2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 37 - Consumer Protection Code › Chapter 22 - Mortgage Lending › Section 37-22-140. Application for licensure; information required; identification of managing principal; filing fee; surety bond; issuance of license.

(A) A person desiring to obtain a license pursuant to this chapter shall make application for licensure to the commissioner on forms prescribed by the commissioner. The application must contain the information the commissioner considers necessary including, but not limited to, the applicant's:
(1) name, address, and social security number or, if applicable, Employer Identification Number (EIN);
(2) form and place of organization, if applicable;
(3) proposed method of and locations for doing business, if applicable;
(4) qualifications and business history and, if applicable, the business history of any partner, officer, or director, a person occupying a similar status or performing similar functions, or a person directly or indirectly controlling the applicant, including:
(i) a description of any injunction or administrative order by a state or federal authority to which the person is or has been subject, including denial, suspension, or revocation of a financial services or financial services related license or registration;
(ii) a conviction, or plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a misdemeanor within the last ten years involving financial services or a financial services related business or any fraud, false statements or omissions, theft or wrongful taking of property, bribery, perjury, forgery, counterfeiting, extortion, money laundering, breach of trust, or a conspiracy to commit any of these offenses; and
(iii) a conviction of, or plea of guilty or nolo contendere to, a felony;
(5) financial condition, credit history, and business history, with respect to an application for licensing as a mortgage lender; and credit history and business history, with respect to the application for licensing as a loan originator; and
(6) consent to a national fingerprint-based criminal history record check pursuant to Section 37-22-240 and submission of a set of the applicant's fingerprints in a form acceptable to the commissioner. In the case of an applicant that is a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, association, or trust, each natural person who has control of the applicant or who is the managing principal or a branch manager shall consent to a national fingerprint-based criminal history record check pursuant to Section 37-22-240 and submit a set of that natural person's fingerprints pursuant to this item. Refusal to consent to a criminal history record check constitutes grounds for the commissioner to deny licensure to the applicant as well as to any entity:
(i) by whom or by which the applicant is employed;
(ii) over which the applicant has control; or
(iii) as to which the applicant is the current or proposed managing principal or a current or proposed branch manager.
(B) In addition to the requirements imposed by the commissioner in subsection (A), each applicant for licensure as a loan originator shall:
(1) have attained the age of at least eighteen years;
(2) work for a licensed mortgage lender;
(3) have satisfactorily completed prelicensing education of at least twenty hours, which shall include at least three hours on South Carolina laws and regulations, and the National Test Component with Uniform State Content approved pursuant to 12 U.S.C. 5101, et seq.;
(4) have never had a loan originator license revoked in any governmental jurisdiction; and
(5) have not been convicted of, or pled guilty or nolo contendere to, a felony in a domestic, foreign, or military court: (i) during the ten-year period preceding the date of the application for licensing, or (ii) at any time, if the felony involved an act of fraud, dishonesty, breach of trust, or money laundering.
(C) In addition to the requirements of subsection (A) of this section, each applicant for licensure as a mortgage lender at the time of application and at all times after that shall comply with the following requirements:
(1) If the applicant is a sole proprietor, the applicant shall have at least three years of experience in financial services or financial services related business or other experience or competency requirements as the commissioner may impose.
(2) If the applicant is a general or limited partnership, at least one of its general partners shall have the experience described in item (1).
(3) If the applicant is a corporation, at least one of its principal officers shall have the experience described in item (1).
(4) If the applicant is a limited liability company, at least one of its members or managers shall have the experience described in item (1).
(5) Instead of a showing of three years' experience, an applicant may show proof of three years' employment with a federally insured depository institution or a VA-, FHA-, or HUD-approved mortgagee.
(D) Each applicant shall identify one person meeting the requirements of subsections (B) and (C) to serve as the applicant's managing principal.
(E) Every applicant for initial licensure shall pay a filing fee of one thousand dollars for licensure as a mortgage lender or fifty dollars for licensure as a loan originator, in addition to the actual cost of obtaining credit reports and national fingerprint-based criminal history record checks. If a licensed loan originator changes employment, a new license must be issued and a fee of twenty-five dollars must be paid.
