P.R. Laws tit. 7, § 3054g
(a) Any licensee covered by the provisions of this chapter shall comply with the following duties and obligations:
(1) make accounting books, files, documents, and any other data the Commissioner may deemed necessary available to him/her for inspection, and allow the Commissioner or his/her representatives full access to their properties, facilities, and operating sites;
(2) submit a report under oath during on April of each year including such information and details as the Commissioner may prescribe with respect to the business and operations for the previous calendar year. If the licensee has more than one authorized office in Puerto Rico, the Commissioner may authorize him/her to submit a consolidated annual report in lieu of an individual report for each authorized office;
(3) perform his/her functions with the highest degree of diligence, care, loyalty, and financial benefit for his/her clients, since the relationship with the clients shall be considered fiduciary in nature;
(4) keep an office that is adequate to meet with clients and where he/she may be contacted during business hours;
(5) keep and maintain in the office every report, book, file, register, documents, paper, or other evidence related to the business;
(6) prepare and submit any report that the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions may require regarding the business and operations;
(7) whenever acting in representation of any person located outside Puerto Rico, make a full investigation of the conditions of the services to be provided to all parties to a transaction, including the interest rates applicable to the loans and financing offered, negotiated, and obtained, as well as regarding compliance with the fiscal laws applicable in Puerto Rico;
(8) inform to all parties to a transaction, when money lenders that have no business office in Puerto Rico are involved, that his/her relation with such lender shall be considered as their point of contact to do business in Puerto Rico and that any transaction conducted as a result of their negotiations shall be governed by the laws applicable in Puerto Rico, including Act No. 120 of October 31, 1994, known as the “Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 1994”;
(9) furnish a copy of the license that authorizes him/her to offer or render services as a mortgage loan broker to all lenders or financial institutions with which he/she does business;
(10) advertise in such a way that the nature of the services to be offered or the activity in which he/she is engaged with respect to the mortgage loan brokerage business is clearly identified;
(11) use the term “mortgage” following or preceding the term “broker,” and use said term as part of the registered or trade name under which he/she does business, as well as in advertisements;
(12) comply with any Order or Resolution issued by the Commissioner;
(b) All licensees may destroy their books, records, files, or documents five (5) years after the last entry was made in said books, records, files, or documents, or as of the date on which any obligation ceases to be enforceable in accordance with the documents in his/her power. All licensees shall establish operating procedures, systems, and processes for the destruction of documents that ensure the following:
(1) That the destruction of documents is carried out in accordance with the document retention and destruction policy adopted by the licensees;
(2) that the destruction of documents ceases if the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions serves written notice to the licensee requesting that certain documents, which shall be identified in said notice, be preserved;
(3) that the destruction of documents ceases if the licensee is notified of a complaint or claim, or administrative or judicial order or requirement that prevents the destruction of specific documents according to the applicable local and federal regulations;
(4) that the destruction of the documents is permanent so as to prevent subsequent use thereof.
Said procedures shall be subject to inspection by the examiners of the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions.
(c) It shall be the duty of the licensee to maintain a Registry of Destroyed Documents per calendar year in which a general description of the documents destroyed shall be kept. The Registry of Destroyed Documents may be kept in electronic format, which shall have an external back-up file, and the same shall be available for inspection by the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions. The Registry of Destroyed Documents shall be preserved by the licensee for a period of at least fifteen (15) years as of December 31st of the corresponding year. Not later than January 31st of each year, an official of the licensee shall certify that the Annual Registry corresponding to the preceding year contains the required information of all the documents that were destroyed in said year, which complied with the retention period established in the policy, as well as with the applicable local and federal regulations. Said certification shall be kept by the licensee for a period of at least fifteen (15) years as of December 31st of the year to which it corresponds, and the same shall be available for inspection by the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions.
History —Dec. 30, 2010, No. 247, § 4.8, eff. 120 days after Dec. 30, 2010.