Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 18, September 16, 2024
(a) No person shall
act as, offer to act as, or hold himself or herself out to be, a foreclosure
consultant or use the designation foreclosure consultant, foreclosure
consultant specialist, or similar designation in this State unless licensed by
the Commissioner as set forth in the Act.
(b) "Foreclosure consultant" shall not
include any of the following:
1. A housing
counseling agency certified by the United States Department of Housing and
Urban Development to provide counseling;
2. A person who holds or is owed an
obligation secured by a lien on any distressed property in situations in which
the person performs services in connection with the obligation or lien,
provided the obligation or lien did not arise as the result of, or as part of,
a proposed distressed property conditional conveyance or a distressed property
conveyance;
3. A licensed attorney
who negotiates the terms of a distressed property conveyance on behalf of a
client as an ancillary matter to the attorney's representation of the client,
unless the attorney receives, directly or indirectly, any compensation,
benefit, or gain for the attorney's services from a foreclosure consultant
business licensee or any individual or entity who should be licensed as a
foreclosure consultant;
4. An
entity which is licensed pursuant to P.L. 1979, c. 16 (17:16G-1 et seq.) or an successor
statute;
5. A municipality which
has a tax lien on distressed property;
6. An assignee or a purchaser of a municipal
tax lien from a tax sale;
7. A
sponsor which is certified by the Commissioner of Community Affairs to
participate in the New Jersey Housing Assistance and Recovery Program
established pursuant to
sections
8 through
14 of
P.L.
2008, c. 127
(55:14K-88 et seq.);
8. A bank, savings bank, savings and loan
association, credit union, or other Federally insured financial institution, or
insurance company, or affiliate or subsidiary thereof, organized, chartered,
licensed, or holding a certificate of authority to do business under the laws
of this State or any other state or under the laws of the United
States;
9. A person licensed as a
real estate broker, broker-salesperson, or salesperson pursuant to
45:15-1 et seq., while acting
under the authority of that license;
10. A person licensed as a title insurance
producer pursuant to the New Jersey Insurance Producer Licensing Act of 2001,
P.L.
2001, c. 210
(17:22A-26 et seq.) while acting
under the authority of that license or conducting the business of title
insurance pursuant to P.L. 1975, c. 106 (17:46B-1 et seq.);
11. A mediator duly authorized pursuant to
and acting under the authority of the Judiciary's Foreclosure Mediation
Program; or
12. A person licensed
pursuant to the New Jersey Residential Mortgage Lending Act,
P.L.
2009, c. 53
(17:11C-51 et seq.), while acting
under the authority of that license.
(c) An individual licensee shall only engage
in foreclosure consultant activity while employed by a business licensee. An
individual licensee shall not be employed by more than one business licensee at
any given time.
1. An individual licensee
shall only receive compensation for the performance of foreclosure consulting
activity from the business licensee by which he or she is employed.
2. Other than compensation payable to the
business licensee, an individual licensee shall not receive or solicit any
compensation for foreclosure consulting directly from or on the behalf of, a
distressed property owner.
(d) A business licensee shall be responsible
for all of the foreclosure consulting activity of all individual licensees
employed by it.