(a) In addition to any authority allowed the commissioner elsewhere, the commissioner shall have the authority to conduct investigations and examinations of persons subject to this chapter, including those suspected to be engaging in business subject to this chapter, as often as necessary in order to carry out the purposes of this chapter. In order to carry out the purposes of this section, the commissioner may:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 45-13-404

  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of financial institutions or the commissioner's designated representative. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Control: means possession, direct or indirect, of the power to direct or cause the direction of management and policies of a person, whether through the ownership of voting securities by contract or otherwise. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Fair Credit Reporting Act: A federal law, established in 1971 and revised in 1997, that gives consumers the right to see their credit records and correct any mistakes. Source: OCC
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • License: means a license issued to a mortgage lender, mortgage loan broker, mortgage loan servicer or mortgage loan originator under this chapter, as applicable. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
  • Licensee: means a person to whom a license has been issued under this chapter, whether a mortgage lender, mortgage loan broker, mortgage loan servicer or mortgage loan originator, as applicable, but "licensee" also applies to any person holding a certificate of registration on July 31, 2009, for so long as the certificate is still valid. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Mortgage lender: means any person who makes a residential mortgage loan or holds the person out as able to make a residential mortgage loan. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
  • Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. Source: OCC
  • Mortgage loan broker: means any person who for compensation or other gain, paid directly or indirectly, or in expectation of compensation or other gain, solicits, places, negotiates or originates a residential mortgage loan for another person or offers to solicit, place, negotiate or originate a residential mortgage loan for another person or who closes a residential mortgage loan that may be in the mortgage loan broker's own name with funds provided by another person and which loan is thereafter assigned to the person providing the funding of the loan, regardless of whether the acts are done directly or indirectly, through contact by telephone, by electronic means, by mail or in person with the borrower or borrowers or potential borrower or borrowers. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
  • Mortgage loan servicer: means any person who, in the regular course of business, assumes responsibility for servicing and accepting payments for a residential mortgage loan. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
  • Person: means an individual, sole proprietorship, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, trust, association or any other legal entity, however organized. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
  • Residential mortgage loan: means any loan, including an extension of credit, primarily for personal, family or household use that is secured by a mortgage, deed of trust or other equivalent consensual security interest on a dwelling, as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 45-13-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Enter into agreements or relationships with other government officials or regulatory associations in order to improve efficiencies and reduce regulatory burden by sharing resources, standardized or uniform methods or procedures and documents, records, information or evidence obtained under this section;
(2) Use, hire, contract or employ public or privately available analytical systems, methods or software to examine or investigate persons subject to this chapter;
(3) Accept and rely on examination or investigation reports made by other government officials, within or without this state; and
(4) Accept audit reports made by independent certified public accountants for the person subject to this chapter in the course of that part of the examination covering the same general subject matter as the audit and incorporate the audit report in the report of examination, report of investigation or other writing of the commissioner.
(b) For purposes of initial licensing, renewal, suspension or revocation, or for general or specific inquiry relative to any other investigation or examination, the commissioner shall have the authority to access, receive, review and use any books, accounts, records, files, documents, information or evidence, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) Criminal, civil and administrative history information;
(2) Personal history and experience information including independent credit reports obtained from a consumer reporting agency described in § 603(p) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681a(p)); and
(3) Any other documents, information or evidence the commissioner deems relevant to the inquiry or investigation, regardless of the location, possession, control or custody of the documents, information or evidence.
(c) To carry out an investigation or examination, the commissioner may issue subpoenas, administer oaths, compel attendance, examine under oath all persons whose testimony may be relevant and compel the production of any relevant records, books, papers, contracts, accounts, files or other documents. This power shall include the authority to interview the officers, principals, loan originators, employees, independent contractors, agents and customers of the subject of the investigation or examination concerning the business of the licensee or other person subject to this chapter.
(d) Each person subject to investigation or examination shall make available to the commissioner upon request the books and records relating to the operations of the person and shall permit the commissioner to have access to the person’s offices and places of business. In addition, the person shall make or compile reports or prepare other information as directed by the commissioner in order to carry out the purposes of this section, including, but not limited to:

(1) Accounting compilations;
(2) Information lists and data concerning loan transactions in a format prescribed by the commissioner; or
(3) Other information deemed necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.
(e) If any person fails to comply with a subpoena of the commissioner under this chapter or to testify concerning any matter about which the person may be interrogated under this chapter, the commissioner may petition any court of competent jurisdiction for enforcement and may additionally suspend any license issued to the person pending compliance with the subpoena.
(f) A mortgage lender, mortgage loan broker, mortgage loan servicer or registrant that is investigated or examined under this section from July 1, 2015, through December 31, 2015, shall pay to the commissioner the reasonable and actual expenses of the investigation or examination. After December 31, 2015, the costs for an examination or investigation of licensees or registrants shall be assessed pursuant to § 45-1-118(i). An unlicensed person subject to the licensing requirements of this chapter, that is examined or investigated in accordance with this chapter, shall pay to the commissioner the reasonable and actual expenses of the investigation or examination.
(g) Any person aggrieved by the conduct of a person subject to this chapter in connection with a residential mortgage loan or in connection with any other activities of a mortgage lender, mortgage loan servicer or mortgage loan broker may file a written complaint with the commissioner, who is authorized to investigate the complaint.
(h) The commissioner has exclusive administrative power to investigate and enforce any and all complaints filed by any person that are not criminal in nature, which complaints relate to mortgage lenders, mortgage loan brokers, mortgage servicers or mortgage loan originators.
(i) No person subject to investigation or examination under this section may knowingly withhold, abstract, remove, mutilate, destroy or secrete any books, records, computer records or other information that the commissioner may lawfully examine or investigate.
(j) The authority of this section shall remain in effect whether the person subject to investigation or examination acts or claims to act under any licensing or registration law or claims to act without such authority.
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