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, Contour Mortgage is a Delaware corporation that is currently licensed as a mortgage correspondent lender under Part I of Chapter 668, Sections 36a-485 et seq., of the Connecticut General Statutes;

WHEREAS, the Commissioner, through the Consumer Credit Division of the Department of Banking, pursuant to the authority granted by Section 36a-17(a) of the 2012 Supplement to the General Statutes and Section 36a-498f of the Connecticut General Statutes, investigated the activities of Contour 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:  (a) Contour Mortgage employed or retained, during the period of January 1, 2011 through April 18, 2012, one (1) individual as a mortgage loan originator who was not licensed, in violation of Section 36a-486(b)(1) of the 2012 Supplement to the General Statutes; and (b) Contour Mortgage utilized the name “My Christian Mortgage” without having such name approved by the Commissioner, in violation of Section 36a-490(a) of the 2012 Supplement to the General Statutes;

WHEREAS, the Commissioner believes that such allegations would support initiation of enforcement proceedings against Contour Mortgage, including proceedings to revoke Contour Mortgage’s license pursuant to Section 36a-494(a) and subsections (a) and (b) of Section 36a-51 of the 2012 Supplement to the General Statutes, issue a cease and desist order against Contour Mortgage pursuant to Section 36a-494(b) of the 2012 Supplement to the General Statutes and Section 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 Contour Mortgage pursuant to Section 36a-494(b) of the 2012 Supplement to the General Statutes and Section 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 Contour Mortgage acknowledge the possible consequences of formal administrative proceedings, and Contour 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 allegations contained herein;

WHEREAS, Contour Mortgage acknowledges that this Consent Order is a public record and, notwithstanding the foregoing paragraph, constitutes a finding by the Commissioner that Contour Mortgage has been involved in a violation of a financial services-related regulation or statute required to be disclosed in response to regulatory disclosure questions on the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry (“NMLS”), as applicable;

WHEREAS, Contour Mortgage herein represents to the Commissioner that the individual alleged to be an unlicensed mortgage loan originator in violation of Section 36a-486(b)(1) of the 2012 Supplement to the General Statutes, during the period of January 1, 2011 through April 18, 2012, is either currently licensed as a mortgage loan originator under Part I of Chapter 668, Sections 36a-485 et seq., of the Connecticut General Statutes or is no longer engaged in any mortgage-related activity with Contour Mortgage that would prohibit Contour Mortgage from engaging the services of such individual without licensure as a mortgage loan originator under Part I of Chapter 668, Sections 36a-485 et seq., of the Connecticut General Statutes;

WHEREAS, Contour Mortgage herein represents to the Commissioner that it has reviewed and updated its internal policies, procedures and controls for assessing whether an individual engaged in mortgage-related activity with Contour Mortgage requires licensure from the Commissioner under Part I of Chapter 668, Sections 36a-485 et seq., of the Connecticut General Statutes, and agrees that it will not engage the services of an individual as a mortgage loan originator in the future without first confirming that such individual is duly licensed;

WHEREAS, Contour Mortgage herein represents to the Commissioner that the name allegedly utilized by Contour Mortgage in violation of Section 36a-490(a) of the 2012 Supplement to the General Statutes is either currently approved as a fictitious name under Part I of Chapter 668, Sections 36a-485 et seq., of the Connecticut General Statutes or is no longer utilized by Contour Mortgage;

WHEREAS, Contour Mortgage herein represents to the Commissioner that it has reviewed and updated its internal policies, procedures and controls for assessing whether a fictitious name utilized by Contour Mortgage requires approval from the Commissioner under Part I of Chapter 668, Sections 36a-485 et seq., of the Connecticut General Statutes, and agrees that it will not utilize a fictitious name in the future without first confirming that such name is duly approved as required by Section 36a-490(a) of the 2012 Supplement to the General Statutes;

AND WHEREAS, Contour 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 allegations 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, Contour Mortgage, through its execution of this Consent Order, consents to the Commissioner’s entry of a Consent Order imposing the following sanction:

CONSENT ORDER

NOW THEREFORE, the Commissioner enters the following:

Dated at Hartford, Connecticut
this 11th day of October 2012.           ________/s/_________
                                                     Howard F. Pitkin
                                                     Banking Commissioner

I, Richard A. Pregiato, state on behalf of Contour Mortgage Corporation, 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 Contour Mortgage Corporation; that Contour Mortgage Corporation agrees freely and without threat or coercion of any kind to comply with the sanction entered and terms and conditions ordered herein; and that Contour Mortgage Corporation 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:  Richard A. Pregiato
                                                   Title:  President 
                                                   Contour Mortgage Corporation

                                                   

State of:  New York

County of:  Nassau

 On this the 2nd day of October 2012, before me, Christopher Garcia, the undersigned officer, personally appeared Richard A. Pregiato who acknowledged himself/herself to be the President of Contour Mortgage Corporation, a corporation, and that he/she as such President, being authorized so to do, executed the foregoing instrument for the purposes therein contained, by signing the name of the corporation by himself/herself as President.

Administrative Orders and Settlements