Section 11-204 - License required. - Maryland Statutes

§ 11-204. License required.
 

(a)  In general.- Unless a person is licensed by the Commissioner, the person may not: 

(1) Make a loan; or 

(2) In any way use any advantage provided by the Maryland Consumer Loan Law. 

(b)  Separate places of business.-  

(1) A separate license is required for each place of business where a person makes a loan or transacts any business under the Maryland Consumer Loan Law. 

(2) A person may not: 

(i) Receive any application for a loan or allow any note or contract for a loan to be signed at any place of business for which the person does not have a license; 

(ii) Conduct any business under the Maryland Consumer Loan Law under a name different from the name that appears on the person's license; or 

(iii) Evade the application of this section by any device, subterfuge, or pretense of any kind. 

(3) This subsection does not prohibit a licensee from accommodating a borrower, at the borrower's request, by making a loan by mail because of the borrower's sickness or hours of employment or for similar reasons. 

(4) Notwithstanding paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection, for a loan that is to be secured by residential real property: 

(i) A licensee may solicit and accept an application for a loan: 

1. By mail; 

2. By telephone or other electronic means; or 

3. At any location requested by the prospective borrower; 

(ii) Except as provided in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph, the loan closing shall be conducted at: 

1. The lender's licensed location; 

2. The office of an attorney representing the licensee, the borrower, the title company, or title insurer in connection with the loan; or 

3. The office of the title insurer or title agency performing closing services in connection with the loan; and 

(iii) A licensee may conduct the loan closing at another location at the written request of the borrower or the borrower's designee to accommodate the borrower because of the borrower's sickness. 
 

[An. Code 1957, art. 58A, §§ 1, 9; 1980, ch. 33, § 2; 1998, chs. 760, 761.]