Georgia House Bill 15: What Lenders and Brokers Need to Know

For years, regulatory focus in mortgage lending has centered on compliance: policies, procedures, and documentation designed to check the right boxes. But Georgia House Bill 15 signals a shift. The bill makes it clear that regulators are raising expectations, moving from compliance as a set of requirements to governance as a culture.

For lenders, this is more than semantics. Governance demands structure, accountability, and leadership engagement. It raises the bar from “Do we have the policy?” to “Are we truly living by it?”

Key Requirements include:

1. Leadership involvement. A board (or equivalent group) should play an active role in keeping tabs on compliance. Translation: compliance can’t live in a silo anymore.

2. A clear framework. You’ll need to show how compliance gets managed, including who’s responsible, how decisions are made, and how issues get handled.

3. Annual risk assessments with real follow-through. Risk assessments shouldn’t just sit in a file. Regulators want to see that findings lead to real follow-up and fixes.

Why It Matters

This isn’t about regulators trying to trip anyone up. What they’re really saying is: “Instead of just having policies, show us how they work in real life.” If you’ve already been involving leadership,

documenting your processes, and following up on risks, you’re ahead of the game. If not, HB 15 is a nudge to tighten things up.

The Upside

Yes, it’s one more thing to manage. But taking compliance a step further also makes your shop stronger. Clear oversight and risk management look good in an exam, but they also help provide

a roadmap for strengthening your business:

• Better oversight helps leadership anticipate risks before they become costly issues.

• Clear frameworks bring consistency, reducing the guesswork across departments.

• Actionable risk assessments foster continuous improvement, positioning your organization to adapt faster in a changing market.

And if you’re not sure how to build or refresh your compliance framework? That’s where we can step in. Sometimes an outside partner makes it a whole lot easier to move from theory to practice, while giving your leadership team the confidence that your compliance culture is exam-ready and market-strong. Contact us to learn more.