(F) A mortgage lender shall post and maintain a surety bond in an amount determined by the commissioner, based on the total dollar amount of mortgage loans subject to regulation by the commissioner pursuant to this act in a calendar year in this State pursuant to the following: (i) dollar volume of mortgage loans from $0 to $49,999,999, surety bond of $50,000, (ii) dollar volume of mortgage loans from $50,000,000 to $249,999,999, surety bond of $100,000, (iii) dollar volume of mortgage loans greater than $250,000,000 surety bond of $150,000. In no case is the surety bond less than fifty thousand dollars. The surety bond must be executed by a surety company authorized by the laws of this State to transact business within this State. The surety bond must be in a form satisfactory to the commissioner, must be executed to the commissioner, and must be for the use of the State for the recovery of expenses, fines, and fees, or any of them, levied pursuant to this chapter and for consumers who have losses or damages as a result of noncompliance with this chapter by the mortgage lender. The full amount of the surety bond must be in effect at all times. The license of a licensee expires upon the termination of the bond by the surety company, unless a new bond is filed with the commissioner before the termination of the previous bond. If the license expires based on bond termination, all licensed activity must cease and the person must apply for a license pursuant to subsection (A).
(G) Any sole proprietor, general partner, member or manager of a limited liability company, or officer of a corporation who meets individually the requirements of subsection (B), upon payment of the applicable fee, meets the qualifications for licensure as a loan originator subject to the provisions of subsection (I).
(H) Each principal office and each branch office of a licensed mortgage lender at which business is conducted must be licensed pursuant to this chapter and must be issued a separate license. A licensed mortgage lender shall file with the commissioner an application on a form prescribed by the commissioner which identifies the address of the principal office and each branch office and branch manager. The commissioner may license a personal residence of a loan originator as a branch office if it is located more than seventy-five miles from a commercial branch office location. A licensing fee of one hundred fifty dollars must be assessed by the commissioner for each branch office issued a license.
(I) If the commissioner determines that an applicant meets the qualifications for licensure and finds that the financial responsibility, character, and general fitness of the applicant are such as to command the confidence of the community and to warrant belief that the business is to be operated honestly, fairly, and efficiently according to the purposes of this chapter and in accordance with all applicable state and federal laws, the commissioner shall issue a license to the applicant. If the commissioner does not make that determination, the commissioner shall refuse to license the applicant and shall notify him of the denial.
(J) Issuance of a license does not indicate approval or acceptance of any contract, agreement, or other document submitted in support of the application. A licensee may not represent that its services or contracts are approved by the State or state agency.
(K) A person who obtains a license as a mortgage lender, upon notice to the commissioner on a form prescribed by the commissioner, may act as a mortgage broker as defined in Section 37-22-110(1). The commissioner shall provide to the administrator notification of which mortgage lenders also are acting as brokers. A mortgage lender who also acts as a mortgage broker is not required to obtain a license as a mortgage broker pursuant to Chapter 58, Title 40, unless the person acts as a mortgage broker with regard to the majority of mortgage loans reported on the person's Mortgage Call Report filed during the last two quarters of the previous calendar year and the first two quarters of the current calendar year. A mortgage lender acting as a mortgage broker must comply with Sections 40-58-70, 40-58-75, and 40-58-78.
(L) Transitional licenses will be granted as authorized by and pursuant to the SAFE Act.
(M) If the information contained in a document filed with the commissioner is or becomes inaccurate or incomplete, the licensee promptly shall file a correcting amendment to the information contained in the document.
(N) All advertisements of mortgage loans must comply with the Truth in Lending Act, 15 U.S.C. 1601, et seq., and the South Carolina Consumer Protection Code, Title 37.
HISTORY: 2009 Act No. 67, Section 2, eff January 1, 2010; 2017 Act No. 93 (S.366), Section 2, eff September 16, 2017.
Effect of Amendment
2017 Act No. 93, Section 2, amended the section, removing the state fingerprint-based criminal history record check requirement, requiring three hours of prelicensing education on state laws and regulations, allowing licensure of a personal residence under certain circumstances, and allowing for the grant of transitional licenses pursuant to the SAFE Act.