(a) Supervised lenders of the classes described in 38 U.S.C. 3702(d) (1) and (2) are authorized by statute to process VA guaranteed manufactured home loans on the automatic basis. This category of lenders includes any Federal land bank, national bank, State bank, private bank, building and loan association, insurance company, credit union or mortgage and loan company that is subject to examination and supervision by an agency of the United States or of any State or by any State.

(b) Nonsupervised lenders of the class described in 38 U.S.C. 3702(d)(3) must apply to the Secretary for authority to process manufactured home loans on the automatic basis. The following minimum requirements must be met:

(1) Minimum assets. A minimum of $50,000 of working capital must be maintained. Working capital is defined as the excess of current assets over current liabilities. Current assets are defined as cash or other assets that could readily be converted into cash within 1 year on the normal accounting or business cycle. Current liabilities are defined as obligations that would be paid within a year on a normal accounting or business cycle. The lender's latest financial statements (profit and loss statements and balance sheets), audited and certified by a CPA (certified public accountant), must accompany the application. If the date of the financial statement precedes that of the application by more than 6 months, the lender-applicant must also attach a copy of its latest internal quarterly report. In addition, the lender-applicant must agree that if the application is approved, the applicant will provide within 120 days following the end of each of its fiscal years an audited financial statement to the Director, Loan Guaranty Service for review.

(2) Experience. The firm must have been actively engaged in originating manufactured home loans for at least the last 2 years. Alternately, each principal officer of the firm who is actively involved in managing origination functions must have a minimum of 2 recent years' total experience in the field of VA manufactured home mortgages in managerial functions in either the present company of employment or in companies other than that of his or her present employment. In either case, every principal officer (president and vice presidents) must submit a resume of his or her experience in the mortgage lending field. Should the secretary and/or treasurer participate in the management of origination functions, they too must submit a resume and meet the minimum experience requirement if the company does not meet the experience requirement. Should the lender or any of its directors or officers ever have been debarred or suspended by any Federal agency or department or any of its directors or officers have been a director or officer of any other lender or corporation that was so suspended, or if the lender-applicant ever had a servicing contract with an investor terminated for cause, a statement of the facts must also be submitted. Lender-applicants will submit individual requests for each branch office they wish to have approved. The parent organization must agree to accept full responsibility for the actions of branch offices.

(3) Underwriter. If it is proposed that all loans to be made by the lender will be submitted to its home office for approval or rejection, the lender must have at least one full-time designated underwriter in its home office. If the loans will be approved or rejected by branch managers, the lender must have at least one full-time designated underwriter in each branch. In either event, the designated underwriters must be identified and a resume on each submitted to VA. The underwriters should have at least three years of experience in consumer installment finance. If changes in underwriting personnel occur, the lender must notify VA.

(4) Lines of credit. The identity of the source(s) of warehouse lines of credit must be revealed to VA and the applicant must agree that VA may contact the named source(s) for the purpose of verifying the information.

(5) Secondary market. If the lender-applicant customarily sells the manufactured home loans it originates, it must provide a listing of all permanent investors to whom the loans are sold, including the investor's address, telephone number and names of persons to contact.

(6) Liaison. The lender-applicant must designate one employee to act as liaison on its behalf with the VA. If possible, the lender-applicant should select employees other than VA approved underwriters to act as liaison. Officers from branch or regional offices should also be appointed to act as liaison with local VA offices. The lender must notify VA of any changes in liaison personnel.

(7) Courtesy closing. The lender-applicant must certify to VA that it will not close loans on an automatic basis as a courtesy or accommodation for other mortgage lenders whether or not such lenders are themselves approved to close on an automatic basis. The lender must agree that the processing of forms other than the initial credit application will not be delegated to the dealer or developer.

(8) Subsidiaries/affiliates. A lender approved for automatic processing may not close manufactured home loans on the automatic basis involving any dealership or manufacturer in which it has a financial interest or which it owns, is owned by, or with which it is affiliated. This restriction may be eliminated for lenders that can provide documentation which demonstrates to VA's satisfaction that (i) the lender and the manufacturer and/or dealer are separate entities that operate independently for each other, and (ii) the percentage of all VA manufactured home loans originated by the lender during at least a one-year period on which payments are past due 90 days or more is no higher than the national average for the same period for all mortgage loans.

(9) Lender agents. A lender using an agent to perform a portion of the work involved in originating and closing a VA guaranteed loan on an automatic basis must take full responsibility by certification or corporate resolution for all acts, errors and omissions of the agent and its employees. Any such acts, errors or omissions will be treated as those of the lender and appropriate sanctions may be imposed against the lender and its agent.

(10) Minimum use of automatic authority. If approved, lenders must use their automatic authority to the maximum extent possible. Any lender with automatic authority who submits a loan on the prior approval basis will be required to submit an explanation from the designated underwriter as to why the loan was not closed automatically. Such a statement will not be needed for loans that must be processed on the prior approval basis, e.g., joint loans.

(11) Probation. Lender-applicants meeting the requirements of this section will be approved to close loans on an automatic basis for a 1-year probationary period. Poor underwriting and/or consistently careless processing by the lender during the probationary period will be a basis for withdrawal of automatic authority.

(12) Quality control system. In order to be approved as a nonsupervised lender for automatic processing authority, the lender must implement a written quality control system which ensures compliance with VA requirements. The lender must agree to furnish findings under its system to VA on demand. The elements of the quality control system must include the following:

(i) Underwriting policies. Each office of the lender shall maintain copies of VA credit standards and all available VA underwriting guidelines.

(ii) Corrective measures. The system should ensure the effective corrective measures are taken promptly when deficiencies in loan originations are identified by either the lender or VA. Any cases involving major discrepancies which are discovered under the system must be reported to VA.

(iii) System integrity. The quality control system should be independent of the loan production function.

(iv) Scope. The review of understanding decisions and certifications must include compliance with VA underwriting requirements, sufficiency of documentation and soundness of underwriting judgments.

(c) A lender approved to close loans on the automatic basis who subsequently fails to meet the requirements of this section must report the circumstances surrounding the deficiency and the remedial action to be taken to cure it to VA.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 1803(c)(1), and 1812(g))

(d) To participate in VA's automatic program nonsupervised lenders of the class described in paragraph 3702(d)(3) of title 38 U.S. Code shall pay fees as follows:

(1) $500 for new applications;

(2) $200 for reinstatement of lapsed or terminated automatic authority;

(3) $100 for each underwriter approval;

(4) $100 for each agent approval;

(5) $100 for each regional underwriting office approval;

(6) A minimum fee of $100 for any other VA administrative action pertaining to a lender's participation in ALP;

(7) $200 annually for certification of home offices;

(8) $100 annually for certification of regional offices; and

(9) $100 annually for each agent renewal.

(e) Supervised lenders of the classes described in paragraphs (d)(1) and (d)(2) of 38 U.S. Code 3702 participating in VA's Loan Guaranty Program shall pay fees as follows:

(1) $100 fee for each agent approval; and

(2) $100 annually for each agent renewal.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 3712(g))

(f) Lenders participating in VA's Lender Appraisal Processing Program shall pay a fee of $100 for approval of each staff appraisal reviewer.

[56 FR 40559, Aug. 15, 1991, as amended at 57 FR 828, Jan. 9, 1992; 57 FR 40616, Sept. 4, 1992]