Financial Requirements for Licensing and Registration; Bond Requirements

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Banking and Finance
  4. Financial Institutions
  5. Licensing of Mortgage Lenders and Mortgage Brokers
  6. Financial Requirements for Licensing and Registration; Bond Requirements

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  1. Each licensed or registered mortgage broker shall provide the department with a bond. The bond for a mortgage broker shall be in the principal sum of $150,000.00 or such greater sum as the department may require as set forth by regulation based on an amount that reflects the dollar amount of loans originated, and the bond shall meet the other requirements of subsection (d) of this Code section.
  2. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (d) of this Code section, the department shall not license or register any mortgage lender unless the applicant or registrant provides the department with a bond. The bond for a mortgage lender shall be in the principal sum of $250,000.00 or such greater sum as the department may require as set forth by regulation based on an amount that reflects the dollar amount of loans originated, and which bond shall meet the other requirements of subsection (d) of this Code section.
  3. Each mortgage loan originator shall be covered by the surety bond of his or her sponsoring licensed or registered mortgage broker or lender. In the event that the mortgage loan originator is an employee of a licensed or registered mortgage broker or lender or under an exclusive written independent contractor agreement as described in paragraph (17) of Code Section 7-1-1001, the surety bond of such licensed or registered mortgage broker or lender may be used in lieu of the mortgage loan originator's surety bond requirement.
  4. General bond requirements:
    1. The bond requirements for mortgage loan originators, mortgage brokers, and mortgage lenders are continuous in nature and shall be maintained at all times as a condition of licensure;
    2. The corporate surety bond shall be for a term and in a form satisfactory to the department, shall be issued by a bonding company or insurance company authorized to do business in this state and approved by the department, and shall run to the State of Georgia for the benefit of any person damaged by noncompliance of a licensee with this article, the "Georgia Residential Mortgage Act," or with any condition of such bond. Damages under the bond shall include moneys owed to the department for fees, fines, or penalties. Such bond shall be continuously maintained thereafter in full force. Such bond shall be conditioned upon the applicant or the licensee conducting his or her licensed business in conformity with this article and all applicable laws;
    3. When an action is commenced on a licensee's bond, the department may require the filing of a new bond; and
    4. Immediately upon recovery upon any action on the bond, the licensee shall file a new bond.
  5. Any person including the department who may be damaged by noncompliance of a licensee with any condition of a bond or this article, the "Georgia Residential Mortgage Act," may proceed on such bond against the principal or surety thereon, or both, to recover damages.

(Code 1981, §7-1-1003.2, enacted by Ga. L. 2000, p. 174, § 26; Ga. L. 2001, p. 970, § 11; Ga. L. 2003, p. 843, § 18; Ga. L. 2004, p. 458, § 11; Ga. L. 2005, p. 826, § 31/SB 82; Ga. L. 2009, p. 252, § 1/HB 312; Ga. L. 2011, p. 518, § 10/HB 239; Ga. L. 2017, p. 193, § 24/HB 143.)

Law reviews.

- For article, "Business Associations," see 53 Mercer L. Rev. 109 (2001).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Acts not covered by bond.

- Trial court erred in granting a purchaser summary judgment and in denying an insurer summary judgment in the purchaser's action to recover against a bond the insurer issued to a mortgage lender under the Georgia Residential Mortgage Act, O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1000 et seq., because the acts that gave rise to the judgment the purchaser obtained against the lender occurred before the bond was in effect, and the lender's failure to pay the judgment was not an act that authorized recovery against the bond; the bond did not contain a specific covenant extending liability to acts prior to the bond's execution. Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. iFreedom Direct Corp., 312 Ga. App. 262, 718 S.E.2d 103 (2011), cert. denied, No. S12C0408, 2012 Ga. LEXIS 246 (Ga. 2012).

Bond was performance bond, giving surety ability to collaterally attack underlying judgment.

- Sureties on a performance bond for a mortgage lender under O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1003.2(b) of the Georgia Residential Mortgage Act, O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1000 et seq., were not liable on the bond for a default judgment against the lender because the underlying action should have been barred by res judicata due to a prior suit brought by the same borrower in federal court. Federer v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 701 Fed. Appx. 835 (11th Cir. 2017)(Unpublished).


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