CFPB Consumer
Laws and Regulations SAFE Act
CFPB Manual v.2 (March 2012) SAFE 8
• Establish reasonable procedures and tracking systems for monitoring compliance with
registration and renewal requirements and procedures;
• Provide for annual independent testing for compliance with the SAFE Act regulation by
institution personnel or an outside party;
• Provide for appropriate action if an employee fails to comply with the registration requirements
of the SAFE Act regulations or the institution’s related policies and procedures, including
prohibiting such employees from acting as MLOs or other appropriate disciplinary actions;
• Establish a process for reviewing employee criminal history background reports received
pursuant to the regulation, taking appropriate action consistent with applicable federal law
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and implementing regulations with respect to the reports, and maintaining records of the
reports and actions taken with respect to applicable employees;
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and
• Establish procedures designed to ensure that any third party with which the institution has
arrangements related to mortgage loan origination has policies and procedures to comply
with the SAFE Act and SAFE Act regulation, including appropriate licensing and/or
registration of individuals acting as MLOs.
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Unique Identifier — Section 1007.105
When an MLO registers with the Registry, he or she receives a unique identifier – a series of
numeric characters assigned for life. The unique identifiers allow MLOs to be tracked if they
move between state and federal jurisdictions and/or change employers, and help consumers to
find certain information about a particular MLO when they search on the Registry’s consumer
access portal. The MLO information that is publicly available on the consumer access portal will
ultimately include federal and state registrations and licenses held, the MLO’s employment
history, and publicly adjudicated disciplinary and enforcement actions, if any.
To make sure that consumers have access to an MLO’s unique identifier before committing to a
mortgage loan transaction, an MLO must provide the unique identifier upon request (orally or in
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Including Sec. 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDI Act); (12 U.S.C. 1829); Sec. 5.65(d) of the Farm Credit Act of
1971 (12 U.S.C. 2277a-14(d)); or Sec. 206 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1786(i)).
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Sec. 19 of the FDI Act (12 U.S.C. 1829) prohibits, without the prior written consent of the FDIC, insured depository
institutions from employing a person who has been convicted of any criminal offense involving dishonesty, breach of trust, or
money laundering or has entered into a pretrial diversion or similar program in connection with a prosecution for such offense.
See the FDIC Statement of Policy for Section 19 of the FDI Act, 63 Fed. Reg. 66184 (Dec. 1, 1998; amended May 10, 2011),
available at: http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/rules/5000-1300.html.
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See FFIEC Statement on Risk Management of Outsourced Technology Service (November 28, 2000) for guidance on the
assessment, selection, contract review, and monitoring of a third party that provides services to a regulated institution. See also
FDIC Guidance for Managing Third-Party Risk (FIL-44-08); OCC Bulletin 2001-47, Third-Party Relationships (Nov. 1, 2001);
OTS Thrift Bulletin 82a, Third-Party Arrangements (Sept. 1, 2004); NCUA Letter to Credit Unions: 01-CU-20, Due Diligence
Over Third-Party Service Providers (Nov. 2001), 07-CU-13, Supervisory Letter-Evaluating Third-Party Relationships
(December 2007), 08-CU-09, Evaluating Third-Party Relationships Questionnaire (Apr. 2008).