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IN THE MATTER OF: ACRE MORTGAGE & ("Acre Mortgage") |
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CONSENT ORDER |
WHEREAS, the Banking Commissioner (“Commissioner”) is charged with the administration of Part I of Chapter 668, Sections 36a-485 to 36a-534c, inclusive, of the Connecticut General Statutes, “Mortgage Lenders, Correspondent Lenders, Brokers and Loan Originators”;
WHEREAS, on August 22, 2011, Acre Mortgage, a New Jersey corporation, filed a Form MU1, “Uniform Mortgage Lender/Mortgage Broker Form” (“MU1 Form”), with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry (“NMLS”) seeking to obtain a mortgage lender license in Connecticut;
WHEREAS, in response to Disclosure Question 9(C) of the MU1 Form, which asked, in pertinent part, “[i]n the past 10 years, has any State or federal regulatory agency or foreign financial regulatory authority: . . . (2) found the entity or a control affiliate to have been involved in a violation of a financial services-related regulation(s) of statutes(s)?”, Acre Mortgage originally answered “no”;
WHEREAS, on September 8, 2011, the Commissioner issued Acre Mortgage a mortgage lender license in Connecticut;
WHEREAS, October 21, 2011, Acre Mortgage changed its response to Disclosure Question 9(C)(2) of the MU1 Form to “yes” and on October 31, 2011, self-reported that it had unintentionally failed to promptly file with NMLS or notify the Commissioner that, during the period of July 6 through December 15, 2010, it entered into a settlement agreement and three consent orders with other states and provided copies of such settlement agreement and consent orders;
WHEREAS, on November 7, 2011, Acre Mortgage filed a request on NMLS to renew its mortgage lender license in Connecticut for the 2012 licensing period, which license was renewed on November 16, 2011;
WHEREAS, the Commissioner, through the Consumer Credit Division of the Department of Banking, conducted an investigation pursuant to Sections 36a-17 and 36a-498f of the Connecticut General Statutes into the activities of Acre Mortgage to determine if it had violated, was violating or was about to violate the provisions of the Connecticut General Statutes within the jurisdiction of the Commissioner;
WHEREAS, as a result of such investigation, the Commissioner alleges that Acre Mortgage made a material misstatement in its MU1 Form, within the meaning of Section 36a-494(a)(1)(A) of the Connecticut General Statutes, and failed to promptly file a change in the information most recently submitted in connection with its license with NMLS, in violation of Section 36a-490(b) of the Connecticut General Statutes, as amended by Public Act 11-216;
WHEREAS, the Commissioner believes that such allegation would support initiation of enforcement proceedings against Acre Mortgage, including proceedings to revoke Acre Mortgage’s license pursuant to Sections 36a-494(a)(1), 36a-494(a)(1)(A) and 36a-494(a)(1)(C) and subsections (a) and (b) of Section 36a-51 of the Connecticut General Statutes, issue a cease and desist order against Acre Mortgage pursuant to Sections 36a-494(b) and 36a-52(a) of the Connecticut General Statutes, and impose a civil penalty of up to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per violation on Acre Mortgage pursuant to Sections 36a-494(b) and 36a-50(a) of the Connecticut General Statutes;
WHEREAS, initiation of such enforcement proceedings would constitute a “contested case” within the meaning of Section 4-166(2) of the Connecticut General Statutes;
WHEREAS, Section 4-177(c) of the Connecticut General Statutes and Section 36a-1-55(a) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies provide that a contested case may be resolved by consent order, unless precluded by law;
WHEREAS, both the Commissioner and Acre Mortgage acknowledge the possible consequences of formal administrative proceedings, and Acre Mortgage voluntarily agrees to consent to the entry of the sanction described below without admitting or denying any allegation contained herein and solely for the purpose of obviating the need for further formal administrative proceedings concerning the allegation contained herein;
WHEREAS, Acre Mortgage acknowledges that this Consent Order is a public record;
WHEREAS, Acre Mortgage herein represents to the Commissioner that it has reviewed and updated its internal policies, procedures and controls for assessing whether any disclosure question on the MU1 Form, MU2 Form or MU4 Form on NMLS needs to be answered “yes”, as such forms are applicable;
WHEREAS, Acre Mortgage herein represents that there are currently no other questions on the MU1 Form, MU2 Form or MU4 Form on NMLS that currently are answered “no” that need to be answered “yes”, as such forms are applicable;
AND WHEREAS, Acre Mortgage, through its execution of this Consent Order, voluntarily agrees to waive its procedural rights, including a right to notice and an opportunity for hearing as it pertains to the allegation set forth herein, and voluntarily waives its right to seek judicial review or otherwise challenge or contest the validity of this Consent Order.
CONSENT TO ENTRY OF SANCTION
WHEREAS, Acre Mortgage, through its execution of this Consent Order, consents to the Commissioner’s entry of a Consent Order imposing the following sanction:
No later than the date this Consent Order is executed by Acre Mortgage, Acre Mortgage shall remit to the Department of Banking by cashier’s check, certified check or money order made payable to “Treasurer, State of Connecticut”, the sum of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000) as a civil penalty.
CONSENT ORDER
NOW THEREFORE, the Commissioner enters the following:
| 1. | The Sanction set forth above be and is hereby entered; |
| 2. | Upon issuance of this Consent Order by the Commissioner, this matter will be resolved and the Commissioner will not take any future enforcement action against Acre Mortgage based upon the allegation contained herein; provided that issuance of this Consent Order is without prejudice to the right of the Commissioner to take enforcement action against Acre Mortgage based upon a violation of this Consent Order or the matters underlying its entry, if the Commissioner determines that compliance with the terms herein is not being observed or if any representation made by Acre Mortgage and reflected herein is subsequently discovered to be untrue; |
| 3. | So long as this Consent Order is promptly disclosed by Acre Mortgage on NMLS, nothing in the issuance of this Consent Order shall adversely affect the ability of Acre Mortgage to apply for or obtain licenses or renewal licenses under Part I of Chapter 668, Sections 36a-485 et seq., of the Connecticut General Statutes, provided all applicable legal requirements for such license are satisfied; and |
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This Consent Order shall become final when issued.
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Dated at Hartford, Connecticut
this 13th day of March 2012. ________/s/_________
Howard F. Pitkin
Banking Commissioner
I, Joseph DiCriscio, state on behalf of Acre Mortgage & Financial, Inc., that I have read the foregoing Consent Order; that I know and fully understand its contents; that I am authorized to execute this Consent Order on behalf of Acre Mortgage & Financial, Inc.; that Acre Mortgage & Financial, Inc., agrees freely and without threat or coercion of any kind to comply with the sanction entered and terms and conditions ordered herein; and that Acre Mortgage & Financial, Inc., voluntarily agrees to enter into this Consent Order, expressly waiving the procedural rights set forth herein as to the matters described herein.
By: ________/s/_________
Name: Joseph DiCriscio
Title:
Acre Mortgage & Financial, Inc.
State of: New Jersey
County of: Burlington
On this the 8th day of March 2012, before me, Mandy M. McNamee, the undersigned officer, personally appeared Joseph DiCriscio who acknowledged himself to be the Vice President of Acre Mortgage & Financial, Inc., a corporation, and that he as such Vice President, being authorized so to do, executed the foregoing instrument for the purposes therein contained, by signing the name of the corporation by himself as Vice President.
In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand.
________/s/_________
Notary Public
Date Commission Expires: 8/26/14