AARMR Shares Best Practices for Permitting Employees to Work Remotely

The American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators (AARMR) recently issued guidance on the best practices that state regulators should consider when determining whether employees of state-licensed mortgage lenders should be permitted to work from their homes or other unlicensed locations.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many states temporarily permitted mortgage loan originators and other employees to work remotely. Now, several state regulators are considering the option of extending the practice of allowing remote work permanently, under certain conditions. In light of this development, AARMR shared the following best practices that it suggests states should consider when implementing a permanent remote work option:

• Loan originators should only be allowed to meet consumers at the home of the loan originator if the home is licensed as a branch location;

• Lenders should implement a system to ensure mortgage loan originators are meeting data security and privacy requirements even when working remotely;

• Lenders must properly supervise the activities of their mortgage loan originators regardless of where the activities are being conducted from; and

• For mortgage lending examination purposes, documents and work materials must be made available to regulators at licensed locations.

AARMR notes that the above best practices, if implemented properly by the states, can be used to help loan originators work remotely safely and effectively.