New Hampshire Mortgage Lending Laws and Regulations
Statutory map
The Banking Department regulates New Hampshire mortgage activity mainly through RSA 397-A for mortgage bankers and brokers and RSA 397-B for mortgage loan originators. The Home Loan Protection Act adds substantive limits on high-cost home loans, while RSA 358-A supplies general consumer-protection enforcement. The exam tests which license a person or company needs, how exemptions work, and which loan terms are restricted.
Licensing structure
A company that takes residential mortgage applications or makes or negotiates loans generally needs a mortgage banker or broker license; an individual who originates needs an MLO license. Depository institutions and certain other entities are exempt, but exemptions are narrow and do not automatically cover affiliates or independent contractors. Branch offices and assumed names must be reported. The Commissioner may examine records, issue cease-and-desist orders, suspend or revoke licenses, and impose penalties.
High-cost loans
If a loan exceeds the state high-cost thresholds, the Home Loan Protection Act restricts prepayment penalties, balloon payments, negative amortization, and lending without regard to repayment ability. Structuring a loan to evade the thresholds is itself a violation.
Worked example: A $180,000 first-lien refinance has an APR 6.75 percentage points above the comparable APOR and total points and fees of 6.2%. It is a high-cost home loan. The lender proposes a five-year prepayment penalty. Because the penalty exceeds the permitted period for a high-cost loan, the originator cannot close as proposed; the penalty must be removed or the loan repriced outside the high-cost category.
Traps
Do not mix federal Regulation Z thresholds with New Hampshire's separate tests; do not assume a bank exemption covers a nonbank affiliate; and do not treat a company license as authority for an individual to originate.