Mortgage Lender ($10,000) Bond - Statewide in Florida

Brief Summary

If you were told a Florida mortgage lender license needs a $10,000 bond, that instruction comes from a statute Florida repealed on October 1, 2010. Today's license under section 494.00611 is built around an audited net worth test. If a lender, investor or regulator is still asking you for this bond, get the exact wording and obligee in writing before it is issued so you buy the right instrument once.

Florida once required mortgage lender applicants to post a $10,000 surety bond payable to the state and conditioned on compliance with ss. 494.001 through 494.0077. That section, 494.0061, was repealed October 1, 2010, by s. 42, ch. 2009-241, Laws of Florida. The Office of Financial Regulation now licenses mortgage lenders under s. 494.00611, which requires an audited net worth of at least $63,000, or $250,000 with a servicing endorsement.

We can help with all Florida bonds!

How to Apply for a Mortgage Lender ($10,000) Bond:

• Check what the request is based on. The statutory $10,000 Florida mortgage lender bond was repealed October 1, 2010.
• Get the exact bond wording, amount and obligee in writing from whoever is asking for the bond.
• Confirm with the Office of Financial Regulation before the bond is issued.
• For the license itself, prepare a GAAP financial audit report showing the required net worth.
• File the license application through NMLS with the $500 application fee and any $100 fee under s. 494.00172.
• Renew by December 31 each year with the $475 renewal fee.

Detailed Information About the Florida Mortgage Lender ($10,000) Bond:

Where the $10,000 figure came from

Before October 2010, s. 494.0061(1)(d), Florida Statutes, required a mortgage lender applicant to file a surety bond in the amount of $10,000, payable to the state and conditioned upon compliance with ss. 494.001 through 494.0077. The same section required audited financial statements showing net worth of at least $250,000. The 2010 Florida Statutes show s. 494.0061 repealed October 1, 2010, by s. 42, ch. 2009-241. The companion rule, Rule 69V-40.250, Documentation of Net Worth and Surety Bond, was repealed the same day.

What the current license asks for

Section 494.00611 now governs the mortgage lender license, and OFR takes every mortgage license application through NMLS. An applicant designates a qualified principal loan originator, pays a nonrefundable $500 application fee plus the $100 fee under s. 494.00172 when it applies, submits fingerprints for control persons, and files a financial audit report prepared under generally accepted accounting principles. That report must show a bona fide and verifiable net worth of at least $63,000 without a servicing endorsement, or at least $250,000 with one, maintained continuously as a condition of licensure. Rule 69V-40.0611, Florida Administrative Code, sets the application procedure.

Renewal

Mortgage lender licenses expire December 31 each year. Renewal under s. 494.00612 carries a $475 nonrefundable fee and proof that the lender still meets its net worth requirement.

If someone still asks for this bond

A warehouse lender, investor or other counterparty may still ask a Florida mortgage lender for a $10,000 bond. Get the exact bond wording, amount and obligee from the party asking for it, and confirm with the Office of Financial Regulation before the bond is issued.

Eligibility and Requirements for a Florida Mortgage Lender ($10,000) Bond:

• Net worth of at least $63,000, or $250,000 with a servicing endorsement, under s. 494.00611(2)(f).
• Financial audit report prepared under United States generally accepted accounting principles.
• Qualified principal loan originator designated on the application.
• Fingerprints and credit reports for control persons.
• Any bond requested by a third party written to that party's exact form and obligee.

Florida Mortgage Lender ($10,000) Bond FAQs:

Official and Additional Resources for the Florida Mortgage Lender ($10,000) Bond: