Oregon Authorizes Mortgage Industry Employees to Work from Home

On March 12, 2020, the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation (DFR) issued a bulletin permitting licensed mortgage lenders and employees to temporarily work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The bulletin is in response to the state of emergency, as declared by Governor Kate Brown, which included social distancing measures for work places.

Licensed mortgage originators and other employees of licensed mortgage lenders, including mortgage loan servicers, consumer finance companies, payday/title lenders, and manufactured structure dealers have been authorized to work from home as long as the company meets specific criteria.  The criteria includes notifying the DFR should the company choose to allow employees to work from home and ensuring that consumers do not visit employees’ homes unless the home is a licensed location. Companies must also ensure that appropriate supervision and privacy policies are in place and that there are no physical files brought to any unlicensed locations. 

The bulletin is effective until April 30, 2020.  The DFR reserves the right to shorten the effective date should circumstances change and it will assess whether to continue the order at the end of April.