson;

(b) Prior to providing mortgage services to the borrower, a loan originator, in addition to other disclosures required by this chapter and other laws, must provide to the borrower the following written disclosure:

THIS IS TO GIVE YOU NOTICE THAT I OR ONE OF MY ASSOCIATES HAVE/HAS ACTED AS A REAL ESTATE BROKER OR SALESPERSON REPRESENTING THE BUYER/SELLER IN THE SALE OF THIS PROPERTY TO YOU. I AM ALSO A LOAN ORIGINATOR, AND WOULD LIKE TO PROVIDE MORTGAGE SERVICES TO YOU IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR LOAN TO PURCHASE THE PROPERTY.

YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO USE ME AS A LOAN ORIGINATOR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS TRANSACTION. YOU ARE FREE TO COMPARISON SHOP WITH OTHER MORTGAGE BROKERS AND LENDERS, AND TO SELECT ANY MORTGAGE BROKER OR LENDER OF YOUR CHOOSING; and

(c) A real estate broker or salesperson licensed under chapter 18.85 RCW who also acts as a mortgage broker must carry on such mortgage broker business activities and must maintain such person's mortgage broker business records separate and apart from the real estate broker activities conducted pursuant to chapter 18.85 RCW. Such activities are separate and apart even if they are conducted at an office location with a common entrance and mailing address, so long as each business is clearly identified by a sign visible to the public, each business is physically separated within the office facility, and no deception of the public as to the separate identities of the broker business firms results. This subsection (14)(c) does not require a real estate broker or salesperson licensed under chapter 18.85 RCW who also acts as a mortgage broker to maintain a physical separation within the office facility for the conduct of its real estate and mortgage broker activities where the director determines that maintaining such physical separation would constitute an undue financial hardship upon the mortgage broker and is unnecessary for the protection of the public;

(15) Fail to comply with any provision of RCW 19.146.030 through 19.146.080 or any rule adopted under those sections;

(16) Originate loans from any unlicensed location;

(17) Solicit or accept from any borrower at or near the time a loan application is taken, and in advance of any foreclosure of the borrower's existing residential mortgage loan or loans, any instrument of conveyance of any interest in the borrower's primary dwelling that is the subject of the residential mortgage loan or loans; or

(18) Make a residential mortgage loan unless the loan is table funded.

[ 2015 c 229 § 7; 2013 c 30 § 3; 2009 c 528 § 3; 2006 c 19 § 4; 1997 c 106 § 3; 1994 c 33 § 6; 1993 c 468 § 4.]

NOTES:

Effective date—License requirement—Implementation—2009 c 528: See notes following RCW 19.146.010.

Severability—1997 c 106: See note following RCW 19.146.010.

Adoption of rules—1993 c 468: "The director shall take steps and adopt rules necessary to implement the sections of this act by their effective dates." [ 1993 c 468 § 22.]

Severability—1993 c 468: "If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected." [ 1993 c 468 § 23.]

Effective dates—1993 c 468: See note following RCW 19.146.200.