License applications must be written, sworn, and include required information; the commissioner may also require fingerprints, background checks, and prelicensure testing or education in some cases.
The application for a license under § 45-13-201(a) shall be in writing, under oath and in the form prescribed by the commissioner and shall contain the following: The name and principal business address in this state of the applicant, the principal business address, if any, outside of this state of the applicant and all addresses within this state at which the applicant is conducting or intends to conduct business; If the applicant is other than a corporation, the form of the legal entity, such as sole proprietorship, general partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, trust or other legal entity, and the name and address, as applicable, of the sole proprietor, general partner or partners, joint venturer, grantor or other principal, as may be defined by and required by the commissioner; If the applicant is a corporation, the name and address of each executive officer and each director, the registered agent for service of process and each stockholder owning or controlling through voting trust or other agreement ten percent (10%) or more of the outstanding capital stock of the corporation; Whether the applicant seeks licensure as a mortgage lender, mortgage loan broker, mortgage loan servicer or any combination of mortgage lender, mortgage loan broker and mortgage loan servicer; and Other information that the commissioner may reasonably request pertaining to the activities of the applicant as a mortgage lender, mortgage loan broker or mortgage loan servicer. As a condition of licensure under this section, the commissioner may by rule require that each individual who is an officer, partner, managing member, managing principal or branch manager, or possesses control of the applicant as defined in § 45-13-105, or any other individual associated with the applicant as is reasonably necessary to meet the purposes of this chapter, successfully complete prelicensure testing or education courses, or both, approved by the commissioner. This subsection (b) shall not apply to renewals of existing licenses. The commissioner is authorized to require an applicant for a license under § 45-13-201(a) to consent to a criminal history records check and to provide with the application fingerprints in a form acceptable to the commissioner. The commissioner may require the consent and fingerprints from any individual who is an officer, partner, managing member, managing principal, branch manager or ultimate equitable owner of ten percent (10%) or more of the applicant, as well as from any other individual associated with the applicant as is reasonably necessary to meet the purposes of this chapter. No application shall be deemed complete until the consent and fingerprints have been submitted, and the refusal of any person to consent to a criminal history records check or to provide fingerprints as allowed by this subsection (c) constitutes grounds for the commissioner to deny licensure to the applicant. Any criminal history records check conducted under subsection (c) shall be conducted by the Tennessee bureau of investigation or the federal bureau of investigation, or both, and the results of the criminal history records check shall be forwarded to the commissioner. The reasonable costs incurred in conducting the criminal history records check shall be paid by the applicant, in addition to any other fees required by this section. Notwithstanding § 45-13-502 or any other provision in this chapter, the commissioner shall not use a multi-state automated licensing system to share federal bureau of investigation criminal history background information of any individual other than mortgage loan originators, unless authorized to do so by the federal Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (12 U.S.C. §§ 5101 — 5116), as amended, or other federal law.