12 U.S.C. § 5101
Section 5101 · Purposes and methods for establishing a mortgage licensing system and registry
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 15 court decisions — leading case 1st Alliance Lending, LLC v. Dept. of Banking (2022)
Most recently applied in 1st Alliance Lending, LLC v. Dept. of Banking (December 2024)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
In order to increase uniformity, reduce regulatory burden, enhance consumer protection, and reduce fraud, the States, through the Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators, are hereby encouraged to establish a Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry for the residential mortgage industry that accomplishes all of the following objectives:
(1) Provides uniform license applications and reporting requirements for State-licensed loan originators.
(2) Provides a comprehensive licensing and supervisory database.
(3) Aggregates and improves the flow of information to and between regulators.
(4) Provides increased accountability and tracking of loan originators.
(5) Streamlines the licensing process and reduces the regulatory burden.
(6) Enhances consumer protections and supports anti-fraud measures.
(7) Provides consumers with easily accessible information, offered at no charge, utilizing electronic media, including the Internet, regarding the employment history of, and publicly adjudicated disciplinary and enforcement actions against, loan originators.
(8) Establishes a means by which residential mortgage loan originators would, to the greatest extent possible, be required to act in the best interests of the consumer.
(9) Facilitates responsible behavior in the subprime mortgage market place and provides comprehensive training and examination requirements related to subprime mortgage lending.
(10) Facilitates the collection and disbursement of consumer complaints on behalf of State and Federal mortgage regulators.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Short Title
Pub. L. 110–289, div. A, title V, §1501, July 30, 2008, 122 Stat. 2810, provided that: “This title [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008’ or ‘S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008’.”