The February 2022 DFPI Bulletin focuses on a fraudulent scheme targeting the elderly, a joint action toward MLO education, and annual reports due, among other topics.

Editor’s note — The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI, formerly the Department of Business Oversight) supervises, licenses, and regulates a variety of financial institutions, including some real estate mortgage loan originators (MLOs) holding a Nationwide Multistate (or Mortgage) Licensing System and Registry (NMLS) license. Alongside the California Department of Real Estate (DRE), the DFPI shares the responsibility for overseeing MLOs depending on their license use.

Licensees, read on to stay ahead of February 2022’s MLO news and events below.

Joint Action on Mortgage Loan Originators Education

The DFPI led dozens of financial regulators across to country to reach settlements with more than 400 mortgage loan originators nationwide who deceptively claimed to have completed annual continuing education as required under state and federal law.

Through the settlements, the mortgage loan originators have agreed to surrender their licenses for a period of three months, pay a fine of $1,000 for each state in which they hold a license and take continuing education beyond federal and state Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (SAFE Act) requirements. On January 18, 2022, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) organized a media call and press release to share the news with media partners.

The owner of Carlsbad, California-based course provider Real Estate Educational Services, Danny Yen, settled with DFPI and the states of Oregon and Maryland on February 2, 2022. Yen faces other administrative enforcement actions for providing false certificates and taking courses on behalf of mortgage loan originators through other education providers in violation of the SAFE Act.

Escrow Reports Due

For escrow agent licensees whose fiscal year ended on October 31, 2021, annual reports were due February 14, 2022. Licensee may submit their reports by email to ESCAnnualReportFiling@dfpi.ca.gov or mail to:

Sultanna Wan, Senior Financial Institutions Examiner, Escrow Law
Department of Financial Protection and Innovation
320 West Fourth Street, Suite 750, Los Angeles, CA 90013

For questions about the annual reports, contact Sultanna Wan at (213) 576-7647.

The penalties for failing to file this report by the due date or to include required information are $100 per day for the first five days a report is late, and $500 per day thereafter. It may also result in the suspension or revocation of an escrow agent’s license, and even prompt an immediate examination.

Escrow Annual Liability Report Due

All escrow agents licensed before January 1, 2022, are required to submit an Annual Liability Report to the DFPI Commissioner. The deadline to submit the Annual Liability Report electronically is February 15, 2022. Use the Annual Liability Report form available on the DFPI’s website to complete it. Failure to submit the Annual Liability Report by the deadline may result in monetary penalties.

Escrow licensees are required to have a registered DFPI portal account to submit the Annual Liability Report. For any questions, please email Escrow.Licensing@dfpi.ca.gov.

CRMLA Annual Reports Due

All licensees under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act (CRMLA) are required to file their 2021 annual report electronically by March 1, 2022. The annual report must be completed by signing into the DFPI self-service portal. A notice about the CRMLA annual report filing was sent to each licensee’s designated email address.

No extensions will be granted and missing the deadline may result in penalty assessments. Failure to file constitutes grounds for license revocation. Please email any questions to CRMLA.Licensing@dfpi.ca.gov.

2021 CFL Annual Reports Due

All licensees under the DFPI’s California Financing Law (CFL) are required to submit an annual report by March 15, 2022, regardless of if the licensee had no business activity in the 2021 calendar year. The CFL annual report is required and failure to submit the annual report by the due date will result in penalties.

Annual reports must be submitted electronically through the DFPI portal account. Be sure to use the form and instructions available on the DFPI’s website.

For any questions about your portal account, please contact the Account Administrator (Albert Mercado) at (213) 220-5140 or email Albert.Mercado@dfpi.ca.gov.

For any questions about the content of the report or clarification on the instructions, please email CFL.Inquiries@dfpi.ca.gov or call (866) 275-2677.

CDDTL Annual Report and Industry Survey Due

All licensees under the California Deferred Deposit Transaction Law (CDDTL) are required to submit a 2021 Annual Report and Industry Survey to the DFPI by March 15, 2022.

The Annual Report and Industry Survey must be completed online through your account on the DFPI self-service portal.

For any questions or clarification on the instructions, please email RespondToCDDTL@dfpi.ca.gov.

New Staff for DFPI 

Within the Consumer Financial Protection Division, the DFPI has hired Krista Christian and Dr. Paul Whiteley as Senior Researchers in the Market Monitoring, Consumer Research, Insight & Analytics Unit. These positions were created under the California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL).

The DFPI’s new Senior Researchers both hail from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, where they served as Research Data Specialists on the Research Oversight Committee within the Office of Research. They will be responsible for monitoring CCFPL financial consumer products and services, performing complex research and data analytics, and playing an instrumental role in developing the research office.

Krista Christian has a master’s degree in business from CSU East Bay and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business marketing from San Jose State University. With over 15 years of research experience, she also has expertise in data management systems, data quality control, carrying out complex data analytics using SQL and SAS extracts, evaluating effectiveness, and collecting data.

Dr. Paul Whiteley holds a PhD in Organizational Psychology from UC Riverside, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from California State University Fullerton. Dr. Whiteley brings more than 10 years of research experience using data analytic software and visualization tools to report findings for the California Department of Social Services, private sector, and academia.

Both Krista and Dr. Whiteley started on January 18, 2022, and will be based out of the Sacramento DFPI office.

That’s a wrap on the February 2022 DFPI Bulletin. Find out more about the topics mentioned here by reading the full bulletin on the DFPI website.