On March 12, 2025, the Arkansas legislature passed two bills which amend the state’s Fair Mortgage Lending Act (“FMLA”).
House Bill 1466 (“H.B. 1466”) introduces new definitions, including many related to consumer security and privacy. The bill also updates Arkansas Code § 23-39-504 to expand the rulemaking authority of the Arkansas Securities Commissioner. The Commissioner may add new rules as well as issue temporary suspensions of certain sections of the code if warranted for public safety.
H.B. 1466 also updates requirements for surety bonds issued to licensed mortgage brokers, bankers and servicers. Claimants are allowed to bring a suit directly on a licensee’s surety bond, and the commissioner may bring a suit on a claimant’s behalf. Additionally, the net worth requirements for mortgage servicers licensed under, or subject to, the FMLA were increased to $100,000. Mortgage servicers are required to maintain sufficient liquidity and must submit audited financial statements to the commissioner within ninety days after the end of each fiscal year.
Additionally, H.B. 1466 adds safety standards for covered institutions, including programs for risk management, information security, business continuity, and safeguarding customer information. The bill creates an exception to the additional requirements for financial institutions that maintain customer information concerning fewer than 5,000 consumers.
The Arkansas legislature also passed House Bill 1184 (“H.B. 1184”)to add amendments to the FMLA. The bill adds definitions for “consumer report” and “mortgage trigger lead” under Arkansas Code § 23-3-502. A mortgage lead is defined as a lead resulting from a consumer report, if the consumer report is triggered by an inquiry made with a consumer reporting agency in response to an application for credit, and not a consumer report obtained by a lender that holds or services existing indebtedness of the applicant.
H.B. 1184 also amends Arkansas Code § 23-39-513 by prescribing additional activities as prohibited under the FMLA. In particular, H.B. 1184 prohibits using mortgage trigger leads in a misleading or deceptive manner, which includes failing to state in the initial communication with a consumer: (i) the loan officer’s name; (ii) the mortgage broker or mortgage banker the loan officer represents; (iii) how the loan officer obtained the consumer’s contact information; (iv) that the solicitation is based on purchased personal information; (v) that the loan officer is not affiliated with the original creditor to which the consumer made the credit application; and (vi) that the purpose of the communication is to solicit new business for the mortgage broker or mortgage banker. H.B. 1184 also prohibits soliciting or contacting consumers who previously opted out of prescreened offer of credit or are on the National Do-Not-Call Registry.
Both H.B. 1466 and H.B. 1184 become effective August 7, 2025.
