MAC Settles in 10-State Regulatory Operation

After an operation orchestrated by regulators over 10 states, Morris Plains-based ""Mortgage Access Corp."":http://www.mortgageaccess.com/ (MAC), doing business as ""Weichert Financial Services"":http://www.weichertfinancial.com/, inked its name to a remittance in the amount of $3 million over a multitude of compliance and internal control deficiencies.

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The ""Conference of State Bank Supervisors"":http://www.csbs.org/Pages/default.aspx (CSBS) and ""American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators"":http://www.aarmr.org/ (AARMR) issued a ""joint statement"":http://www.csbs.org/news/press-releases/pr2011/Pages/pr-060111.aspx praising the agreement, which capped an examination of multi-state negligence by MAC, with mortgage loan originators acting outside their licensed jurisdictions.

""The effectiveness of the multi-state effort as a platform to regulate large companies across the country, while enhancing consumer protection, is a testament to the states' ability to modify the regulatory approach to better assess for compliance with applicable state and federal law,"" John Ducrest, CSBS chairman and Louisiana Commissioner of Financial Institutions, said in the statement.

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Some ten agencies joined the effort, with actors including banking regulators from Connecticut, Louisiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Vermont.

""The multi-state mortgage examination program was initiated to enhance consumer protection, foster a culture of compliance within the industry, and hold individuals and entities accountable for actions which are not in compliance with applicable rules and regulations,"" said Darin Domingue, AARMR president and deputy chief examiner of the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions.

""The licensing laws enacted by states, including testing and educational requirements, have been put into place to help ensure that the largest financial transaction most consumers will make is facilitated through qualified and licensed individuals,"" Dominigue added.

According to the ""agreement"":http://www.mass.gov/Eoca/docs/dob/mag05272011.pdf, MAC must pay $3 million in monthly installments, reform past problems with oversight, and establish a complaint receiver process. It must also hire an external auditor to check for compliance with all relevant state licensing laws as applicable to the mortgage industry.

MAC must also reassess internal processes needed for the regulation of loan originations, implement technologies aimed at stopping unlicensed loan officers from making loans, and, among other actions for redress, refund fees to certain borrowers in New York.