[Section effective until January 1, 2010. See, also, section effective January 1, 2010.]

1. (A) A mortgage broker licensed pursuant to this chapter must maintain at his usual place of business books, records, and documents pertaining to the business conducted, to enable the department to determine compliance with this chapter. A mortgage broker with two or more licensed offices may consolidate the records at any one of the licensed offices. The records must be available for examination to the administrator or his designee upon request. Books and records must be maintained for at least three years.
2. (B) A mortgage broker doing business in this State shall maintain a sufficient physical presence in this State and his records must be maintained at the licensed location in this State. At a minimum, the broker shall maintain an official place of business open during regular business hours, staffed by one or more licensees who have the authority to contract on behalf of the broker and to accept service on behalf of the broker. If the official place of business is not open for business within the hours of 8:30 A.M. until 5:00 P.M., Monday through Friday, the broker shall notify the department in writing of the business hours maintained by the broker's official place of business.

3. (C) A licensed mortgage broker with an official place of business within South Carolina also may maintain one or more branch or satellite offices if the:

   1. (1) mortgage broker notifies the department in writing ten days before the opening of a satellite office of the location of the branch or satellite office and notifies the department that all records from the branch or satellite office are stored in a main or branch location in this State which is staffed by one or more employees during regular business hours;
   2. (2) records of any pending mortgage application or records in which a loan closing is still in process are made available at the mortgage broker's main or branch location as provided in item (1) to the administrator or his designee within two business days of a written request delivered by facsimile transmission, mail, or hand-delivery by the administrator or his designee;
   3. (3) broker notifies the department in writing within two business days of closing a branch or satellite office.
4. (D) The department may examine the books and records of a mortgage broker and other specified documents to determine whether there has been substantial compliance with this chapter. Unless there is reason to believe a violation of this chapter has occurred, examinations must be limited to one each year. Records and information obtained by the department during an examination are confidential and the department must certify that it is in compliance with the Right to Financial Privacy Act (RFPA).
5. (E) If the mortgage broker fails to notify the department of the existence or closing of a branch or satellite office, the actual operating hours of the main or branch offices where records are kept, or the whereabouts of its records, the broker is subject to a penalty of not less than fifty dollars and not more than two hundred fifty dollars. If after the assessment of a fine within a one-year period, the administrator finds that additional violations of this section are both intentional and repeated, the mortgage broker is subject to all of the remedies for violations of this chapter set forth in Section 40-58-80.