Standards of Conduct for Mortgage Brokers and Associate Mortgage Brokers
Regulations
made under Section 90 of the
Mortgage Regulation Act
S.N.S. 2012, c. 11
N.S. Reg. 127/2020 (effective November 1, 2021)
amended to N.S. Reg. 219/2022 (effective November 1, 2022)
Table of Contents
Please note: this table of contents is provided for convenience of reference and does not form part of the regulations.
Click here to go to the text of the regulations.
Citation
Definitions
Standards of conduct
Duty toward authorizing brokerage
Dishonesty, fraud, crime or illegal conduct
Remuneration other than from authorizing mortgage brokerage
Non-monetary incentives
Brokering mortgages in licensee name
Information to be contained in advertisement
Information to be disclosed in correspondence
Duty to provide licence information
Citation
1 These regulations may be cited as the Standards of Conduct for Mortgage Brokers and
Associate Mortgage Brokers Regulations.
Definitions
2 In these regulations,
“Act” means the Mortgage Regulation Act;
“authorizing mortgage brokerage”, in relation to a mortgage broker or associate
mortgage broker, means the mortgage brokerage on whose behalf the mortgage
broker or associate mortgage broker is authorized to broker mortgages.
Standards of conduct
3 The requirements set out in these regulations are prescribed as standards of conduct for
every licensed mortgage broker and licensed associate mortgage broker.
Duty toward authorizing brokerage
4 A mortgage broker or associate mortgage broker must not do or omit to do anything if
the action or omission might reasonably be expected to result in the authorizing
mortgage brokerage contravening or failing to comply with the Act or its regulations.
Dishonesty, fraud, crime or illegal conduct
5 A mortgage broker or associate mortgage broker must not act, or do or omit to do
anything, in circumstances in which the mortgage broker or associate mortgage broker
ought to know that by acting, doing the thing or omitting to do the thing the mortgage
broker or associate mortgage broker is being used by a borrower, mortgage lender,
investor or any other person to facilitate dishonesty, fraud, crime or illegal conduct.
Remuneration other than from authorizing mortgage brokerage
6 (1) Except as provided in Section 7 for non-monetary incentives, a mortgage broker or
associate mortgage broker must not receive, directly or indirectly, any fee or other
remuneration for brokering mortgages from a person other than the authorizing
mortgage brokerage.
(2) The prohibition in subsection (1) does not apply to a fee or other remuneration paid
to a mortgage broker or associate mortgage broker from the authorizing mortgage
brokerage from money received by the authorizing mortgage brokerage from
another person for services provided by the mortgage broker or associate mortgage
broker.
Non-monetary incentives
7 A mortgage broker or associate mortgage broker may receive, directly or indirectly, an
incentive other than money from a mortgage lender or a financial institution for
brokering mortgages if all of the following conditions are satisfied:
(a) the authorizing mortgage brokerage consents to the provision of the
incentive;
(b) the authorizing mortgage brokerage and the mortgage lender or financial
institution have a written agreement governing the provision of the
incentive;
(c) the mortgage broker or associate mortgage broker has a written agreement
with the mortgage lender or financial institution governing the provision of
the incentive;
(d) each of the agreements referred to in clauses (b) and (c) requires the
mortgage lender or financial institution to give the authorizing mortgage
brokerage particulars about all of the following matters both periodically
and on request:
(i) each incentive provided by the mortgage lender or financial
institution to the mortgage broker or associate mortgage broker
during the applicable period,
(ii) if an incentive entitles the mortgage broker or associate mortgage
broker to exercise 1 or more options in the future, particulars of each
option exercised during the applicable period.
Brokering mortgages in licensee name
8 A mortgage broker or associate mortgage broker must not broker mortgages in a name
other than the name set out on their licence.
Information to be contained in advertisement
9 (1) All of the following is prescribed as the information required to be contained in an
advertisement of a mortgage broker or associate mortgage broker by clause
58(3)(b) of the Act:
(a) for an authorizing mortgage brokerage whose name as set out on its licence
is, or includes, a franchise name that the authorizing mortgage brokerage is
permitted to use under a franchise agreement, a statement clearly indicating
that the mortgage brokerage is independently owned and operated;
(b) at least 1 reference to the mortgage broker or associate mortgage broker that
includes 1 of the following titles:
(i) for a mortgage broker, the title “mortgage broker” or “broker” or an
abbreviation of either of those titles,
(ii) for an associate mortgage broker, the title “associate mortgage
broker”, “mortgage broker associate”, “associate broker”, “mortgage
associate” or “associate” or an abbreviation of any of those titles.
(2) In addition to the titles prescribed by clause (1)(b), an advertisement may include
an equivalent title in another language.
Information to be disclosed in correspondence
10 (1) All of the following is prescribed as the information required to be disclosed under
subsection 60(1) of the Act by a mortgage broker or associate mortgage broker in
all correspondence and other written material prepared or used in the course of the
business:
(a) the name and licence number of the mortgage broker or associate mortgage
broker, as set out on their licence;
(b) the name and licence number of the authorizing mortgage brokerage, as set
out on its licence;
(c) for an authorizing mortgage brokerage whose name as set out on its licence
is, or includes, a franchise name that the authorizing mortgage brokerage is
permitted to use under a franchise agreement, a statement clearly indicating
that the mortgage brokerage is independently owned and operated.
(2) The names and licence numbers referred to in clauses (1)(a) and (b) must be
clearly and prominently displayed wherever they are required to be disclosed.
Duty to provide licence information
11 When requested, a mortgage broker or associate mortgage broker must give a person all
of the following information:
(a) the name and licence number of the mortgage broker or associate mortgage
broker, as set out on their licence;
(b) the name and licence number of the authorizing mortgage brokerage, as set
out on its licence.
The following regulations are not
yet in force and are not included in the current consolidation: