1. (a) A license issued under this subtitle authorizes the licensee to act as a mortgage lender under the license at any licensed location and under any licensed name, or as otherwise authorized by the Commissioner through regulation.
2. (b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section or as otherwise authorized by the Commissioner through regulation, a licensee may do business as a mortgage lender only at a licensed location.

3. (c)

   1. (1) A licensee may not allow any note, or loan contract, mortgage, or evidence of indebtedness secured by a secondary mortgage or deed of trust on a dwelling or residential real estate to be signed or executed at any place other than a licensed location, except at the office of:

      1. (i) The attorney for the borrower or for the licensee; or
      2. (ii) A title insurance company, a title company, or an attorney for a title insurance company or a title company.
   2. (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this subsection, a licensee may conduct the loan closing at another location at the written request of the borrower or the borrower's designee to accommodate the borrower because of the borrower's sickness.
   3. (3) The Commissioner shall adopt regulations to ensure that the loan application process is conducted fairly and in a manner consistent with the best interests of both the borrower and mortgage lender.

4. (d) A license may be issued under this subtitle to a business entity whose principal executive office is located outside the State if the business entity maintains a resident agent within the State at all times during the term of the license, regardless of whether:

   1. (1) The business entity maintains any office within the State; or
   2. (2) The activities of the business entity constitute doing business or having a tax situs in the State under the applicable provisions of the Corporations and Associations Article.
5. (e) A person exempt from licensing under this subtitle who employs a mortgage loan originator licensed under Subtitle 6 of this title shall be registered with NMLS.

6. (f) Information in NMLS associated with a license approved by the Commissioner under this subtitle shall include the following:

   1. (1) The licensee's legal name and any trade name used by the licensee in accordance with § 2-121 of this article;
   2. (2) The address of the licensee's principal executive office; and

   3. (3) The address of each additional location, if any, where the licensee does business and that:

      1. (i) The general public may reasonably view as a location that does business as a mortgage lender, including any location that investigates customer complaints or directly communicates with customers verbally, electronically, or in writing;
      2. (ii) Houses any core operational infrastructure or technology systems;
      3. (iii) Conducts any core management, information security and technology, risk and compliance, or finance functions; or
      4. (iv) Is otherwise required to be listed in NMLS by regulation the Commissioner adopts under this subtitle.
7. (g) A licensee shall maintain and update the information in NMLS associated with the licensee's license to reflect accurately at all times the information required by subsection (f) of this section.
8. (h) The unique identifier of the licensee shall constitute the license number for the license.

9. (i) A licensee may not conduct any business as a mortgage lender:

   1. (1) Under any name other than a licensed name; or
   2. (2) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section or as otherwise authorized by the Commissioner through regulation, at a location other than a licensed location.

Added by Acts 1989, c. 476, § 3, eff. July 1, 1989. Amended by Acts 1997, c. 588, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1997; Acts 1998, c. 760, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1998; Acts 1998, c. 761, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1998; Acts 2009, c. 4, § 1, eff. July 1, 2009; Acts 2011, c. 148, § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 2011; Acts 2021, c. 101, § 2, eff. Oct. 1, 2021; Acts 2023, c. 567, § 1, eff. July 1, 2023.