TITLE 7
BANKING AND FINANCE
Section 1. Financial Institutions, 7-1-1 through 7-1-1021.
ARTICLE 13
LICENSING OF MORTGAGE LENDERS AND MORTGAGE BROKERS
7-1-1003. Applications for licenses.
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An application for a license under this article shall be made in writing, under oath, and in such form as the department may prescribe. Each such form shall contain content as set forth by rule, regulation, instruction, or procedure of the department and may be changed or updated as necessary by the department in order to carry out the purposes of this article. The department, by regulation, may prescribe different classes of licenses for mortgage loan originators, mortgage brokers, and mortgage lenders.
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The application shall include the following:
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The legal name and address of the applicant and, if the applicant is a partnership, association, corporation, or other business entity, of every member, officer, and director thereof;
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All names, including, but not limited to, website domain names (URLs), under which the applicant will conduct business in Georgia;
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For mortgage brokers and mortgage lenders, the address of the main office or principal place of business where books and records are located and any other locations at which the applicant will engage in any business activity covered by the provisions of this article, together with the mailing address where the department shall send all correspondence, orders, or notices. Any changes in this mailing address shall be delivered in writing to the department before the change is effective;
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For mortgage brokers and mortgage lenders, the complete name and address of the applicant's initial registered agent and registered office for service of process in Georgia. If the applicant is a Georgia corporation, this registered agent shall be the same as the agent recorded with the Secretary of State. Any changes in the registered agent or registered office shall be delivered in writing to the department and the Secretary of State, if applicable, before the change is effective. The registered agent may, but is not required to, be an officer of the applicant, and the registered office shall be a Georgia location where the registered agent may be served;
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For mortgage brokers and mortgage lenders, the general plan and character of the business;
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For mortgage brokers and mortgage lenders, a financial statement of the applicant;
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For mortgage brokers and mortgage lenders, such other data, financial statements, and pertinent information as the department may require with respect to the applicant, its directors, trustees, officers, members, agents, or ultimate equitable owners of 10 percent or more of the applicant; and
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For mortgage brokers and mortgage loan originators, evidence of satisfaction of experience or education requirements, as required by regulations of the department.
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All applications filed under this Code section shall be filed together with:
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Investigation and supervision fees established by regulation;
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The items required by Code Section 7-1-1003.2; and
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Other information as may be required by the department.
(Code 1981, §7-1-1003, enacted by Ga. L. 1993, p. 543, § 1; Ga. L. 1994, p. 570, § 3; Ga. L. 1996, p. 848, § 16; Ga. L. 1999, p. 674, § 31; Ga. L. 2000, p. 174, § 25; Ga. L. 2001, p. 970, § 10; Ga. L. 2005, p. 826, § 30/SB 82; Ga. L. 2009, p. 252, § 1/HB 312; Ga. L. 2015, p. 344, § 33/HB 184.)
The 2015 amendment,
effective July 1, 2015, deleted ". The investigation fee shall not be refundable; provided, however, that any supervision fee paid at the time of the application shall be refunded if the license is not granted" following "by regulation" in paragraph (c)(1).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Commercial property
- Earlier version of O.C.G.A.
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7-1-1003(c)(2) did not include loans secured by commercial property represented to be residential; therefore, a purchaser of commercial property was unable to recover a bond to partially satisfy a judgment against a fraudulent mortgage broker. Accerbi v. Hartford Fire Ins. Co.,
F. Supp. 2d
(S.D. Ga. Sept. 26, 2005).
Acts not covered by bond.
- Trial court erred in granting a purchaser summary judgment and in denying an insurer summary judgment in the purchaser's action to recover against a bond the insurer issued to a mortgage lender under the Georgia Residential Mortgage Act, O.C.G.A.
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7-1-1000 et seq., because the acts that gave rise to the judgment the purchaser obtained against the lender occurred before the bond was in effect, and the lender's failure to pay the judgment was not an act that authorized recovery against the bond; the bond did not contain a specific covenant extending liability to acts prior to the bond's execution. Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. iFreedom Direct Corp., 312 Ga. App. 262, 718 S.E.2d 103 (2011), cert. denied, No. S12C0408, 2012 Ga. LEXIS 246 (Ga. 2012).