§ 6-906 — Required accounting practices and records; escrow of monies; disclosure

A. Every mortgage broker shall keep and maintain at all times correct and complete records as prescribed by the deputy director that will enable the deputy director to determine whether the licensee is conducting the licensee's business in accordance with this article. A mortgage broker shall make records available to the deputy director in this state not more than three business days after demand and provide for the acceptance of collect calls or provide a toll-free telephone number to borrowers to obtain information from the records if the licensed place of business in this state cannot readily provide the information requested by the borrowers. Every mortgage broker shall maintain original documents or clearly legible copies of all mortgage loan transactions for not less than five years after the date of the mortgage loan closing.

B. Every mortgage broker shall observe generally accepted accounting principles and practices.

C. A mortgage broker shall immediately deposit all monies received by the mortgage broker in an escrow account with an escrow agent licensed pursuant to chapter 7 of this title. Withdrawals shall only be disbursed according to the terms of the escrow instructions. The escrow agent shall not be the mortgage broker. A mortgage broker, however, may accept an appraisal fee, which the mortgage broker shall only use to obtain an appraisal, a credit investigation fee and a fee in connection with an application for a mortgage loan. The mortgage broker shall not commingle the appraisal fee or credit investigation fee with other monies of the mortgage broker. A mortgage broker shall not accept any monies or documents in connection with an application for a mortgage loan in an amount of $200,000 or less, except as provided in this section and pursuant to a written agreement. The parties shall sign the written agreement and the agreement shall contain terms pertaining to the disposition of the monies and documents, whether the loan is finally consummated or not, the term for which the agreement is to remain in force before return of the monies and documents for nonperformance can be required and an itemized list of all estimated costs to the borrower of obtaining the mortgage loan, including all costs charged by third parties. The licensee shall preserve all agreements between the parties involved in the transaction and all contracts, agreements and escrow instructions to or with the depository. All documents provided by the borrower or at the expense of the borrower to the mortgage broker, including any appraisals, are the property of the borrower and, at the borrower's request, shall be returned to the borrower or transferred to any person designated by the borrower without further expense to the borrower if the loan is not consummated, provided that any such document is not prohibited by law from being transferred or returned.

D. Before a mortgage loan closing on residential real property designed principally for the occupancy of from one to four families, a licensee shall fully comply, to the extent applicable, with the real estate lending disclosure requirements of title I of the consumer credit protection act (15 United States Code sections 1601 through 1666j), the real estate settlement procedures act (12 United States Code sections 2601 through 2617) and the regulations promulgated under those acts.