§ 36a-497 — (Formerly Sec. 36-440l). Advertisements.

(a) No mortgage lender licensee, mortgage correspondent lender licensee or mortgage broker licensee shall: (1) Advertise or cause to be advertised in this state, any residential mortgage loan in which such person intends to act only as a mortgage broker unless the advertisement includes the following statement, clearly and conspicuously expressed: “MORTGAGE BROKER ONLY, NOT A MORTGAGE LENDER OR MORTGAGE CORRESPONDENT LENDER”; or (2) In connection with an advertisement in this state, use (A) a simulated check; (B) a comparison between the loan payments under the residential mortgage loan offered and the loan payments under a hypothetical loan or extension of credit, unless the advertisement includes, with respect to both the hypothetical loan or extension of credit and the residential mortgage loan being offered, the interest rate, the loan balance, the total amount of finance charges, the total number of payments and the monthly payment amount that would be required to pay off the outstanding loan balance shown; (C) representations such as “verified as eligible”, “eligible”, “preapproved”, “prequalified” or similar words or phrases, without also disclosing, in immediate proximity to and in similar size print, language which sets forth prerequisites to qualify for the residential mortgage loan, including, but not limited to, income verification, credit check, and property appraisal or evaluation; or (D) any words or symbols in the advertisement or on the envelope containing the advertisement that give the appearance that the mailing was sent by a government agency. (b) (1) Each lead generator licensee shall include the following statement in all advertisements of residential mortgage loans and solicitations of leads by mail, electronic mail or through such licensee's Internet web site, clearly and conspicuously expressed: “LEAD GENERATOR ONLY, NOT ACTING IN THE CAPACITY OF A MORTGAGE LOAN ORIGINATOR, MORTGAGE BROKER, MORTGAGE CORRESPONDENT LENDER OR MORTGAGE LENDER. INFORMATION RECEIVED WILL BE SHARED WITH ONE OR MORE THIRD PARTIES IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE LOAN INQUIRY.”. (2) No person required to be licensed as a lead generator shall: (A) Accept payment of any advance fee, as defined in section 36a-485 , in connection with a residential mortgage loan, or (B) use, sell, lease, exchange or otherwise transfer or release information received from a consumer in connection with a residential mortgage loan inquiry for purposes other than as necessary to facilitate a residential mortgage loan transaction.

Legislative History

(P.A. 91-306, S. 3; P.A. 94-122, S. 238, 340; P.A. 99-63, S. 3; P.A. 02-111, S. 13; P.A. 08-176, S. 52; P.A. 09-209, S. 16; P.A. 17-38, S. 11; P.A. 18-173, S. 94.) History: P.A. 94-122 made a technical change, effective January 1, 1995; Sec. 36-440 l transferred to Sec. 36a-497 in 1995; P.A. 99-63 designated existing provisions as Subdiv. (1), changing “in any medium” to “in this state” and making technical changes, and added Subdiv. (2) re advertising restrictions; P.A. 02-111 amended Subdiv. (1) to replace reference to “mortgage broker” with reference to “first mortgage broker”; P.A. 08-176 added references to mortgage lender, mortgage correspondent lender and mortgage broker licensees and made conforming changes, effective July 1, 2008; P.A. 09-209 changed “mortgage loan” to “residential mortgage loan”, effective July 31, 2009; P.A. 17-38 designated existing provisions re mortgage lender licensee, mortgage correspondent lender licensee or mortgage broker licensee advertisements as Subsec. (a), and added Subsec. (b) re lead generator licensee; P.A. 18-173 made technical changes.