CRIMINAL AND OTHER BACKGROUND CHECKS.

(a) In connection with an application for a license as a residential mortgage loan originator, the applicant shall, at a minimum, furnish in the form and manner prescribed by the regulatory official and acceptable to the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry information concerning the applicant's identity, including:

(1) fingerprints for submission to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and any governmental agency or entity authorized to receive the information to conduct a state, national, and international criminal background check; and

(2) personal history and experience information in a form prescribed by the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry, including the submission of authorization for the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry and the appropriate regulatory official to obtain:

(A) an independent credit report obtained from a consumer reporting agency described by Section 603(p), Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. Section 1681a(p)); and

(B) information related to any administrative, civil, or criminal findings by a governmental jurisdiction.

(b) For purposes of this section and to reduce the points of contact that the Federal Bureau of Investigation may have to maintain for purposes of Subsection (a)(1), a regulatory official may use the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry as a channeling agent for requesting information from and distributing information to the United States Department of Justice, any governmental agency, or any source at the regulatory official's direction.

(c) For purposes of this section and to reduce the points of contact that a regulatory official may have to maintain for purposes of Subsection (a) or (b), the regulatory official may use the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry as a channeling agent for requesting information from and distributing information to and from any source as directed by the regulatory official.