Arizona Laws 6-906. Required accounting practices and records; escrow of monies; disclosure
A. Every mortgage broker shall keep and maintain at all times correct and complete records as prescribed by the deputy director that will enable the deputy director to determine whether the licensee is conducting the licensee’s business in accordance with this article. A mortgage broker shall make records available to the deputy director in this state not more than three business days after demand and provide for the acceptance of collect calls or provide a toll-free telephone number to borrowers to obtain information from the records if the licensed place of business in this state cannot readily provide the information requested by the borrowers. Every mortgage broker shall maintain original documents or clearly legible copies of all mortgage loan transactions for not less than five years after the date of the mortgage loan closing.
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 6-906
- Appraisal: A determination of property value.
- Deputy director: means the deputy director of the financial institutions division of the department. See Arizona Laws 6-101
- Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
- Generally accepted accounting principles: means United States generally accepted accounting principles issued by the financial accounting standards board or the international financial reporting standards issued by the international accounting standards board. See Arizona Laws 6-901
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Licensee: means a person licensed under this article. See Arizona Laws 6-901
- Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
- Mortgage broker: means a person who is not exempt under section 6-902 and who for compensation or in the expectation of compensation either directly or indirectly makes, negotiates or offers to make or negotiate a mortgage loan. See Arizona Laws 6-901
- Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. Source: OCC
- Mortgage loan: means a loan secured by a mortgage or deed of trust or any lien interest on real estate located in this state created with the consent of the owner of the real estate. See Arizona Laws 6-901
- Mortgage loan closing: means the day by which all documents relating to the mortgage loan have been executed and recorded and all monies have been accounted for under the terms of the escrow instructions. See Arizona Laws 6-901
- Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Property: includes both real and personal property. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Arizona Laws 1-215
B. Every mortgage broker shall observe generally accepted accounting principles and practices.
C. A mortgage broker shall immediately deposit all monies received by the mortgage broker in an escrow account with an escrow agent licensed pursuant to chapter 7 of this title. Withdrawals shall only be disbursed according to the terms of the escrow instructions. The escrow agent shall not be the mortgage broker. A mortgage broker, however, may accept an appraisal fee, which the mortgage broker shall only use to obtain an appraisal, a credit investigation fee and a fee in connection with an application for a mortgage loan. The mortgage broker shall not commingle the appraisal fee or credit investigation fee with other monies of the mortgage broker. A mortgage broker shall not accept any monies or documents in connection with an application for a mortgage loan in an amount of $200,000 or less, except as provided in this section and pursuant to a written agreement. The parties shall sign the written agreement and the agreement shall contain terms pertaining to the disposition of the monies and documents, whether the loan is finally consummated or not, the term for which the agreement is to remain in force before return of the monies and documents for nonperformance can be required and an itemized list of all estimated costs to the borrower of obtaining the mortgage loan, including all costs charged by third parties. The licensee shall preserve all agreements between the parties involved in the transaction and all contracts, agreements and escrow instructions to or with the depository. All documents provided by the borrower or at the expense of the borrower to the mortgage broker, including any appraisals, are the property of the borrower and, at the borrower’s request, shall be returned to the borrower or transferred to any person designated by the borrower without further expense to the borrower if the loan is not consummated, provided that any such document is not prohibited by law from being transferred or returned.
D. Before a mortgage loan closing on residential real property designed principally for the occupancy of from one to four families, a licensee shall fully comply, to the extent applicable, with the real estate lending disclosure requirements of title I of the consumer credit protection act (15 United States Code §§ 1601 through 1666j), the real estate settlement procedures act (12 United States Code §§ 2601 through 2617) and the regulations promulgated under those acts.