Texas Amends Residential Mortgage Loan Originator Licensing Provisions

The Finance Commission of Texas recently amended §§2.104 and 2.106 in Chapter 2, Title 7 of the Texas Administrative Code to reduce residential mortgage loan originators’ (RMLOs) application and annual renewal fees and update guidelines relating to review of RMLOs’ criminal history.  These amendments went into effect on May 7, 2020.

The amendments to §2.104 reduce RMLOs’ application and annual renewal fees from $300 to $200.  The amendments to §2.106 were made to provide consistency with HB 1342 which in 2019 amended the Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 53 to, among other things: (i) repeal a provision that generally allowed an RMLO’s application to be denied, or their license to be suspended or revoked, for any offense occurring in the five years preceding the application; (ii) add provisions requiring an agency to consider whether an element of a crime correlates with the duties and responsibilities of the licensed occupation; and (iii) remove previous language specifying who could provide a letter of recommendation for an applicant.  Other amendments to §2.106 address technical corrections, clarify changes, and update certain citations.