Are personal websites for Loan Officers "Legal"

[Joe]

I am a loan originator who is considering a website. At it's simplest it's like a business card hanging in cyberspace that i can promote --or not-- as business needs dictate.

I'm being told that, in NYS, there are numerous rules and regulations around having a website along with a near year long submission process. Worse, I can't seem to locate any information.

Since you're in the business of selling webs for loan officers I thought you (or anyone else) might be able to help me sort out fact from fear and fiction and point me in the right direction.

Thanks!

[Melissa Smith]

I have never heard of anything like this. As far as I know, the only requirement for registration with the state of a website is if you are selling a product online and collecting money. You collect no money online as a loan officer so there is no conflict and thus no more regulation necessary than there would be for a person who wants to list their favorite recipes.

[Southloan]

You will need to check with the state. Here in Ga. it IS a violation for a L.O. to have an individual website. Here, the web address must be the same as the licensed broker name, or a registered dba. The people at the banking Dept said it was becoming a logistical nightmare to regulate all the individual websites and see if they were in compliance- much less, who has authority over a website that is based in Romania? How do you find that individual? etc.

[GhostInTheMachine]

I just browsed through the entire text of the GA state code and can't find anything that says that. Here is a link: www.ganet.org/dbf/faqmtg.html#general
It can take you to many others. Can you provide some source for your claim?
The only thing I can find is some rules regarding the collection of personally identifiable information such as social security numbers.
There are also countless laws against fraud and misleading information. As each LO mustmeet the LO requirements of the state, each LO should be aware of these laws. I would think that as long as a short form is used for colecting leads that does not ask for SSI, birth date, etc, should be perfectly fine.
Further reading also shows that the first course of action for breaking of any of the mortgage broker regulations is the sending of a "cease and desist" letter that gives the evildoer 20 days to quit or go to a hearing to defend he practice they are being asked to quit.
I hear and see this claim often for several states, but I have never had a single person beable to provide me with a single source for their claims. If you have such a source it would be greatly appreciated. If not, you may want to do some research in the future before making such claims and scaring off customers for these good people.

[dancinpat1]

It is an "interpretation" of the advertising law. The ruling was in the DBF's Monthly Mortgage Summary in March of 2005, here-
www.state.ga.us/dbf/mortpdf/imortmar.pdf

It is on the DBF's website under Monthly Summary March 2005. Specifically,O.C.G.A. 7-1-1016(d) :
(2) All advertisements disseminated in this state by a licensee or a registrant shall contain the name, license number, and an office address of such licensee or registrant, which shall conform to a name and address on record with the department;,

Basically, that it is unlawful to advertise under any name that is not registered with the DBF. The ruling states that the website must be the same name that is registered with the Dept of Banking and Finance.

They will allow dbas, which must be registered with the county where the office is and then registered with the DBF. For example, if my company name is Cheapo Mortgage it is okay to have a website named cheapomortgage.com , cheapo.com or something similar. If one of my LO's wants to have a website, he(or she) cannot get a website named Patloans.com (even if the welcome page says Cheapo Mortgage) because the URL name is different from the company name. However, if the broker allows it, the LO can go to the Superior Court, file the paperwork with the courts, advertise in the paper and get the dba. Then, the broker files the dba with the DBF, Adds the LO on to the surety bond(yeah, right) pays the fees and the LO has a "legal" website. It is a process to deter lo websites.

My intentions were not to scare off anybody but, rather, keep someone from getting fined.