Ohio Code 1322.45 – Additional duties of registrants and licensees; recovery of damages by buyer
(A) A registrant, a licensee, and any person required to be registered or licensed under this chapter, in addition to duties imposed by other statutes or common law, shall do all of the following:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 1322.45
- Buyer: includes an individual whose mortgage loan is serviced by a mortgage servicer. See Ohio Code 1322.01
- Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Licensee: means any individual who has been issued a mortgage loan originator license under this chapter. See Ohio Code 1322.01
- Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
- Mortgage: means the consensual interest in real property located in this state, including improvements to that property, securing a debt evidence by a mortgage, trust indenture, deed of trust, or other lien on real property. See Ohio Code 1322.01
- Mortgage broker: means an entity that for compensation or gain, or in the expectation of compensation or gain, obtains, attempts to obtain, or assists in obtaining a residential mortgage loan for a borrower from a mortgage lender. See Ohio Code 1322.01
- Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. Source: OCC
- Person: means an individual, sole proprietorship, corporation, company, limited liability company, partnership, limited liability partnership, trust, or association. See Ohio Code 1322.01
- Registrant: means any person that has been issued a certificate of registration under this chapter. See Ohio Code 1322.01
(1) Safeguard and account for any money handled for the buyer;
(2) Follow reasonable and lawful instructions from the buyer;
(3) Act with reasonable skill, care, and diligence;
(4) Act in good faith and with fair dealing in any transaction, practice, or course of business in connection with the brokering or originating of any residential mortgage loan;
(5) Make reasonable efforts to secure a residential mortgage loan, from lenders with whom the registrant, licensee, or person regularly does business, with rates, charges, and repayment terms that are advantageous to the buyer.
(B) Division (A) of this section shall not apply to wholesale lenders. However, wholesale lenders are subject to all other requirements applicable to mortgage brokers and nonbank mortgage lenders. For purposes of this division, “wholesale lender” means a company that has been issued a certificate of registration and that enters into transactions with buyers exclusively through unaffiliated third-party mortgage brokers.
(C) The duties and standards of care created in this section cannot be waived or modified.
(D)(1) A buyer injured by a failure to comply with this section may bring an action for recovery of damages.
(2) Damages awarded under division (D)(1) of this section shall not be less than all compensation paid directly or indirectly to a mortgage broker from any source, plus reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs.
(3) The buyer may be awarded punitive damages.
(E) A buyer injured by a failure to comply with this section is precluded from recovering any damages, plus reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, if the buyer has also recovered any damages in a cause of action initiated under section 1322.52 of the Revised Code and the recovery of damages for a failure to comply with this section is based on the same acts or circumstances as the basis for recovery of damages in section 1322.52 of the Revised Code.
(F) This section shall not be interpreted by the superintendent to require a separate account for deposit of buyer funds.
Last updated June 22, 2021 at 2:33 PM