2023 Nebraska Revised Statutes › Chapter 45 - Interest, Loans, and Debt › 45-740 - Prohibited acts; violation; penalty; civil liability.

45-740.
Prohibited acts; violation; penalty; civil liability.
(1) A licensee, an officer, an employee, or an agent of the licensee shall not:
(a) Assess a late charge if all payments due are received before the date upon which late charges are authorized in the underlying mortgage or trust deed or other loan documents;
(b) Delay closing of a residential mortgage loan for the purpose of increasing interest, costs, fees, or charges payable by the borrower;
(c) Misrepresent or conceal material facts or make false promises intended to influence, persuade, or induce an applicant for a residential mortgage loan or a borrower to take a residential mortgage loan or cause or contribute to such a misrepresentation by any person acting on a licensee's or any other lender's behalf;
(d) Misrepresent to, or conceal from, an applicant for a residential mortgage loan or a borrower material facts, terms, or conditions of a residential mortgage loan to which the licensee is a party;
(e) Fail to make disclosures as required by the Residential Mortgage Licensing Act and any other applicable state or federal law including regulations thereunder;
(f) Engage in any transaction, practice, or business conduct that is not in good faith or that operates a fraud upon any person in connection with the making of any residential mortgage loan;
(g) Receive compensation for acting as a mortgage banker or mortgage loan originator if the licensee has otherwise acted as a real estate broker or agent in connection with the sale of the real estate which secures the residential mortgage loan unless the licensee has provided written disclosure to the person from whom compensation is collected that the licensee is receiving compensation both for acting as a mortgage banker or mortgage loan originator and for acting as a real estate broker or agent;
(h) Advertise, display, distribute, broadcast, televise, or cause or permit to be advertised, displayed, distributed, broadcasted, or televised, in any manner, including by the Internet, any false, misleading, or deceptive statement or representation with regard to rates, terms, or conditions for a residential mortgage loan or any false, misleading, or deceptive statement regarding the qualifications of the licensee or of any officer, employee, or agent thereof;
(i) Record a lien on real property if money is not available for the immediate disbursal to the borrower unless, before that recording, the licensee (i) informs the borrower in writing of the reason for the delay and of a definite date by which disbursement shall be made and (ii) obtains the borrower's written permission for the delay unless the delay is required by any other state or federal law;
(j) Fail to account for or deliver to any person personal property obtained in connection with the mortgage banking business, including, but not limited to, money, funds, deposits, checks, drafts, mortgages, trust deeds, or other documents or things of value which the licensee was not entitled to retain;
(k) Fail to disburse, without just cause, any funds in accordance with any agreement connected with the mortgage banking business;
(l) Collect fees and charges on funds other than new funds if the licensee makes a residential mortgage loan to refinance an existing residential mortgage loan to a current borrower of the licensee within twelve months after the previous residential mortgage loan made by the licensee;
(m) Assess any fees against the borrower other than those which are reasonable and necessary, including actual charges incurred in connection with the making, closing, disbursing, servicing, extending, transferring, or renewing of a loan, including, but not limited to, (i) prepayment charges, (ii) delinquency charges, (iii) premiums for hazard, private mortgage, disability, life, or title insurance, (iv) fees for escrow services, appraisal services, abstracting services, title services, surveys, inspections, credit reports, notary services, and recording of documents, (v) origination fees, (vi) interest on interest after default, and (vii) costs and charges incurred for determining qualification for the loan proceeds and disbursement of the loan proceeds;
(n) Allow the borrower to finance, directly or indirectly, (i) any credit life, credit accident, credit health, credit personal property, or credit loss-of-income insurance or debt suspension coverage or debt cancellation coverage, whether or not such coverage is insurance under applicable law, that provides for cancellation of all or part of a borrower's liability in the event of loss of life, health, personal property, or income or in the case of accident written in connection with a residential mortgage loan or (ii) any life, accident, health, or loss-of-income insurance without regard to the identity of the ultimate beneficiary of such insurance. For purposes of this section, any premiums or charges calculated and paid on a periodic basis that are not added to the principal of the loan shall not be considered financed directly or indirectly by the creditor;
(o) Falsify any documentation relating to a residential mortgage loan or a residential mortgage loan application;
(p) Recommend or encourage default on an existing loan or other debt prior to and in connection with the closing or planned closing of a residential mortgage loan that refinances all or any portion of such existing loan or debt;
(q) Borrow money from, personally loan money to, or guarantee any loan made to any customer or applicant for a residential mortgage loan;
(r) Obtain a signature on a document required to be notarized in connection with a residential mortgage loan or a residential mortgage loan application unless the qualified notary public performing the notarization is physically present at the time the signature is obtained; or
(s) Make any payment, threat, or promise, directly or indirectly, to any person for the purposes of influencing the independent judgment of the person in connection with a residential mortgage loan or make any payment, threat, or promise, 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.
(2) Any person who violates any provision of subsection (1) of this section is guilty of a Class III misdemeanor.
(3) Any person who violates any provision of subsection (1) of this section is liable to the applicant for a residential mortgage loan or to the borrower for the fees, costs, and charges incurred in connection with obtaining or attempting to obtain the residential mortgage loan, damages resulting from such violation, interest on the damage from the date of the violation, and court costs, including reasonable attorney's fees.
Source
Laws 1989, LB 272, § 17;
Laws 2003, LB 218, § 9;
Laws 2006, LB 876, § 32;
Laws 2007, LB124, § 47;
R.S.Supp.,2008, § 45-714;
Laws 2009, LB328, § 25.