Law360, New York (April 21, 2015, 10:38 AM EDT) -- Earlier this year, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation (the Regulator) concluded an investigation against a Miami-based mortgage lender with the lender agreeing to a fine for executing mortgage loans without a license as required by Chapter 494, Florida Statutes (the Mortgage Licensing Law). Many lenders making loans secured by mortgages against Florida real estate may be unaware of the Mortgage Licensing Law which applies to some but not all lenders and to some but not all mortgage loans. For those persons and loans covered by this statute, soliciting or offering to make a mortgage loan, offering or accepting an application for a mortgage loan or negotiating or offering to negotiate a mortgage loan, constitutes acting as a "loan originator" and such persons may need to be licensed. Likewise, a person who makes a mortgage loan or services a mortgage loan for others may need to be licensed as a mortgage lender. But precisely who is covered by these requirements, who is exempt and which loans are covered "mortgage loans" are complex issues....