The Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008, known as the SAFE Act, is federal legislation that was enacted as a partial response to the mortgage crisis that arguably resulted, in part, from a lack of appropriate monitoring, oversight, and regulation of the intermediaries between consumers and lenders in the residential mortgage industry; i.e., mortgage loan originators (MLOs). The federal SAFE Act requires each state to enact SAFE legislation or defer to the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for such regulation.
State SAFE legislation must be compliant with the federal SAFE Act. The SAFE-compliant administrative rule (750 IAC 9) promulgated by the Indiana Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) required MLO licensure by July 1, 2010. Indiana’s SAFE Act can be found at: 750 IAC 9.