State seeks mortgage leader

Interviews are scheduled this week for candidates to head a new state agency that will regulate the mortgage industry in Nevada.

Hiring a director from a field of about a dozen candidates is a critical step for the new Mortgage Lending Division, said Sydney Wickliffe, director of the state Business and Industry Department.

Her department will oversee the mortgage division.

Once a director is hired,Wickliffe said, the new organization can get down to the business of writing regulations.

To jump start that process, acting commissioner Doug Walther last month conducted hearings in Carson City and Las Vegas to hear from the mortgage industry.

"The information gathered in these hearings allows me to start writing regulations some are straightforward organizational and procedural regulations on the operations of the agency that we need in place now,"Walther said.

"But the regulations that set policy for the industry need to be done in public hearings by the new commissioner."

A particularly tricky piece of work, Walter said, will be determining what companies will be exempt from state oversight.

Escrow agents and mortgage brokers previously were under the jurisdiction of the state's Financial Institutions Division.

The law creating the new Mortgage Lending Division (Assembly Bill 490) added mortgage bankers as well to the new agency's workload.

Some mortgage companies that fall under federal jurisdiction previously were exempted from state oversight, but the new law repeals some of those exemptions.Wickliffe said about 10 categories for exemptions remain, which further complicates the issue.

"There will be a great deal of debate to determine which of the formerly exempt bankers will retain their exempt status," she said.

"Some companies are huge and publicly traded.

Certain transactions fall under Nevada law, and some under federal.

The law uses the word 'primarily' so there will be much interpretation of the statute."

In many cases,Wickliffe said the new commissioner will need to examine applicants one by one.

Several candidates for the mortgage commission job also will in the running for two other key financial regulatory positions that are open the top two slots in the Financial Institutions Division.

Among the other tasks undertaken by Walther while awaiting appointment of a fulltime director:

* Getting office space.

The new division's Carson City office will be at 400 W.

King St., Suite 406.

Its Carson City phone will be 684-7060.

In Las Vegas, the division will occupy space at 3075 E.

Flamingo Road, Suite 104-A.

* Contracting with state gaming board investigators to conduct background checks of applicants for mortgage licenses.

The law requires screening for criminal history as well as credit, business and court checks.

(Previously, only registration not licensing was required.) Creation of a Web site (www.mld.nv.gov) that includes a licensing database.

The database will show the relationship of agents to their mortgage brokers and combine data previously located in several files into one.

The Web site also includes an online complaint form, and Walther said the agency hopes to link the form to a complaint tracking system to allow faster response to potential problems.

The new agency is required to be fully operational by July 1.