Prohibited acts

Sec. 8. It is a violation of this article for a person or individual subject to this article to: (1) directly or indirectly employ any scheme, device, or artifice to defraud or mislead borrowers or lenders or to defraud any person; (2) engage in any unfair or deceptive practice toward any person; (3) obtain property by fraud or misrepresentation; (4) solicit or enter into a contract with a borrower that provides in substance that the person or individual subject to this article may earn a fee or commission through "best efforts" to obtain a loan even though no loan is actually obtained for the borrower; (5) solicit, advertise, or enter into a contract for specific interest rates, points, or other financing terms unless the terms are actually available at the time of soliciting, advertising, or contracting; (6) conduct any business covered by this article without holding a valid license as required under this article, or assist or aid and abet any person in the conduct of business under this article without a valid license as required under this article; (7) fail to make disclosures as required by this article and any other applicable state or federal law, including regulations under that law; (8) fail to comply with this article or rules adopted under this article, or fail to comply with any other state or federal law, rule, or regulation, applicable to any business authorized or conducted under this article; (9) make, in any manner, any false or deceptive statement or representation, including, with regard to the rates, points, or other financing terms or conditions for a mortgage transaction, or engage in bait and switch advertising; (10) negligently make any false statement or knowingly and willfully make any omission of material fact in connection with any information or reports filed with a governmental agency or the NMLSR or in connection with any investigation conducted by the director or another governmental agency; (11) make any payment, threat, or promise, directly or indirectly, to any person for the purposes of influencing the independent judgment of the person in connection with a mortgage transaction, or make any payment, threat, or promise, directly or indirectly, to any appraiser of a property, for the purposes of influencing the independent judgment of the appraiser with respect to the value of the property; (12) collect, charge, attempt to collect or charge, or use or propose any agreement purporting to collect or charge any fee prohibited by this article; (13) cause or require a borrower to obtain property insurance coverage in an amount that exceeds the replacement cost of the improvements as established by the property insurer; (14) fail to account truthfully for money belonging to a party to a mortgage transaction; or (15) knowingly withhold, abstract, remove, mutilate, destroy, or secrete any books, records, computer records, or other information subject to examination under this article.