On April 29, Oklahoma enacted
SB 1492 (the “Act”) which will amend the Oklahoma Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act by, among others, expanding the definition of “mortgage broker” to include servicing a residential mortgage, defining “servicing” to include holding servicing rights, as well as significantly adjusting fees and annual assessments for licensees. With respect to mortgage servicing, the law will define servicing as “the administration of a resident mortgage loan following the closing of such loan” and further will state that an entity will be servicing if it “either holds the servicing rights, or engages in any activities determined to be servicing, including: (a) collection of monthly mortgage payments; (b) the administration of escrow accounts; (c) the processing of borrower inquiries and requests; and (d) default management.” The definition of “mortgage lender” already included an entity that “makes a residential mortgage loan or services a residential mortgage loan” and will be approved by HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or Ginnie Mae. The Act will add a new section allowing licensees to permit its employees and independent contractors to work at “remote locations,” subject to certain conditions on policies and procedures on customer contact and data, maintenance of physical records, and prohibitions on in-person customer interactions, among other things. Finally, the Act will establish new fees and formulas for annual assessments for licensees, including assessments based on loan volumes range for loan originated and loans serviced during the assessment period. The Act will go into effect on November 1.