Banking regulators accuse originators of acting without a licence

Two mortgage lenders are under fire from the authorities, accused of engaging in unlicensed activity

The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance has taken action against a pair of businesses for what they claim is unlicensed activity.
 
The first to face the regulator’s wrath this month was Miami-based mortgage lender Yale Mortgage Funding LLC . The Florida-based firm has a month to show proof of licensure.
 
Second on the list was City Mortgage Corp., which has entered a consent order with the department.  Its owners, Stephen Wilson and Sujay Kanth, were owners of ESS Solutions, which acquired the City Mortgage business last April; unfortunately for them, when they changed the name to i3 Lending they didn’t get approval for the trade name change. This meant they were technically trading without a license.
 
In what some might see as a harsh penalty, the department ordered City Mortgage to surrender its mortgage lender license and issued a $5,000 fine. Stephen Wilson’s license was deemed surrendered, and he will have to pay an additional $2000 - $1,000 in fines and $1,000 to the State Regulatory Registry LLC to support the NMLS.  Sujay Kanth has been prohibited from directing the affairs of or acting as a branch manager of a licensed Georgia mortgage broker or lender for five years. He also has to contribute $1,000 to the State Regulatory Registry.