Pennsylvania will receive $300,000 as part of a 10-state settlement resulting from an examination of Mortgage Access Corp., doing business as Weichert Financial Services. The examination, conducted jointly by banking regulatory agencies from each state, found that Weichert, headquartered in Morris Plains, N.J., circumvented state mortgage licensing laws and allowed and paid for unlicensed individuals to originate and process mortgage loan applications.

The result was a $3 million settlement to be divided equally among the 10 states, including Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Vermont and Virginia.

“In order to ensure the integrity of the real estate marketplace, Pennsylvania consumers must believe that mortgage companies meet the professional standards set by Pennsylvania law,” said Secretary of Banking Glenn E. Moyer. “This settlement protects marketplace integrity as well as proving that state financial
regulators can cooperate to protect consumers across state lines.”

Among the other terms of the settlement, Weichert will be required to:

• Review their internal management controls regarding the oversight of mortgage loan originator activity and to implement appropriate technology that will prevent an application from being processed by an unlicensed individual;
   
• Implement a system that will allow for the full investigation of complaints submitted by consumers, state or federal agencies, or other individuals alleging that Weichert has employees acting in the capacity of an unlicensed mortgage loan originator; and
   
• Identify an independent auditing firm to, at the company’s expense, conduct a review of all mortgage loan applications taken from Sept. 1, 2010, through March 31, 2011, for compliance with state mortgage licensing laws.

The Pennsylvania Department of Banking urges consumers to do their homework before entering into business with any financial company. For more information, go to www.banking.state.pa.us or call 1-800-PA-BANKS.