Following up on our previous articles reporting on recent state developments regarding work from home:

On September 20, 2022, the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation amended its administrative rules pertaining to branch licensure to authorize remote work for licensed loan originators and employees.

Effective October 1, 2022, a licensed mortgage loan originator may originate loans from a location other than from a licensed branch office if the location is the licensed mortgage loan originator’s home, the licensed mortgage loan originator is an employee of a mortgage banker or mortgage broker, and the mortgage banker or mortgage broker complies with OAR 441-860-0040, as applicable. If a mortgage banker or mortgage broker intends to allow a licensed mortgage loan originator to originate loans from the licensed loan originator’s home, the mortgage banker or mortgage broker shall:

• Have appropriate policies and procedures in place to supervise the activities of loan originators and employees working from home including, but not limited to, data security measures to protect consumers' personal information and compliance with OAR 441-860-0040.
• Upload a copy of the policies and procedures required by subsection (a) of this section to the NMLS to Document Uploads under Company Staffing and Internal Policies.
• Ensure that all underlying origination records can be made available at a licensed location in the United States.

Additionally:

• Loan originators and employees who work from home are prohibited from keeping any physical business records at any location other than a licensed location.
• Loan originators and employees who work from home may engage with consumers for loan origination purposes at the home of the loan originator or employee by means of conference telephone or similar communications equipment that allows all persons participating in the visitation to hear each other, provided that participation is controlled and limited to those entitled to attend, and the identity of participants is determinable and reasonably verifiable.
• Loan originators and employees who work from home are prohibited from engaging in person with consumers for loan origination purposes at the home of the loan originator or employee, unless the home is licensed as a branch.

A copy of Oregon’s permanent administrative order is available here.

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