The Florida Senate

494.006  Exemptions.--

(1)  None of the following persons are subject to the requirements of ss. 494.006-494.0077 in order to act as a mortgage lender or correspondent mortgage lender:

(a)  A bank, bank holding company, trust company, savings and loan association, savings bank, credit union, or insurance company if the insurance company is duly licensed in this state.

(b)  Any person acting in a fiduciary capacity conferred by authority of any court.

(c)  A wholly owned bank holding company subsidiary or a wholly owned savings and loan association holding company subsidiary that is approved or certified by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Veterans Administration, the Government National Mortgage Association, the Federal National Mortgage Association, or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.

(d)  Any person who, as a seller of his or her own real property, receives one or more mortgages in a purchase money transaction.

(e)  Any person who receives a mortgage as security for an obligation arising out of materials furnished or as services rendered by the person in the improvement of the real property.

(f)  Any person who makes only nonresidential mortgage loans and sells loans only to institutional investors.

(g)  The Federal National Mortgage Association; the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation; an agency of the Federal Government; any state, county, or municipal government; or any quasi-governmental agency that acts in such capacity under the specific authority of the laws of any state or the United States.

(h)  A consumer finance company licensed pursuant to chapter 516 as of October 1, 1991.

(i)  Any person making or acquiring a mortgage loan with his or her own funds for his or her own investment, and who does not hold himself or herself out to the public, in any manner, as being in the mortgage lending business.

(j)  Any person selling a mortgage that was made or purchased with that person's funds for his or her own investment, and who does not hold himself or herself out to the public, in any manner, as being in the mortgage lending business.

(k)  Any person who acts solely under contract and as an agent for federal, state, or municipal agencies in the servicing of mortgage loans.

(2)(a)  A natural person employed by a mortgage lender licensed under ss. 494.001-494.0077 is exempt from the licensure requirements of ss. 494.001-494.0077 when acting within the scope of employment with the licensee.

(b)  A corporation that is in existence on October 1, 1991, and that is a wholly owned subsidiary of a consumer finance company licensed pursuant to chapter 516 on October 1, 1991, is not required to be licensed under ss. 494.006-494.0077 in order to act as a mortgage lender or a correspondent mortgage lender.

(3)  It is unnecessary to negate any of the exemptions provided in ss. 494.001-494.0077 in any complaint, information, indictment, or other writ or proceeding brought under ss. 494.001-494.0077. The burden of establishing the right to any exemption is upon the party claiming the benefit of the exemption.

History.--ss. 31, 50, ch. 91-245; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 211, ch. 92-303; s. 1, ch. 92-328; s. 14, ch. 95-313; s. 547, ch. 97-103; s. 82, ch. 2002-1.