News Release

New Jersey Department of
Banking and Insurance

Commissioner Tom Considine

For Immediate Release:
August 2, 2010

For Further Information:
Ed Rogan or Marshall McKnight (609) 292-5064

TRENTON – New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI) Commissioner Tom Considine on July 27, 2010 extended the processing deadline for hundreds of mortgage bankers, brokers, solicitors and other lenders who are transitioning their licenses to comply with the new mortgage licensing law. The licenses or registrations of all mortgage banker, correspondent mortgage banker, mortgage broker and secondary lender licensees and mortgage solicitor registrants who did not make application through the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry for licensure as a residential mortgage lender (mortgage banker, correspondent mortgage banker or mortgage broker), a qualified individual licensee, or a mortgage loan originator, as applicable, under the Residential Mortgage Lending Act ("RMLA") by 11:59 p.m. on July 31, 2010 expired on July 31, 2010. Business entities and individuals who applied for licensure under the new law before August 1, 2010 now have an extended expiration date of 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on October 31, 2010.

“The new licensing system involves more education requirements and background checks and is generally a more involved and time consuming process than the existing system. For that reason some of our licensees weren’t going to meet the July 31 deadline. I am confident this 90-day extension will give them the extra time they need to complete the process,” said NJ Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner Tom Considine.

This is the first year implementing mortgage licensing changes under the New Jersey Residential Mortgage Lending Act. Late applications submitted by lenders in part due to additional education requirements and a high volume of deficiencies in the applications of business entities have delayed licensing for individuals affiliated with such entities who are seeking to operate under the new state licensing law.

Beginning August 1, 2010, those mortgage lenders who have not yet filed an application to transition to licensure under the RMLA will no longer be authorized to conduct operations and must cease conducting new business. Those non-filer lenders who closed loans prior to July 31, 2010 must complete the transaction by August 13, 2010, and all loans in the application pipeline of such lenders must be transferred to properly credentialed lenders by August 6, 2010. Under the Order, lenders who did file an application on or before July 31, 2010 and qualified for the processing extension, but who fail to cure all application deficiencies by September 30, 2010 risk losing their authority to conduct new business after October 31, 2010. 

Over the last two years, the Department has issued numerous notices, bulletins, and orders regarding the federal Secure and Fair Enforcement of Mortgage Licensing Act of 2009 (the “SAFE Act”) and the new licensing legislation and transition process it mandated. The Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry began taking applications from New Jersey mortgage bankers, brokers, solicitors and other lenders in January 2010. Additional information on RMLA licensing requirements can be found at www.njdobi.org.