Oregon Final Rules Exclude Trustees From 'Mortgage Servicer' Definition

David Fennell, Esq.

The Oregon Department of Justice has issued their final rules regarding the Oregon Attorney General’s proposed emergency rule effective January 25th that would have altered the definition in the state of ‘mortgage servicers’.
The AG’s proposed definition of ‘mortgage servicer’ was to include Trustees, attorneys involved with judicial and nonjudicial foreclosures and escrow agents.  The new rule affects legal and foreclosure representation for mortgage lenders.

However, in a victory for UTA, the final Oregon DOJ rules 137-020-0805(4)(e) notes: 

“’Servicing of residential mortgage loans’ does not include the activities of any person licensed or authorized to act as an attorney, escrow agent, title company or title insurer under Oregon law, or any person qualified to serve as a trustee under ORS 86.790.”

UTA had provided comment to the proposed rule.  The comments were drafted by David Fennell, Esq., Routh Crabtree Olsen. The Association requested the exclusion of attorneys and Trustees from the definition of ‘mortgage servicer’. UTA noted that ‘a trustee, if deemed a ‘mortgage loan servicer’, could be cowed by a threatening borrower into a position of paralysis that is unfair to the lender under any circumstances, putting the trustees in the middle of the battle that actually should remain between the real parties in interest, namely the borrower and the lender.

Read UTA’s comments to the Oregon AG