Florida 2024 2024 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1569 Comm Sub / Bill

Filed 01/25/2024

                       
 
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A bill to be entitled 1 
An act relating to an exemption from regulation for 2 
bona fide nonprofit organizations; amending s. 3 
494.0011, F.S.; authorizing the Financial Services 4 
Commission to adopt rules prescribing criteria and 5 
processes for determining whether an organization is a 6 
bona fide nonprofit organization for a specified 7 
purpose; amending s. 494.00115, F.S.; providing 8 
exemptions from certain regulation for bona fide 9 
nonprofit organizations and certain employees of a 10 
bona fide nonprofit organization that meet specified 11 
criteria; requiring the Office of Financial Regulation 12 
to make a specified determination; requiring the 13 
office to make such determination based on terms 14 
consistent with loan origination in a public or 15 
charitable context; requiring the office to 16 
periodically examine the books and activities of an 17 
organization and to revoke its status as a bona fide 18 
nonprofit organization under certain circumstances; 19 
providing an effective date. 20 
 21 
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 22 
 23 
 Section 1.  Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section 24 
494.0011, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 25     
 
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 494.0011  Powers and duties of the commission and office. — 26 
 (2)  The commission may adopt rules to administer parts I, 27 
II, and III of this chapter, including rules: 28 
 (b)  Relating to compliance with the S.A.F.E. Mortgage 29 
Licensing Act of 2008, including rules to: 30 
 1.  Require loan originators, mortgage brokers, mortgage 31 
lenders, and branch offices to register through the registry. 32 
 2.  Require the use of uniform forms that have been 33 
approved by the registry, and any subsequent amendments to such 34 
forms if the forms are substantially in compliance with the 35 
provisions of this chapter. Uniform forms that the commission 36 
may adopt include, but are not limited to: 37 
 a.  Uniform Mortgage Lender/Mortgage Broker Form, MU1. 38 
 b.  Uniform Mortgage Biographical Statement & Consent Form, 39 
MU2. 40 
 c.  Uniform Mortgage Branch Office Form, MU3. 41 
 d.  Uniform Individual Mortgage License/Registration & 42 
Consent Form, MU4. 43 
 3.  Require the filing of forms, documents, and fees in 44 
accordance with the requirements of the registry. 45 
 4.  Prescribe requirements for amending or surrendering a 46 
license or other activities as the commission deems necessary 47 
for the office's participation in the registry. 48 
 5.  Prescribe procedures that allow a licensee to challenge 49 
information contained in the registry. 50     
 
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 6.  Prescribe procedures for reporting violations of this 51 
chapter and disciplinary actions on licensees to the registry. 52 
 7.  Prescribe criteria and processes for determining if an 53 
organization is and remains a bona fide nonprofit organization 54 
for the purpose of determining whether the organization and its 55 
employees who are acting as loan originators are exempt from 56 
regulation under this chapter pursuant to s. 494.00115. 57 
 Section 2.  Subsections (3), (4), and (5) of section 58 
494.00115, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (4), 59 
(5), and (6), respectivel y, and a new subsection (3) is added to 60 
that section, to read: 61 
 494.00115  Exemptions. — 62 
 (3)(a)  As provided in this subsection, a bona fide 63 
nonprofit organization and an employee of a bona fide nonprofit 64 
organization who acts as a loan originator only wit h respect to 65 
his or her work duties for the bona fide nonprofit organization 66 
and who acts as a loan originator only with respect to 67 
residential mortgage loans with terms that are favorable to the 68 
borrower, are exempt from regulation under this chapter. 69 
 1. For an organization to be considered a bona fide 70 
nonprofit organization under this subsection, the office must 71 
determine, pursuant to criteria and processes established by 72 
rule, that the organization satisfies all of the following 73 
criteria: 74 
 a.  Has the status of a tax-exempt organization under s. 75     
 
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501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 76 
 b.  Promotes affordable housing or provides homeownership 77 
education or similar services. 78 
 c.  Conducts its activities in a manner that serves public 79 
or charitable purposes rather than commercial purposes. 80 
 d.  Receives funding and revenue and charges fees in a 81 
manner that does not incentivize it or its employees to act 82 
other than in the best interests of its clients. 83 
 e.  Compensates its employees in a manner that does not 84 
incentivize employees to act other than in the best interests of 85 
its clients. 86 
 f.  Provides or identifies for the borrower residential 87 
mortgage loans with terms favorable to the borrower and 88 
comparable to mortgage loans and housing assistance prov ided 89 
under government housing assistance programs. 90 
 2.  For residential mortgage loans to be deemed under this 91 
subsection to have terms that are favorable to the borrower, the 92 
office must determine that the terms are consistent with loan 93 
origination in a public or charitable context, rather than a 94 
commercial context. 95 
 (b)  The office must periodically examine the books and 96 
activities of an organization that it determines is a bona fide 97 
nonprofit organization and revoke its status as a bona fide 98 
nonprofit organization if it does not continue to meet the 99 
criteria specified in paragraph (a). 100     
 
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 Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 101