The Florida Senate

494.0069  Lock-in agreement.--

(1)  Each lock-in agreement must be in writing and must contain:

(a)  The expiration date of the lock-in, if any;

(b)  The interest rate locked in, if any;

(c)  The discount points locked in, if any;

(d)  The commitment fee locked in, if any;

(e)  The lock-in fee, if any; and

(f)  A statement advising of the provisions of ss. 494.006-494.0077 regarding lock-in agreements.

(2)  The mortgage lender or correspondent mortgage lender shall make a good faith effort to process the mortgage loan application and stand ready to fulfill the terms of its commitment before the expiration date of the lock-in agreement or any extension thereof.

(3)  Any lock-in agreement received by a mortgage lender or correspondent mortgage lender by mail or through a broker must be signed by the mortgage lender or correspondent mortgage lender in order to become effective. The borrower may rescind any lock-in agreement until a written confirmation of the agreement has been signed by the lender and mailed to the borrower or to the brokerage business pursuant to its contractual relationship with the borrower. If a borrower elects to so rescind, the mortgage lender or correspondent mortgage lender shall promptly refund any lock-in fee paid.

(4)(a)  Any correspondent mortgage lender or mortgage lender prior to issuing a mortgage loan rate lock-in agreement must have the ability to timely advance funds on all mortgage loans for which rate lock-in agreements have been issued. As used in this section, "ability to timely advance funds" means having sufficient liquid assets or a line of credit necessary to cover all rate lock-in agreements issued with respect to which a lock-in fee is collected.

(b)  A correspondent mortgage lender or mortgage lender that does not comply with paragraph (a) may issue mortgage rate lock-in agreements only if, prior to the issuance, the correspondent mortgage lender or mortgage lender:

1.  Has received a written rate lock-in agreement from a correspondent mortgage lender or mortgage lender that complies with paragraph (a); or

2.  Has received a written rate lock-in agreement from an institutional investor or an agency of the Federal Government or the state or local government that will be funding, making, or purchasing the mortgage loan.

(c)  All rate lock-in fees collected by a mortgage lender or correspondent mortgage lender who is not in compliance with paragraph (a) must be deposited into an escrow account in a federally insured financial institution, and such fees shall not be removed from such escrow account until:

1.  The mortgage loan closes and is funded;

2.  The applicant cancels the loan application or the loan application is rejected; or

3.  The mortgage lender or correspondent mortgage lender is required to forward a portion of the lock-in fee to another correspondent mortgage lender, mortgage lender, institutional investor, or agency that will be funding, making, or purchasing the loan. The mortgage lender or correspondent mortgage lender may remove only the amount of the lock-in fee actually paid to another mortgage lender, correspondent mortgage lender, institutional investor, or agency.

(5)  For purposes of this section, the term "lock-in fee" means any moneys advanced by the borrower to lock in for a specified period of time a specified interest rate or discount points.

(6)  The commission may adopt by rule a form for required lock-in agreement disclosures.

History.--ss. 40, 50, ch. 91-245; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 18, ch. 95-313; s. 543, ch. 2003-261.